Future Kweichow tank

Wanted to do something a bit different with this 48" tank....came up with this idea





The mix is river sand and silicone smeared over glass dividers.

When thats dry these cork sheets will go on the back glass. I don't usually spend so much time on my tanks but i thought what the heck!

it's looking great, can't wait to see it when it's ready! And ya know I've been waiting!

Andy..a nice looking concept. I'm a big fan of well laid out tanks.

A couple questions:

Is the little circle on the left of the tank for a filter or are you putting plant in there?

Do you plan to filter the water area? With what?

I noticed you don't have any angle to the glass...why did you go with straight up and will you put something else there to help the newts get back on land?

How many gallons (litres) is the tank?

Where do you get kweichow(!)

I've got shanjing and verrucosus but I sure do love the looks of the kweichow.I've never seen them for sale.

Gord

looking good so far Andy! i always love setting up a new vivarium! (i've got big plans in the near future)

Hi guys, thanks for your comments. Gord, not sure how many gallons the tank is but the dimensions are 48" x 16"(wide) x 17" (high) if that helps. The circle on the left is for soil (just thought it would be nice to have a fern or ivy growing over the water!)
I wont use a filter in the water, usually with these sorts of set ups i just siphon it out every week or so and replace with aged tap water.
I've often used vertical glass in this way, just put a rock in the corner for them to use. These guys wouldn't need the rock though as they're about 8" long and the water is only 5.5" deep...this is a tank more for the colony to live in, i have two 48" x 24" breeding tanks im planning to use for their breeding( fingers crossed)
As for finding Kweichows... it's hard! just have to wait and keep an eye out! I know of one colony of them in canada.

Posted these before but what the heck!

stunning creatures!

Andy:

Thanks for the response. Interesting stuff.

Your newts are gorgeous.

How aquatic are your Kweichows? I've heard different things about them..but I take it they are more prone to hit the water then shanjing....true?

Gord

p.s. I will keep my eyes peeled this spring for these guys. I've seen them for sale on some international websites. Pro breeders for one.

Hi Gord, i'm afraid i wont be able to tell you how aquatic mine are for a couple of weeks yet though i believe Kweichows do use their water more than Shanjing (i know a few people with Shanjing though and they tell me their animals are not as aqua phobic as the books would suggest), my five Kweichowensis have been kept terrestrially for the winter at between 10/14c, i've also had to treat two with sores and one with a prolapse so for this reason i didn't want to rush taking them out of their clinical set ups and putting them into this aqua terrarium. I'm really looking forward to these guys going in the new tank though...they should be in there soon! Just waiting for the silicone smell to go.

Andy:

How long have you had the kweichows? Did they have the sores when you got them or did they develop them this winter? Do you suspect they have parasites? They look so fat!

What causes prolapse?

I've been lucky not to have these things (sores, prolapse) with my tylototriton, although I've had some other health issues with the shanjing.

By the way, my shanjing don't seem very interested in water so far, although my verrucosus were almost completely terrestrial for the first year I owned them. I'll be interested to see what happens this spring.

Did your kweichow eat at 10C?

Gord

Hi Gord, i got these Kweichows last october and on the whole all the animals imported were in good condition. I had two arrive with sores (very common in recent imports) and one later developed the prolapse. These i think are symptoms of immuno suppression.
The Kweichows eat fine at 10c.... they just eat less often.
I havn't treated for parasites and wouldn't unless the animal was overloaded with them though i know a lot of people do this straight away.

Andy:

When you get your Kweichow tank set up..don't forget to post the pics. Especially when your gorgeous newts go in!

Gord

Somehow I missed this post when it first appeared. That looks like a very promising design, Andy. Thanks for posting the photos, and keep us updated

Jennifer...how did you miss this thread! You never miss anything.

By the way,is that you in the avatar? Too cute.

Is that a sunfish? bluegill?

Gord

That's me holding a bluegill that I caught, sometime back in the 1960s. Sadly, every creature outgrows it's "cute" stage.

Jen:

I hear you! Cute and I parted ways a long time ago.

Now my shanjing....cute!

Gord

Hi guys, well the animals are now in the tank but until i get the light sorted i'm not going to put plants in. The tanks very bare but at least the Kweichows are in!

Looking good, Andy! It's a really impressive setup. Those are some lucky newts.

Gord, I sent you a message regarding your divided setup (http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups4.shtml) but didn't hear from you. Could you contact me please?

Andy:

Looking good. Nice big set up. A few plants will be nice but I doubt the newts care. Your Kweichow looks super fat!

GE

Jen:

I've sent you an email. Hope it finds you.

GE

Hiya andy!
Tank looks great but what plants will you plant in it? Will your water area include a sort of filter to keep the water clean?