Pachytriton question?

I just got a paddletail newt---P. labiatus---and for now I have him in a mostly aquatic (except for a few large pothos leaves on top of the water surface that he could climb out on) 10 gallon aquarium, with a Whisper 10g filter and a Whisper 10-30g capacity air pump going through a small airstone. Does he need this much oxygenation/turbulence in the water, or can I make do with just the Whisper filter?

(Message edited by Tadpole on November 21, 2006)

just the filter will be fine.

So that will kick out enough oxygen for them? Do you have a photo of your setup by chance?

Leanne...i don't have a photo as yet but i can tell you i have five in a 3'x i.5' x i.5'tank with plenty of hiding places and heavily planted with elodea i also use only a filter. i have a piece of bog wood breaking the surface but in the three years i have had them they have never left the water. I know they are an aggressive newt but i have never had a problem with mine. if you only have the one your set up (minus the air stone) sounds fine...ian

Cool, thanks! Will take the airstone out then---btw, what kind of filter do you use/recommend? Is my Whisper ok?

i would say your whisper will be ok .do you test your water.

Yes, I just now did a dip test of pH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Hardness and Alkalinity---the results for the water hardness are a little cryptic---what do you think?

they look ok to me...do you check for ammonia i'm sure you know you will get a build up of that first then nitrite....ian

Yeah, I have the tank all cycled for that, but I'll get an ammonia tester too---in the meantime, he ESCAPED. And is nowhere to be found. And I had the lid fastened down well and all the gaps taped over---I have no idea how he got out, dangit dangit dangit. Will maybe try again with another paddletail AFTER I figure out what happened...

(Message edited by Tadpole on November 23, 2006)

when i first bought mine i got six ,one was only in there a day before escaping , i found him only after walking in and standing on him . bit quicker than just drying out.

OH, man! Well, they are truly excellent escape artists.

I'm not sure what exactly your setup is like, but newts have been known to find ways to hide in the the filter system.

If your Whisper is the in tank variety I would assume that he "escaped" into the filter. When I used that filter my P. labiatus would enter the filter and often stay there for a day or more. I assumed he liked the tight confines and high water flow.

If your filter is a Hang on back Whisper, it is possible that there was enough gap for him to worm his way out and escape. My first advice is to not give up! Follow the walls and look under everything.

I found mine after I poorly secured the lid. I followed the walls and eventually found him in a closet. I rinsed him off in old aquarium water and she has been just fine since.

Well, I had read earlier that some people were having problems with their pachys spending all their time in the filter (!), so that was the first place I checked. Alas, no paddletail....dangit...

But I am going to get another kind of lid (i.e. the very secure, simple wire variety--nice and tight-fitting, but with an area in each of the corners to fit a cord and then tape over it), and try it again, I think, because those critters are really neat.

With the wire screen lids, you cannot use the corners to run a cord (at least on the ones I have seen) without leaving a risky gap between the lid and the tank. See photos:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/escape.shtml

Wow, thanks for the heads-up, Jen! I'll do the drill the hole through the mesh method, then.