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Questions about keeping firebellied newts

H

hugh

Guest
Hey everybody, I was wanting to know if cabomba, for the water area, and java moss for the platform area of my tank would be suitable? I have two quite young chinese fire bellied newts, who were in pretty cramped conditions in the pet store so I kinda felt sorry for the little guys. So if anyone would be kind enough to give me some tips for the best possible tank setup I would be very greatful. They also would not eat the frozen bloodworm the petshop sold me, however I read that chopped earthworms were ok and they seem to really like them is this a stable enough diet or are there any alternatives? Thanks guys

Hugh
 
I

ira

Guest
chopped earthworms are the best diet for them, keep them on those as long as you can. Once they start spending alot of their time in the water the frozen bloodworms will be more readily accepted.
 
H

hugh

Guest
Thanks Ira, im needing all the help I can get at the minute. Any ideas about what would be good plants for their tank?
 
H

hugh

Guest
Hi guys, I recently got 2 chinese fire bellied newts and I was wondering if anyone could tell me how important it is to keep the water oxygenated if at all. I bought a little air pump and air stone however I havent been using it as it creates alot of noise inside the tank and I am afraid of scaring or upsetting my newts.
Thanks

Hugh
 
H

hugh

Guest
Hey everyone, I have only recently got 2 fire bellied newts and I was wondering if anyone could tell me how best to set up my tank, depth of water and so on. Also I was wanting to know if a filter is essential or would keeping the tank and water clean be enough. I am just afraid of upsetting my newts by disturbing them too much by cleaning the tank. If anyone can help id be very greatfull.
Thanks

Hugh
 
J

jennifer

Guest
Hugh, you had posted several questions onto existing threads that were not really related to what you were asking. I have moved all your posts to this one location. Feel free to keep asking the questions. People will get to know your situation better if you put all your questions here in one place.
 
J

jennifer

Guest
Are the newts going into the water, or staying mostly on land? This may influence how you set them up.

I'd say go ahead and use the airstone. You can cut back on the amount of air by pinching the tubing with something or getting a control valve at the pet shop. You can buy small filters that will attach to your air pump, and these are probably enough for 2 firebellies.
 
L

lindsay

Guest
as for the cabomba, I had some in my tank and it worked great. I only removed it because I bought a filter and gutted my tank of live plants (except pothos) to put in fake plants. The filter seems to be working better than the plants, even though they did a wonderful job.
 
H

hugh

Guest
Hi again, have been having alot of trouble getting hold of some java moss for my tank. Was wanting to get some to grow on my land section of the tank to make it a little softer for my newts as they are still young and spending alot of time on land. I have ordered the java moss from my local pet store but it has been three weeks now and they still dont have it.

The other day I was out walking and found some moss growing on a rock at the edge of a stream i took some off and brought it home however I have it growing in a little tank as I was scared to put it in with the newts incase it had any pestasides on it plus im not sure what type of moss it actually is. Would there be anything on it or that could come off it that would do them any harm? The more I think about it the more it doesnt seem like a good idea.
 
S

sam

Guest
hi there just wanting some advise on something i found in my tank with my 2 fully grown fire bellied newts... they look like the slurm queen from futurama only they're see through. there are a few of them and they look like bubbles with about 30/40 eggs (i think) inside.they vary from 1/4 inch to about 1 inch. cheers sam XXX
 
M

mark

Guest
I'm not familiar with the "Slurm Queen" but they sound like snail eggs to me.
 
H

hugh

Guest
Hi, I just noticed something yesterday in my fire bellies tank which has concerned me and I need some advice on. They are like tiny little white/transparent worms which are only about 2 or 3mm in length on the glass under the water.they seem to move over the surface of the glass feeding, however they are really small and you have to look very hard to see them at all. There are not many of them or anything but I just want to make sure that if they are harmful I can take the right course of action. Disspite this my newts are doing very well. Any advice would be really helpful. Cheers guys/girls
 
I

ian

Guest
They are fine. To remove them 100% is not easy. so better leave it there. They probably came from the plants.

I have got a tank of Cynops Orientalis also. With 4 adults and one smaller one. I have concerned with the transparent things before also. But it turned out they do no further harm to my newts.

As for plants, I used some Hygophia, Pothos, Java Moss, Elodea and Vallislaria. My newts love to lay eggs on the Hygophia. It seems like the more plants are added the more they like the habitats.

I put up my tank with 8 inches of water. Stones piled up at one corner with Pothos growing along with them. I used gravels for the substrate. Thinner gravels at the bottom with bigger on top. I used a small sponge filter. and my tank is a 35 gallons tank with about 20 gallons of water. So that sponge filter didn't make a lot of current. While the little current helped with the circulation of the water a bit. In fact, sometime they love to swim against the current also.

The above is my current set-up. Since my newts are breeding, I guess they are happy and healthy. So I hope this can be a helpful info to you.
 
J

jeff

Guest
As far a "perfect" setup goes, just go for a little of everything. Java moss, other plants, rocks with safe spaces between them. Fake plastic surface plants work well to make hiding places. The little water parasites have not been proven to be bad, but if you get a submersable pump, with a sponge insert, they will dimminish with time, and a 15$ pump in a small inclousure can be used to make a streamlike or waterfall effect, and the water will be cleaner and clearer. My cynops love this little rock house I bought for them and use it to sit on and hid in, I set in down into the waterline so they can have flowing water in there as well. My guys hate bare corners, so keep that in mind. I use wallpaper that looks like swamp vegitation and they seem to get used to that really fast. hope this helps. OH and water levels between 2.5 and 3.5 inches (given they have land) seems to be enough to keep mine happy and calm. Hope this helps
 
I

ian

Guest
I read from livingunderworld.org that C.O. need at least 8 inches to breed. I am not sure about that.
 
J

jennifer

Guest
Hugh, when you are starting a totally new topic, it's OK to start a new thread. I know I got on you in the past for starting too many threads with related questions. But if it's something new, a month later, you can certainly start a new topic.

Regarding the tiny white worms, I'd recommend doing a thorough vacuuming of the gravel (or whatever you have in the tank). Then do some extra water changes, like 25% twice a week rather than once a week. The worms get going when there are too many nutrients in the tank. They are harmless, but if they are abundant, they are telling you something about the dirt level.

Regarding the 8 inches of water, I'd say that kind of depth is ideal, but I seriously doubt that there are any data to indicate that C.o. need this to breed. Can you tell me what page on LUW says this?
 
J

joseph

Guest
Yeah...I don't think that is true(if you mean 8 inches depth). I moved adult C. o briefly to a setup where the water was maybe 3 inches or so and they merrily continued laying eggs.
 
I

ian

Guest
o... I just referred back to LUW, it seems like the depth has nothing to do with breeding. I guess I was assumming that the best depth will more likely get happy newts and happy newts are more likely to breed.

The content said...
"Adult Cynops are typically housed in large aquariums with 8-20 inches of water, or deeper, and a land area composed of large, mossy rocks or driftwood breaking the surface of the water. Java Moss, Vesicularia dubyana, can be attached to aquatic objects, as well as wet objects that break the surface of the water..."

The page is here, http://www.livingunderworld.org/caudata/database/salamandridae/cynops/ , Maybe this can be helpful to Hugh, too.
 
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