Firebelly problem

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Tim Johnson
I have two CBF newts in a semi-aquatic terrarium at home. I just found out the water had high ammonia and alkalinity levels. One of my newts has been coughing a few times since last night and the other has one clouded eye. What's wrong with them? I just put in some ammonia neutralizer and changed the water. Can anybody help?
 
I will stay away from those neutralizer and focus on water change. how about telling me more about your tank setup and the size of the newts?
 
Well, one newt, Regus, is 3 inches long. The other, Cook, is 3.4 inches. They get along great. I feed them live cut up earthworms from the backyard and they love eating them. Second, the tank has about 2.5 inches of water and I have stacked up rocks with moss on them for land. I also have a large piece of tree bark that acts as a bridge to get to a rock at the other side. They seem to spend more time on land than in water, but will take a swim every now and again. There is no filter. I just change the water and they're fine. Also, I just checked the ammonia. It's okay now, but the alkalinity is still a little high.
 
I have aquarium gravel as a substrate. The newts live in a ten-gallon tank, which is 20 inches long by 12 inches high. I usually feed my newts earthworms, but they have been scarce for the past few days and i had to feed them pellets. I just fed them a little worm and I'm hoping they'll eat.

(Message edited by redeftguy on July 08, 2006)

(Message edited by redeftguy on July 08, 2006)
 
but howabout the water you used? What is the alkalinity of the water source.

I think you can bring the water to high waterlevel. say 8 inches. this will help them breed and the water quality will be much more stable. Probably what keeping them to stay on land more often has to do with the water quality.
 
I used dehumidified water. It's perfectly clean because I check it before I put it in the tank. Also, after I removed bad water, it was yellow.
 
The alkalinity of that water was about 65, i'd say, but that's a little low. How can I decrease the alkalinity of my tank water?
 
The smaller newt has one swollen eye that is cloudy. The bigger one will kind of expand it's throat a little, and then it makes a coughing noise and the throat goes back to normal. I think this problem is a lot less serious than the other's swollen eye. Is the eye really serious?
 
how long have you have them? are they new?
is the tank cycled?
I think the shift of alkane and acidicity has to do with the things you put in the tank. I think the tree branch should only make water acidic and it is probably the cause of yellow water. you should have soak the branch in water for a month before using it. Since they tend to leak out many things.

But if the tank is more alkane I will guess that have to do with the rocks. Where did you get the rocks?
 
I got them from a creek behind by friend's house...yeah, probably not my best idea.
 
I have good news though. Cook has finally stopped coughing. I guess he must have just choked on that worm. I did notice he had to chew it for a while before he could swallow it. But Regus still has a cloudy and swollen eye. It's only in one eye though.
 
Should I take the stick out?
 
What stick? Hum... are you sure you have fire belly newt? Cause CFB newts do not native at USA.
Are you sure your water is alkane and not acid? I will Suggest that you qurranteen the sick newt from that possibly healthy one. Try to change water more often for the sick newt. And try to keep the water cool, lower than 70F.

I will suggest that you can use the edit function on the right top corner of your post to edit your message, instead of posting several messages. We dont want to moderator to think that you are trying to increase your ranking by posting lot of posts. And fewer posts will help them to moderate the forum better.

(Message edited by achiinto on July 09, 2006)
 
I got 3 newts from a pet store (one had bloat and died the first day so now I have two)and i got the rocks and tree bark from a creek. Also, it now looks like the swelling has gone down a bit. I prayed last night. I also took the bark out and they seem to be acting normal.

(Message edited by Redeftguy on July 09, 2006)

(Message edited by Redeftguy on July 09, 2006)
 
Yea... now I got it. haha... You were actually talking about the rocks.

Hopeful that removing the bark will help. I am sure something in the tank is making the water quality to go alkane. Cause most animals do not change water quality in that domain. Especially not newts.

I think a better quality really helping that cloudy eye newt. Let's hope it can cure itself. But I know there might be some medicine that you can try and test one. Or salt bath that might help. I personally have no experience in those yet. Maybe you can do a search on the forum to investigate further. Good luck to you and your newts.
 
I agree with Ian, More water is better. The less water you have, the more consentrated the waste will be in the water.
 
I would not worry about alkalinity. You should measure pH, ammonia, and nitrite. These are the ones that matter. High alkalinity is actually good (within reason). But I'm really confused, since water from a dehumidifier should be very low in alkalinity. It seems to me that we previously recommended that you NOT use water from a dehumidifier (or perhaps this was advice to someone else, I don't remember), for several reasons. Why not use tap water?
 
I agree with Mike and Ian about getting more water. It's a ten gallon, you have 12 inches of height so don't be afraid to use at least 6 of them. Tap water is a good suggestion too. Just make sure you know what your local water works treats it with, chlorine or chloramine.
 
My newts died. They just wouldn't eat the pellets, so they died. They wouldn't even eat the worms!
 
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