Fire-bellied newt setup?

C

carolyn

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I've never kept newts before (I've always been a fish person), but I'd like to get one or two chinese fire-bellied newts sometime soon. I was planning on keeping them in a 10-gallon fishtank, and using a plastic container as sort of an island in the middle. Should I fill the container with gravel, or would it be better to use dirt or sand? I was thinking of using live plants. Should I plant them directly in it or keep them in pots? What about a layer of moss or something? I've heard newts prefer this to walking on gravel. What about filters, in the water around the "island"? What kind would be best for chinese fire-bellied newts? Should I use gravel? Thanks very much in advance! I appreciate the info.
 
A lot of these questions can be answered in the C. orientalis caresheet here:

http://www.caudata.org/caudatecentral/caresheets/C_orientalis.html

There's a ton of different opinions on substrate, I think it boils down to personal taste. I use gravel personally, but sand also works and so does bare glass. In fact, bare glass is easiest because it cleans so quickly. One thing I recommend you not do is make an "island" of piled gravel. This often leads to decaying matter becoming trapped in the gravel and causing disease.
 
Thanks, Nate. If I chose to just leave bare glass, could anybody recommend the best type of filtration system to use? I didn't see anything about it in the caresheet - besides the part about CFBNs not liking a strong current.
 
For a 10 gallon, I'd personally use a small internal canister filter like a Duetto DJ100 with the outflow diffused or a small external canister filter like a fluval. Either way, make sure that all gaps in the lid are covered as they can scale glass with no problems.
 
Carolyn, if you go back to that caresheet, the same web site has "articles", one of which is a detailed analysis of different types of filters for newts. There's also an article with pictures of tank setups. Happy reading!
 
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  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
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