55 gallon sub-terrain tank

J

james

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<font face="verdana,arial,helvetica"><font size="+1">I have a 55 gallon tank and one salamander and one newt... does my tank need to have land or can it be all water?</font></font>
 
Welcome to the site, James
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It's hard to answer your question without knowing the species that you have there. But to get you started, take a look at FAQ at Caudata Culture:

http://www.caudata.org/cc/faq/faq.shtml

...and then also check out the very useful articles over there at our sister-site on setups and other things.

Depending on what species you have, it could be the case that they shouldn't be kept together. Newts, which are mostly aquatic, being kept together with (non-newt) salamanders, which are mostly terrestrial, might not be a good idea.

In any case, there always be some land available in the tank, unless it's axoltls, mudpuppies or sirens you're keeping.
 
Thanks Tim,
I read the FAQ and i have are Fire Bellied Newt and eastern tiger salamander... im not sure what the harms of them are however i have not had any problems and i have had them for about 6 months..

Thanks
 
They both have different housing needs. Most firebellies are aquatic and Tigers are terrestrial. I would not house them together. I do not have a tiger, but i do have firebellies. I have found that when they spend alot of time outside of water they are usually sick, or the water is bad quality, but they enjoy the water over the land.

I have also read alot about tigers, I have been wanting one for a long time!! They like dirt bottoms, with little water.

I am sure other people will be able to help you more. Good luck
 
I agree, those two aren't compatible for the same habitat. Also, the tiger sal will get big enough to eat the FBN, if it isn't already. It's pretty cheap to set up a 10-gallon tank - I'd suggest making a mostly aquatic setup for the FBN (it does need a small land area) and a soil terrarium setup for the tiger sal.
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups.shtml
 
And since the firebelly's skin contains toxin, you might end up with a dead tiger to boot if it gets eaten or even just chewed
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Have you seen the Caudata Culture article on species mixing disasters?

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Mixing_disasters.shtml

A 55-gallon tank is much larger than you really need for a single FBN, though the more space the better. I agree they're best kept in separate enclosures, but if you really want to keep them in the same aquarium what you could do is to make it half land and half water, putting a partition through the land portion near where it meets the water. That way, the animals won't have direct contact and the FBN will have access to both land and water
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Tigers like to burrow in soil, by the way. You could use bricks under the soil to raise it up above the water level.
 
Another note, James. I'm not sure how attached you are to these animals but if you could pick a favorite, someone might be willing to trade with you on the forum.

(meaning you could sell or trade your tiger for some more newts, or the other way around)
 
another option would be dividing the tank in half and having two set ups (with a 55 -gallon that should still give u plenty of rooms for each newt)you can purchase tank dividers at most pet stores or you could build one, but it doesn't seem safe to have those two together, incase the tiger gets hungry and eats the FBN then dies from the FBN's toxins then you would be left with nothing (that would not be an extreme awsome), so i would reconsider this but who knows what if their soul mates, well good luck with whatever you decide
 
I'm seriously doubtful of their soulmated-ness.
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The thing with tank dividers is that the toxins in the water will still from one side of the tank to the other. If you do decide to divide the tank the best possible way is to silicone a glass piece in the middle of the tank making it impossible for the water to be transfered between each side.

Soul Mates? Highly unlikely.
 
Thank All of you for the advice. Thanks again and i will take some Pictures Too!!

Thanks

James I edited your post.

Ed

(Message edited by Ed on February 27, 2006)
 
yeah

James, you cannot post that items are availble outside of the correct forums.

Ed

(Message edited by Ed on February 27, 2006)
 
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