Lost my 2 C.Orientalis <IMG SRC="http://www.caudata.org/forum/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":-(" BORDER=0>

As you probably all know already. I got myself some C.Orientalis (2) a couple of weeks ago. I had a hard time feeding them and they were both sick when I purchased them.

Yesterday, I lost the sickest one of the newts. I wasn't surprised. But today, this morning actually the second one also passed away. Here is the thing, 3 days ago, I purchased an disolvable antibiotic/good bacteria releaser from a store. It was said on it that it was healthy for Newts and that it helped curing fungus and infection.

My newts passed away and I think that even if they were sick, it's this thing that actually killed them.

It's quite sad especially for the animals themselve but also because I've invested a lot of time and money (about 200$ canadian) to get a good tank with a good environment. I followed advices from here for the environement and I don't think it was because of the housing.

But I do not abandon the idea, I don't want to have fish. They are nice but quite boring. I really liked having those little guys in my tank and I want some more.

First things firts, I am from Canada, near Montreal, do you know where I can get healthy Newts in that area? I also plan to cycle my tank before purchasing anything. Getting a healthy tank before I put any other animal in.

Well cycle the tank as you said. But scrub the tank well. Drain the water and do a complete clean of every thing. rocks, plants, gravel, and etc. Bateria may have killed your newts or they my have been very in healthy when you got them. At any rate you should clean the tank as best you can before buying new ones.

Sorry to hear it, Mathieu. This is often the fate of pet shop firebellies, I'm afraid. I doubt that the product you used killed them directly. I'd suggest trying a "wanted" ad in the forum - try to find someone in Canada who is breeding any aquatic species this spring.

(Message edited by jennewt on February 28, 2006)