Fire Bellied Newt Cynops Orientalis habitat help!

Hi, i finally have some fired bellied newts that are o amazing. I am having some problems though. I am not sure what type of bedding to use because they seem to like being out of the water mot of the time and i really didnt wanna ue dirt in the tank. I have large gravel at the bottom and about 6" of water in the tank. Now i was trying to have the other half of the tank to be moist bedding like eco earth bedding or beaked moss or ddouglas fir bark. Are any of those ok to use? And i have a large flat rock and a a nice twig in their that they like to stay on. And as far as water plant, i dont know the best kind to use. I am afraid it will polute the water. Please help out. I know i need major improvement on my habitat. And also is their any homeade way to divide the tank for land for them?? Or shold i leave it the way it is?? I think i read too much info on them and am over thinking.

Don't worry about water-plants polluting the water, that won't happen unless someone sprayed pesticides on them or something (which if bought from a pet store won't be anything to worry about), most likely they will improve the water quality. A good plant for the water would be java fern, I also use amazon swords, however they tend to grow a little too big.Bamboo is alright to use as well. Many times, C.orientalis that are bought from pet stores are in horrid condition, which could explain their reluctance to remain aquatic. I would just give them some time to settle in.

I would leave the tank the way it is; their are ways to make dividers, but it is usually permanent. My C.orientalis only gets his floating dock and his aquatic plants as land areas.

Hey Nathan thanks alot. I will buy some of the Java fern as well. What do your newts like to eat the most? And how do u prepare there food?

My C.orientalis is a glutton, he will eat just about anything I offer him. Usually, he will eat sinking amphibian pellets, but some newts won't even touch those. Also he will eat frozen bloodworms. From time to time I offer him small earthworms (very good food), grubs, waxworms (as a treat; these are high in fat), and on occasion I will hand feed him pin-head crickets. He seems to like a varied diet, but bloodworms and pellets make a good staple if the others are unavailable.

One way to increase your land area that is not permanent to the tank is making a floating island out of styra foam or cork bark. Java moss grows nicely over them as well as algae so in time you will just have a nice haul out with plants growing into the water as a hide for the animals when they are aquatic. Some of my favorite aquatic plants are java moss, java fern, elodea and money wort. They all grow well in low light and cool water, and provide great egg laying sites for any future newt breeding.

I'll second Nathans advice. Have you tested your water quality? C. Orientalis are mainly aquatic, as suggested above if its a new animal and was wild caught its probably just stress. A small floating land area with moss is sufficient, once your newts settled in you;ll probably find it rarely ever leaves the water.
Java moss and fern, elodea and milfoil re all easy low maintenace plants and will grow 'floating' without being rooted into the substrate.

You could build a small cork bark float, just a curl of cork and tie down some java moss with cotton. It'll take off quite quickly on the moist bark and make a nice lush green island.

Wow, i am gonna try that. I was gonna get a slant at home depot but that would be too much work. I am def gonna try that instead. Thanks! And for some reason i keep changing the tank water and i have a real nice peice of bark( like a twig but a special unique kind) and i think it keeps changing the water orange. Is it harmful to them you think? I'll have to take it out anyway because its changing the color of the water

It could be, depends what kind of plant its come from. Using new/live bark and wood can be a bad idea as it can leach plant material into the water. Its advisable to soak and boil thoroughly if introducing something you've found, you may need to repeat the process several times untill the water comes out clear.