Low 60's to low for FBNs?

Hello,

I just setup a 20 tall tank for FBNs about a week ago and I have some questions. The biggest question is I have the tank in the basement and its fairly cool year round. I'm seeing 61 - 63 degrees all the time. Is this too cold for these newts? I can have a heater I can use if I needed to bump it up to mid to high sixties but I don't want to if I don't need to. Will this affect breeding?

Second question is that I have a small internal filter in the tank and I have it over a huge rock trickling over it (kinda like a waterfall, it slows the water down a little). I saw that these guys don't like moving water at all and can actually get stressed by it. If I have the tank 1/3 to 1/2 full do I even need the filter by doing 20% water changes every week?

Thank for your help

Mitch

I'm quite new to this so i'm not sure if my answers are 100% correct.

I'm not sure on temperatures because i use celsius instead of fahrenheit but i do know a bit about filters. If you see that your newts are obvioulsy stressed by the filter you can try and change the direction of the flow so it hits a wall or take it out. By taking it out you will have to do more frequent water changes depending on how much water you have. I would advise not taking the filter out though and as long as you can tell that your newts are not stressed by it then there should be no reason to do so. My FBNs don't seem too bothered by a light flow and the fact that you have it in a waterfall design will probably reduce the flow enough that they won't mind it.

I hope this is useful and if anyone wants to edit my post they can because as i've already said i'm quite new to keeping newts so i might not be right.

Too much current is generally not desirable for most species of newts. You could certainly get by with taking the filter out completely, adding lots of plants, and staying on top of regular water changes. Another option is to replace the power filter with a sponge filter driven by an air pump. Partial water changes will still be necessary however you will have good filtration without the current and heat produced by power filters. In addition, if by chance you ever have any unexpected breeding then you do not have to worry about larvae being sucked up into the filter. Those temperatures should be fine. I am assuming that you are referring to Cynops orientalis? I have never personally kept this species in a serious breeding attempt so I am not sure if the temperature would need to be raised a little for breeding purposes or not. If by chance you have paddletails (Pachytriton) which are sometimes referred to/sold as FBN's, then disregard everything that I said about the sponge filter. A power filter will be fine.
Chip