Fire belly newt companion

DANIEL1406 · Sep 8, 2010

Hello, I have four young newts 6-7 cm in a 45*50*30 cm tank(30 is height). Is it possible to add them one
periophthalmodon-schlosseri. Have you ever seen this combination ? Can they live peacefully together?
Are there any other combination that can work ?Those this tank will be enough for the four newts when they grown up?

Thank you for your answers:happy:

Bellabelloo · Sep 9, 2010

I would advise against adding anything else to your tank.
I would also suggest a bigger tank to house your newts.

Azhael · Sep 9, 2010

The tank is about 67 litres which is fine for 4 smallish newts. It all depends on the species.

I would certainly never make that mix. The mudskipper for starters is a salt water species!! That alone invalidates the possibility of this mix, entirely.
If that wasn´t enough, these fish also get large, the are voracious carnivores, and require a substrate of loam or silt.

DANIEL1406 · Sep 9, 2010

Thanks for your answers, i also think that the tank will be enough for the newts, i believe that my newts are japanese fire belly. Here are some pics:
http://img713.**************/img713/3709/dsc03957x.jpg
http://img689.**************/img689/8444/dsc03961c.jpg
http://img231.**************/img231/6701/dsc03962q.jpg
The mudskipper i wanted to add is the atlantic species that get up to 13 cm and don´t need salt water,those anyoםne tried this combination?

I also want to bring some gravel to the surfece , is sand will be ok for them? or should it be bigger than sand?

Azhael · Sep 9, 2010

The pictures don´t work for me. You can upload them directly to the forum using the "manage attachments" button, instead of uploading them elsewhere.

The species you mentioned, if i´m not mistaken is not from the atlantic and gets large, and although it can tolerate somewhat freshwater conditions (estuary), it´s primarily a salt water species.

If you are considering another species, nevertheless i think most if not all require higher temps than your newts, which makes them incompatible.

DANIEL1406 · Sep 9, 2010

Here are the pics:
Caudata.org - Member Galleries - fire belly
There are a few kinds of mudskipper. The atlantic is not very large and live in fresh water, my main question if they can live peacefully with the newts? or is there danger one of them can get hurt?

Azhael · Sep 9, 2010

Those are Cynops orientalis (these are chinese, not japanese), and at that size they are fully adult.

I know you want someone to tell you it´s ok to make that mix...but well, personally i think it´s a very bad idea. Temps are an issue (bare in mind that your newts should ideally be kept at temps below 20-21ºC). Also, even though they inhabit estuaries, they can hardly be considered fresh-water. Some people keep them in fresh-water conditions (some people are negligent), but they should be ideally housed in salt water, in laaaaaarge tanks (they are territorial).

DANIEL1406 · Sep 9, 2010

The mudskipper i talked about needs 26-30 C so you are right, i will not make this mix.
If this is the full size of my newts, besides snailes, is it possible to mix the with somthing? or can i add a few more newts to the tank?

Azhael · Sep 9, 2010

You can keep certain fresh-water shrimps with them with no problems.
I would recommend Neocaridina heteropoda since it´s a very easy species that reproduces readily, thrives quite well in the conditions required for your newts , and frankly, they are quite beautiful xD
They are also quite helpful since they keep algae under control, and contribute to process uneaten foods and dead plant matter.
There are other species of shrimp that can be kept with your newts too, but be careful, not any fresh-water species is adequate.
Other than that, you could try a mix with white cloud minnows (Tanichthys albonubes), which are a non-agressive species, but it´s always best not to mix with fish, since newts can sense them chemically and that can cause stress (they actively seek out fishless masses of water in the wild).

Some people also keep Asellus aquaticus in their tanks, which is a safe, natural mix.

That´s about it...

DANIEL1406 · Sep 9, 2010

Thanks.
And last question, i can see that my newts very like company, and always next to each other, or in pairs, is there any problem with aggression between them? if not can i add two more newts to my tank?

Azhael · Sep 9, 2010

No, you should have no problems with agression. At feeding times they sometimes snap at each other and there´s the odd bite, but there shouldn´t be any damage at all.
I´d personally recommend not getting more newts...i don´t know if you are aware of it, but your newts and all those available from pet-shops are wild-caught from their natural habitat in China. Those who survive the traumatic importation have then to survive the petshops which usually give them very negligent care. By the time they arrive to your house they are extremely stressed and often ill or starving. As you can imagine this is not good for the species, and neither it is for you as a costumer (they may be cheap, but they are ill and often die shortly after being purchased...hardly a bargain).
If you want more newts, why don´t you try breeding them? This species breeds very easily.

If you end up buying more, make absolutely sure to quarantine them properly!!!!

DANIEL1406 · Sep 9, 2010

Thanks for the answers, my goal is to make at least one pair out of the newts i have and try breeding in the future when they are older, all the newts i have were born in captivity, and in good condition.
It simply looks to me that i will have better chance for breeding if i got a bigger pack in my tank.
Can you please add some kind of link that describes how to breed this specific newts?

Azhael · Sep 9, 2010

Ah, they are captive-bred? You sure?
If you got them from a pet-shop, they are wild-caught, no matter what they say.
I´m just scheptic because these are hard to raise and people selling adult captive-bred Cynops orientalis are an extreme rarity.

As for the link, here you go:
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

As long as you have one male and one female, and you give them good conditions, they will breed. Having a group makes no impact.
These breed very easily...you just have to provide good care. They don´t even require a colder period in winter (although it helps).

DANIEL1406 · Sep 9, 2010

At least that what the guy at the shop told me... and all the newts i saw there looked very well....thanks alot for the help and article:happy:

Azhael · Sep 9, 2010

Mmmm...personally, i´d say there is a 99,9% chance he was just lying xD Or maybe he doesn´t even know where they get them from. Pet-shops are uncannily good at being missinformed.
How much were they?

You see, sometimes even though they apparently look perfectly fine, they develop illnesses when you get them home. Flesh eating infections are very common. Starvation and heavy parasite loads can also happen in otherwise healthy looking animals. That´s why it is absolutely essential to quarantine every new animal (no exceptions).

DANIEL1406 · Sep 9, 2010

I think there were about 20 newts there...
Never mind.... i will let my grow a bit, and hope to have at least one pair out of them.
Is plastic plants enough for them ? or do they require live ones for breeding?(they are in a tank without light,only day light from a nearby window).

Azhael · Sep 9, 2010

I meant how much money for one newt.
Since they are already adult, you should be able to tell the sex without much trouble. If you can upload pictures of their undersides i´m sure we´ll be able to sex them for you.
I always advocate for live plants xD But they are not strictly necessary, plastic are fine as long as they are soft and easy to bend. They might use plastic strips too.

Make absolutely sure that sunlight never touches the tank. It should be kept in the coolest place possible, and always away from direct sunlight.

DANIEL1406 · Sep 9, 2010

About 4.3 euro .
I was able to catch three of them, it seems that all of the the same gender no?
Caudata.org - Member Galleries - newts

Azhael · Sep 9, 2010

I see. At that price, you can be 100% sure they are wild-caught.

I see only two animals, and the first one i´m pretty sure is female. The second one i would say female too, but it could develop into a male (because of the stress, the secondary sexual characteristic sometimes become temporarily reduced).
Wait a few weeks. With proper care, their sex should become very obvious soon.

DANIEL1406 · Sep 9, 2010

Great , thanks for your help ,i will give them two weeks and then will try to make some more photos of their belly.

Fire belly newt companion

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