Question about plants & waltl breathing habits

Hello,

I have four juvenile P. Waltls that my husband and I recently moved into a new custom built tank and I have a few questions.

1.) The Waltls seem to be coming up for air much more frequently than in their previous, smaller and more shallow habitat. I was wondering if this was a sign that the water is too deep or that there may be a water balance issue.

2.) We planted several different kinds of live plants in the new tank and they seem to be turning a translucent brown color suddenly almost like they are dying. Is there something I don't know about that may restore them and keep them green? For example plant food?

The new tank is 20 long and 12 inches deep. The water is 10-11 inches deep in the tank. There is also plenty of places for the waltls to sit near the surface of the tank.

Thanks in advance for any advice, I have read almost every thread in the Pleurodeles section but none seem to help with my questions.

~Heather

were the plants new? sometimes new plants just die off for some reason. I fertalized my plants in my planted tank with KNO3, csm +b for micro nutrients, and KH2PO4,but if you have the plants to help with the water chemistry then I wouldn't dose any

carsona246 said:

were the plants new? sometimes new plants just die off for some reason. I fertalized my plants in my planted tank with KNO3, csm +b for micro nutrients, and KH2PO4,but if you have the plants to help with the water chemistry then I wouldn't dose any

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The plants were new and looked great when I purchased them. We did buy them to help with water chemistry as well. We also have the appropriate light bulb for the plants but they still seem to be dying. I guess we will try a different kind of plants. Thank you!

I'm a fun of acquatic plants and now i can't imagine a tank without , they are great for water quality.
Acquatic plants need proper and quite strong light to grow well , another thing is avoid any plants that need high temperatures and much nutrient
In my experience the best easy and strong plants for a newt vivarium are :
Hydrocotyle leucocephala - Hygrophila sp ( Polysperma and corymbosa are the best ) every Egeria and Ceratophyllium - java moss - Anubias sp - Microsorium - Vallisneria - Sagittaria subulata - Cardamine lyrata some Cryptocorine marsilea Bolbitis and others.
In my tanks i don't use strong light or fertilizer but those plants seems to doing great even at 8 - 10 degree

after reading Diana Walstad's book I came to understand that the single most important thing may be the substrate - what do you have them growing in? Also Luca - would love to know how you grow yours

hlarsen said:

The Waltls seem to be coming up for air much more frequently than in their previous, smaller and more shallow habitat. I was wondering if this was a sign that the water is too deep or that there may be a water balance issue.

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I too have observed this in P.waltl and other species. I put it down to an increase in activity due to the excitement of exploring new surroundings, resulting in a higher oxygen burn. You will probably find that over time they revert to their normal lazy selves.

I gave up on a planted tank long ago for my ribbed newts. Too much destruction

Sorry it took me so long to get back to all of you. Thanks for all of the advice/responses on the topic. We have since revamped the tank and found that very very frequent water changes are helping with the algae and plant problems. Also, the waltls seem to have returned to their normal behavior and breathing patterns. We love our group of waltls, they have such great personality and are very easy to love.

hlarsen said:

they have such great personality and are very easy to love.

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I couldn't agree more!

Do you have any pictures of your waltls?

By the way, when you say 'frequent' water-changes, roughly how much/often, out of interest?

All the best, KW