Question: Is there a newt that fits my tank?

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Rasmus

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Hi!

I wonder if there is a newt/salamander that would do well in my peat swamp biotope tank. The bottom area is 120x50 cm and about half is land. The land portion is covered with sphagnum and rotting logs and the water section is about 20 cm deep and the substrate there is peat. Floating and emergent plants dominate the water section.

The pH is rather low, about 5.5 and the temperature is 25 degrees Celsius all year round. The newt has to be able to coexist with some small and fast rasboras and wild type bettas. The tank is covered by a mesh but there is no fan or other type of ventilation. I have to be able to feed it frozen foods.

Thanks a lot for your help!
 
Maybe something like Hemidactylium scutatum in a shallower setup. They're not known to inhabit water with fish. I don't think they would do well at all with fish; they're poor swimmers.
 
Thanks, but what is it that makes that species well suited? I guess the temperature is the biggest issue in my tank. Is it better than others when it comes to dealing with high temperatures?
 
They're more likely to survive the lower acidity bog setup. They're pretty well suited to acidic environments, but I must have overlooked the temperature. No, they wouldn't do well at that temperature at all. Given that, there aren't any species of salamander that would do well in that tank.
 
I was afraid that would be the case. Is low pH generally an issue with newts? At least here in Sweden that is kind of where I find them. What would be the most heat tolerant newt? Maybe I can adjust my choice of fish to fit a little lower than 25 degrees Celsius.
 
Hi Rasmus,

Although your tank sounds very nice, I would not throw an amphibian in the works. Maybe you could set up a different tank for a newt?
 
Yeah, while it sounds like a terrific tank, it´s not really caudate friendly.
Even for heat tolerant species, constant 25ºC is not good. There´s always a certain risk with high temperatures and fluctuation during the year is highly benefitial.
I´d too advice you to consider a separate tank if you´re really interested in caudates, which is totally understandable :p
 
I would agree with the reccommendation not to put a newt in that tank - bettas need warm water, and caudates do bestt in cold, it's not an ideal match
 
Damn, but I kind of suspected it. The long term plan is that I will convert it to a Swedish cold water bog biotope tank, but that requires some more plumbing and control stuff. Then I will definately keep some newts in there. Thanks for your help!
 
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