36 Gal Vivarium CFBN Plans - Please Review

I'm planning on doing an elaborate GreatStuff construction in a 36 Gallon Bow front tank.
That looks like this
(30" Long x 11"/15" Deep x 21" Tall)

Attached is a straight down view of what I'm planning for the land section.

Tank is 21 inches high and I'm planning on having the water 14 inches deep (too deep?)
There will be 7 inches of surface air space.

I'm looking for input on this lay out so that i can make changes to it before I begin to build in a month or two. ( can't wait to start on this I'm so excited!)


I'm going to be running the water as a small stream/creek along the back to assist with cooling before it pours into the main body of water.

My notes are all around the edges of what I'm considering using for plants. I have an abundance of philodendron which my newts already like. I'm also needing a plant that i can have the roots permanently submerged but the leaves can break water for planter #3 in the middle the "Bay".


I'm still working on my head on view, Please give me any and all input!

Your plan sounds great, but it´s perhaps not ideal for H.orientalis. We all know the charms of a semi-aquatic tank, it´s something most of us dream about way too frequently xD The problem is that a healthy, adult H.orientalis is very unlikely to even touch the land except for the odd, short incursion. Therefore, all the land is going to be a waste because it´s simply not going to be used (and if it were to be used, it would be reason for some concern).
Being 100% aquatic, or almost, you really want to take advantage of as much volume as possible and dedicate it for water. Granted, as long as you still have a big volume of water (no less than 10 gallons for a pair, but preferably more), you could certainly use some of the volume for the terrestrial area, but as i said, be aware that it won´t be touched.
It´s all a matter of personal preference, but personally i´d go with a fully aquatic tank so that the newts have a big mansion for themselves. You could do some pretty cool aquascaping in there.

Thanks for the input Azhael!
My male FBN is a bit water shy (shy in general really) even though he's pretty healthy (once I got him eating about a year ago) He does spend 50% of his time on land and 50% in the water, he's a bit of an odd ball. Although I may look into reducing the land space some, since it will be probably only him on it for most of the time.

Being a 36 gallon tank filled to about 2/3 I'm going to be having 24 gallons of water to swim and explore. I'm planning a few small caves and hides which should be lots of fun to watch, lots of plants and an interesting floor plan to explore.

I had a few questions in general
~ I need a plant that has roots that can be fully submersed while still having leaves that can break the surface and withstand the relatively cold water required for these guys.

~ I'm going to want to make the foam look realistic underwater, what should I use to paint rocks and roots and such? (I'm going to be painting and probably sealing it all in silicone or should I just paint with a colored concrete mix)

~Can/will roots of plants like the Philodendron grow through silicone and into the Great Stuff?

~Will Great stuff help insulate and maintain the temperature of the water? I live in Arizona so sometimes heat can be a big problem, I'm actually going to be modifying the river to have a very deep pool near the slight waterfall that I can use to put ice packs and ice bottles in.

I have a tank that is around 40 galloons and I have it filled about 2/3 of the way with water and all I have for "land" is a floating rock that you would use for a turtle tank. My CFBN spend most of their time in the water. I have only seen them out of the water when they are sick or if they are basking. But they spend at least 16 hours a day in the water. I did put some plastic plants in the water and some "rock" forms in the water as well. Every so often I change the tank around so they can explore and feel like they are in a new area. They appear to be happy with that. I wish you good luck.