Question: Taricha granulosa - newts, aquarium chemicals and driftwood

Hi everyone!! First I want to thank everyone for their time! and secondly, thank this awesome Caudeta.org place for even Exhisting!!!! I have been reading forum pages, posts and questions for WEEKS!! Taking as much in as I possibly can! I finally decided to join as I still have a couple unanswered questions. But first, I'll start off with what I have and what I am running..

I have One absolutely adorable, oh so cute with almost cartoon like expressions and personality... His Species is - Taricha granulosa or Baby Sinclair ;-)
Sex - I believe male
Size - about 5" nose to tail
Colors - brown granular skin with a mostly yellow/orange under-side, yellow fleck in eyes
Tank size - 29gal
Water/land - 40/60
12 gal water - 5 inches deep
Filter - Tetra Whisper 10-30g
PH - around 7.0
Food - chopped worms and frozen blood worm
Weekly water changes done with clean healthy filtered pond water
3pcs aquarium driftwood
Pond/aquarium plants
Ghost shrimps, and trap door snails for clean up

Amongst my questions is the explanation of how I run Sinclair's abode...
Please bare with me and the length of my posting.
Ok, so here be my questions -
1.)------ Is it possible to have Too much driftwood????
I have no problem with a few tannins in the water and This is old aquarium driftwood that I used for many years, until I tore down my tanks when I moved. Currently I have three pieces providing under/outter water areas. I also use pond plants from my very healthy small pond outside. I'm not worried about snugs/slails and such. Sinclair is a hoot to watch when he goes live bug hunting, and quite voracious with blood/earth worms when under the water. But he especially like the small 10mm long slugs and rollypollies that I collect by hand. Anyways, I've never seen this question on any of the forums. Is too much driftwood bad for the water quality? Even though I have a filter, I still do 2 gal weekly water changes. I replace it with 1 gal treated tap water and 1gal fresh pond water. I only do this because I'm terrified I'll some how poison him since his skin is so permeable to toxins like nitrates, perfumes and ammonia. (I'm getting an in tank ammonia reader in a couple days) I do weekly filter rinses as well and also with fresh pond water to preserve the beneficial bacteria, I also run aeration, which he seems to enjoy. He'll zip through it fast, chase bubbles and sometimes will ride the bubbles to the surface of the water. He even plays "follow the finger", which is how I feed him under water. I've only had him three months.. I hate to say, he is wild caught. To be honest, he would have gotten eated or sucked up by the lawn mower... Either way, he lives in my room now.. I just couldn't help it, he reminds me of my childhood Sinclair the dinosaur....

Now my other question...
Is Tetra Easy Balance safe for newts? I mean, I realize people use it, but can't find any instances where it's actually recommended? Is there a different recommended dosage than what is recommended with fish? I know some medications run at half dosages, that's why I ask. And is it even worth it? I would like to keep his habitat as natural as possible while adding as few chemicals as humanly possible. Thank you sooo much for your time!

If he is an adult and is 5" than he is most likely actually a she. But it is possible he is actually a she. If his tail is as long as his body or longer, if his legs are longer, if his cloaca is not cone shaped. These are all ways to tell if it is a male. But typically males are larger than 5" in my experiences.

Sounds like you have a good tank setup, and are feeding a good varied diet.

I really don't think having a lot of driftwood can be bad for your water, as long as you keep up on the water changes. In T. granulosa's natural habitat there is often logs and branches fallen in the water, so he probably appreciates the driftwood.

It's ok that he is wild caught, this species isn't too commonly bred and sold in captivity, and it is better to collect him yourself than to buy him from a big commercial company that catches them - they are often kept in poor conditions.

I am not sure about the Tetra Easy Balance.

Hope this helps! -Seth

Hi Seth! First I wanna say, thank you for getting back me me, and I sorry I took so long to respond.
But I gotta agree with you, these guys rock! I just love the look on baby Sinclair's face. I would go and collect more like you suggested in the one posting. But again, I'm worried about there only being ten gallons of water for everyone. Plus, wouldn't Sinclair eat them? And don't these guys need to hibernate? How do I do that? Or do I only need to hibernate them if I plan to breed them? I don't think I want to do that, I'll have newts everywhere lol. But I would love a few more in a couple months when I finish building the interior of Her custom 55gal. Granted, there will only be about 25 gallons of water. But there will be two filters.. A custom waterfall at one end, and then a normal filter at the other end. I'll post pics in a couple days if you want. So I wanted to ask you something else too, but I forgot. Wait! Will driftwood raise my nitrite levels, or is feeding her every other day too much? I was feeding her every other day, but I think she became constipated, so I stopped for a couple days and the bloating left. After that I only feed her every other day...

Btw, would you be willing to sell a couple of these guys in a couple months? I'll gladly pay for your time and shipping. I figure over night shipping from Seattle to Blaine shouldn't be too traumatic. I can assure you, every critter that comes into my house gets treated like family and spoiled like they are my children.


So, I felt like I was violating poor Sinclair when I was taking these photos. Lol. I hope These will help in sexing my little baby


Sorry about the blur

I wasn't trying to imply that you should get more, I was just telling you so you could observe them if you wanted.

You don't really need to cool them if you don't want. If you want to though, you can put ice packs around the tank, that's pretty much what I did.
If you want to breed them cooling is almost certainly necessary, but if you don't want to breed them it doesn't really matter if you cool them or not.

You don't really need two filters in one tank with only 20 gallons of water, plus too much water current could potentially stress Sinclair.

I would love to see pictures!

I am not sure if driftwood raises nitrate levels. And feeding her every other day is probably too much, yes, unless you are only feeding a little bit. I only feed once or twice a week, but I feed a lot.

No I cannot sell you WC animals from Washington state, it is illegal, and I wouldn't want to anyway.

Sinclair is a female. -Seth

Oops, another quick question. So I'm real big on organic gardening. No pesticides at all. I use beneficial nematodes. Anyways, I have cabbage moth worms, I collected them and now they are in the fridge. Can Sinclair eat these? And sow bugs, are those ok?

And why does she only eat food in the water? She won't touch anything in a bowl on land. She has no interest in chopped worms unless they are under water? But the slugs and crawling bugs she goes after. Is t a hunting thing? It moves more under water therefor feels like she's hunting? I'm just wondering...

Thanks,
Tori

You don't really need two filters in one tank with only 20 gallons of water, plus too much water current could potentially stress Sinclair.

-----for the filters, I've mad baffles that redirect the current so that he doesn't have to swim through it. And the other filter is in the water fountain and it produces no current at all . I've been building this thing for two months now, and reading everything I can find on these guys. I've even got some books on the way. But I did design it so that Sinclair doesn't have to swim through any moving water. I kinda wanted two filters since these Tetra filters kinda suck for what I paid for them. So far one rescued newt has cost me close to 600.00 for a custom set up. But, she's worth it! Lol

I would love to see pictures!
-----I'll upload some tonight . Is this the proper page to post them, or should I start a new topic?


I am not sure if driftwood raises nitrate levels. And feeding her every other day is probably too much, yes, unless you are only feeding a little bit. I only feed once or twice a week, but I feed a lot.
----- awwww, she's gonna be giving me those "feed me eyes" and hanging out in the front where I feed her. Poor girl. ;-)

No I cannot sell you WC animals from Washington state, it is illegal, and I wouldn't want to anyway.
------- holy snot, sorry! I honestly didn't know. Then do you know of a place that sells captive breed? I'd much rather do it that way. But I won't need them for a couple months. Are they easier to find captive during/after breeding season?

Sinclair is a female.
I have a little girl??? No wonder she has attitude. :lol:
-tori

BabySinclair said:

Oops, another quick question. So I'm real big on organic gardening. No pesticides at all. I use beneficial nematodes. Anyways, I have cabbage moth worms, I collected them and now they are in the fridge. Can Sinclair eat these? And sow bugs, are those ok?

And why does she only eat food in the water? She won't touch anything in a bowl on land. She has no interest in chopped worms unless they are under water? But the slugs and crawling bugs she goes after. Is t a hunting thing? It moves more under water therefor feels like she's hunting? I'm just wondering...

Thanks,
Tori

Click to expand...

Hey Tori,

As long as the cabbage moths aren't toxic/poison. And yes, sow bugs a perfectly fine.

I am not sure why she like hunting in the water better, but it was the same with the ones I had.

-----for the filters, I've mad baffles that redirect the current so that he doesn't have to swim through it. And the other filter is in the water fountain and it produces no current at all . I've been building this thing for two months now, and reading everything I can find on these guys. I've even got some books on the way. But I did design it so that Sinclair doesn't have to swim through any moving water. I kinda wanted two filters since these Tetra filters kinda suck for what I paid for them. So far one rescued newt has cost me close to 600.00 for a custom set up. But, she's worth it! Lol

Click to expand...

OK so than the filters aren't a problem. And by the way, water current may not be a problem with this species, they occasionally breed in streams, but it might also, so better be safe than sorry.

-----I'll upload some tonight . Is this the proper page to post them, or should I start a new topic?

Click to expand...

It's fine if you upload them to this thread.

------- holy snot, sorry! I honestly didn't know. Then do you know of a place that sells captive breed? I'd much rather do it that way. But I won't need them for a couple months. Are they easier to find captive during/after breeding season?

Click to expand...

It's alright. Some people on here might sell CB ones in the spring. Keep an eye on the for sale section.