C.e.popei setup

You got me wondering about those decaying leaves Tim. They don't spoil the water to much? Or can you keep up by refreshing the water?

Doesn't the sand get syphoned?

Thanks for the complements, guys! I haven't seen this thread in about a year so I have to catch up...

Joei, I refresh the water about every two weeks, so acidity doesn't seem to be a problem, though I haven't measured it in a long, long time. If I don't refresh the water, the tank becomes dark with tannic acid since I'm not using a a charcoal filter (Yago, I prefer not to as the darkening of the water prompts me to make those water changes!). I don't suspect any problem with water quality as larvae thrive in this tank and the newts are healthy (and laying more eggs...). Most of the leaves eventually decayed to the extent that they broke up and have been siphoned out.

Mark, Much of the soil has disappeared as well, the fine particles having been collected in the sponge filter. The substrate doesn't normally get siphoned as I only ever siphon the upper part of the left side of the tank, where there is hardly any substrate. Also, I don't siphon the other "wilder" side of the tank as I use a motor siphon and I have to be able to see clearly to avoid sucking in any of the many larvae in this tank. I feed and siphon on the left, though I sometimes drop a single cube of frozen bloodworm cube on the right side for the larvae to find.

Joseph, a judgment as to whether I damaged the environment would be subjective. It would depend on how much a purist one is. For one, the environment there is already extensively damaged by human activities. I doubt my collection of a small quantity of sand and gravel, a few rocks, and some leaves and branches had any significant detrimental effects, but the opposite could easily be argued. One could even say I damaged the environment by setting foot there in the first place. And then by walking through the forest, trampling on vegetation, spreading all sorts of alien pathogens. Not to mention bringing some newts back with me! So yes, I would say I didn't damage the habitat "to too much of an extent"

By the way, the moss, the driftwood and the plants (mostly Egeria densa) in that tank are not from Okinawa. So it's just a semi-natural setup.

Leo, the dozen or so newts in there spend most of their time in the water but there are usually a few on land.

Hello Tim!

I have to say "BEAUTIFUL". This is my dream tank (or should I say my newts!). I use egeria densa also, plus bacopa. I have also put in some local plants. (I live in the Pacific Northwest and there are lots of mosses, and ferns, here to pick from.)

I love the natural settings - the best.

Thank you.

I also agree, I love it. There is no way I would ever be able to make that though, ha ha. Where do you live? Just curious, like what state?

Beautiful setup Tim. A veritable "newtopia!"

Thanks for all those kind words.

I guess I should post a new pic of that tank since the one at the top is from a year ago, and only a week or two after it was set up. It has a more "lived-in" look now. And an extended land area with more moss. I often find morphs on the moss (including one this morning), which I remove from the tank. It's less attractive now though as plastic strips are being used for egg deposition.

Mark, I live in Tokyo (but I'm originally from Colorado, where I see you live). Pamela, how lucky you are to live in the Great Northwest! That's where I'd like to eventually retire (in a place with lots of moss and ferns, smack in the middle of a Taricha migration path

I really, really like the look of fallen leaves in a tank, and it's perfectly natural from what I've seen of the habitat of C. ensicauda. In the limited confines of a tank, however, it's a question of newt tolerance for acidity and keeper vigilance for water quality. Perhaps I'll keep a record of pH fluctuation this time around and post the results!

Tim---wow! Hope you don't mind me using the setup as desktop wallpaper?

Wow, you used to live in Colorado. Now you live in Japan, how is that working out for you. So you got the newts from Japan, or Colorado? I can't wait to see the updated pictures, that will be awesome!

That is an extremely nice setup. Very good imagination required for that. Good Job!

Thank you for the explanation Tim
I'm curious about how the tank looks now too