Paddletail Newt Help

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Cirrus

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Paddletail Newt Out of Water

I have a paddletail newt, and he's acting really strange in the last couple of days.

I just recently changed his tank setup - I had rocks kind of piled up to give him some land space (which, being a paddletail, he NEVER used - but I like to have it there just in case), but that never gave him quite enough water space for my liking. So just recently I took out most of the rocks and put in a floating dock, and while doing this i had to do a complete water change.

Since then, he's been acting really strange. He's not eating, which has never been a problem before, and I noticed yesterday that he's spending time on the dock, out of the water - which is completely abnormal behavior for him. He doesn't seem lethargic or anything - he's walking around when he's in the water, and not just laying in one place. Even out of the water, he's been standing up as if he's trying to get out of the tank entirely (impossible, by the way - so I'm not worried about that).

I realize the water isn't cycled yet because of the change - but I've done complete water changes before and he's never reacted like this.

What's wrong with my newt?
 
Re: Paddletail Newt Out of Water

Are you doing adequate water changes? When you do a 100% water change and remove a significant portion of the decorations in the tank, you run the risk of killing off some of the beneficial bacteria in your tank, which could cause elevated ammonia levels.
 
Re: Paddletail Newt Out of Water

Cirrus said:
I have a paddletail newt, and he's acting really strange in the last couple of days.

I just recently changed his tank setup - I had rocks kind of piled up to give him some land space (which, being a paddletail, he NEVER used - but I like to have it there just in case), but that never gave him quite enough water space for my liking. So just recently I took out most of the rocks and put in a floating dock, and while doing this i had to do a complete water change.

Since then, he's been acting really strange. He's not eating, which has never been a problem before, and I noticed yesterday that he's spending time on the dock, out of the water - which is completely abnormal behavior for him. He doesn't seem lethargic or anything - he's walking around when he's in the water, and not just laying in one place. Even out of the water, he's been standing up as if he's trying to get out of the tank entirely (impossible, by the way - so I'm not worried about that).

I realize the water isn't cycled yet because of the change - but I've done complete water changes before and he's never reacted like this.

What's wrong with my newt?
Click to expand...

It sounds to me that either he's confused (how long was your set-up left as his home?), some newts set home territories and become stressed when removed or environmental changes occur. Also, you might have a problem with water "hardness". How long did you let your water run before using? If you did a water change and iron wasn't cycled or dilluted it could cause these reactions from him...
 
I don't think it really has anything to do with him being confused or with the hardness. I think it's probably the bad water quality like Kaysie stated. You'll need to be doing daily water changes until your parameters are normal.
 
hey,
As Will stated, it has probably nothing to do with water hardness. The main reason it could be doing this, is because of the 100% water changes. Do not under most circumstances, do a full water change. This will kill off most if not all the beneficial bacteria which you need to have a healthy aquatic setup. In future only do 10-20% water changes.

Blackhawk
 
Re: Paddletail Newt Out of Water

jbherpin said:
Also, you might have a problem with water "hardness". How long did you let your water run before using? If you did a water change and iron wasn't cycled or dilluted it could cause these reactions from him...
Click to expand...
Can you please explain this to me? I would like to know where you're getting your information.
 
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