The Herp sin

So my brother has been interested in getting some caudates since i got my white's tree frogs, and yesterday he did the unthinkable. He went to a pet store, and bought some fire bellied newts. Its not the first time hes pulled this act, even tho ive told him never to buy animals from these stores. So i dont know what to do. He has them set up in his room, so i lent him one of my Fluval filters, for the 30 gallon tank we had lying around. Hes also using bags of riverbed sand(exo terra), some clay pots, and live plants he bought at the pet store. He doesnt even have a LID for the tank! so i told him to tape up the sides to create about 2 1/2 inches of overhang. Anyway there are no escapes yet, and i am helping him make a screen top right as we speak. The newts are quite small, measuring a little under 2 inches. I just need to know how deep the water should b for these guys, whats the best food, and anything else you think we should know. Here are some pictures:

Note from John: Moved to the help section. Please don't post basic questions in the Advanced Section.

Well, it looks like you have enough water. I'm no expert at this species, but at that size I might give them a little land area as they might not be fully aquatic. I would also take out the lucky bamboo as I believe that is not an aquatic plant. It also doesn't sound like the aquarium is cycled, which is why you should do frequent water changes until it is or transfer someestablished filter media from another tank. Go to Caudata Culture.

If not a land area, at least some floating bark or a tank decoration that breaks the surface of the water.

From what i see in the pictures i´d say that even though they are probably young, they look adult. This means that ideally they should be aquatic. But i also see in the pictures that the newts hang in the surface, trying to get out. That means they need to be terrestrial. If you force them to stay aquatic they might even drown.
It could also be that since the tank is not cycled, the water quality is not right and the newts don´t want to be aquatic in such conditions. Temperature might also be a factor.

I´d offer them some terrestrial area, like a piece of cork bark, and see if they use it. If they do, and refuse to go into the water, then keeping them ina quarantine type terrestrial set-up would be better.

Once they are fully aquatic you should use all the aquarium volume as water area. The more water the better.

As far as food goes, earthworms are the best. Bloodworms are also good, and you can also offer waxworms, daphnia, blackworms, small crickets...

I´m glad that you have such an opinion about WC animals....but as a small brother myself, i can say that we tend to do the opposite to what our brothers say xD
The damage is done, hopefully in the future your brother will realize that buying from WC is not a good choice for him as hobbyists and for the species. Now make sure they are taken good care of

I havent spent very much time with my brothers newts this past week but from what I have seen, he is feeding them frozen bloodworms with tweezers. From what he tells me only one of the newts spends most of the time in the water the other 3 stay on land with part of their body in the water. Temperatures have been an issue right now as I am using the fan attachment and much freezer space storing ice packs for my crested newts. Feels like its time to get a chiller :bowl:. I have also provided my brother with what Test Kits I have (Nitrate,pH), hopefully he is monitoring such things :wacko:. The filter is also not being obstructed by anything creating quite a bit of current...probably not very ideal for these small newts.

will try to keep you posted

You'll also need Ammonia and Nitrite test kits, as those are the first things that spike when you are going through a cycle.