A few questions on fire-bellied newts

[jazz298]

I have a few questions about fire bellied newts.

Can you use just regular soil, yes i know, without fertilizers. And do you have to have something else to accompany the soil underneath. Or is just all soil alright.

Is there ANYTHING that you can have in the tank with fire bellied newts. What types of fish are possible, and frogs/toads, such as fire bellied toads.

How do you keep the tank cool in the summer time, as the temperature in my house can get very muggy and warm.

And last but not least, are any plants possible, or is there some that should be avoided that may harm newts. Is there somewhere that says what plants to use and which to avoid.

Those are my questions right now, there will probably be more. Your guys' help is much appreciated!

 

[lims]

hello Jazz,
I would recomend no soil at all, keep them aquatically or semi-aquatically.
Have a well planted tank as they like to climb on the plants underwater.
You could use sand for the bottom.
provide a small island or land section of some kind.

However, if they are very young still, you might be better off keeping them on land like you originally thought

 

[jazz298]

I wasnt talking about having all land. I know how to lay out a tank, with water and land
All I wanted to know is if i can just have soil, instead of gravel or sand. Basically wether it would harm the newt or not

 

[JWERNER]

Can you use just regular soil, yes i know, without fertilizers. And do you have to have something else to accompany the soil underneath. Or is just all soil alright.

With out perlite or vermiculite, yes.

Is there ANYTHING that you can have in the tank with fire bellied newts. What types of fish are possible, and frogs/toads, such as fire bellied toads.

Small cold water fish like White Clouds, some Guromies ( dwarfs ), and Danios. But I suggest something along the lines of a 20L, also with that being said the stress level on the fish may be lowered if you keep some like the Clouds and Danios in schools but I would only suggest doing it in a tank with more water. Also make sure that they grow and fast cause if they are small enough they will get eaten.

How do you keep the tank cool in the summer time, as the temperature in my house can get very muggy and warm.

What I would do, well what I did before I had the luxury of central air was do daily water changes if the temps are high with the desired temp of water once in the morning and once at night and in between add a few ice cubes. I'm sure someone might have better ideas but this is what I did and it worked.

And last but not least, are any plants possible, or is there some that should be avoided that may harm newts. Is there somewhere that says what plants to use and which to avoid.

There is lots of info out there, I suggest googling something like cold water aquarium plants or searching the site. I use some plants said to be tropical that I have no trouble with keeping at room and temps and cooler. Java moss is good and so is duck weed but be carefull of the duck weed, I had it grow in mass amounts that I had to remove it ( allot of it ) every few days. If the tank is big enough I use a water hyacinth but you should use a big tank so you can keep the water cool some how while providing ample light and space. They will rot if in contact with wood ( or other objects ) that is kept damp ( half in water and half out) and need lots of light to grow.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[JWERNER]

Oh, and make sure you use something under the soil for drainage like gravel and try your best by using plexi glass or something to divide the sections from each other ( I have already gone with out doing so successfully but can be messy ).

 

[jazz298]

I have a 33 gallon, long tank, so i am not concerned about not having enough space for enough water, plants, or newts! thanks for the answers it helps alot.
As for the plexi glass wouldnt that defeat the purpose of the drainage, or do you drill holes in it or cut it somehow?

 

[JWERNER]

Trust me its still good to give the plants soil some drainage regardless. If you have the tools, drilling would be great, you can just put on some type of valve to release the water after it builds up to much. Keep in mind, the more humidity the higher the temps will rise on you.

Good luck again and post some pics of the 30G!

 

[jazz298]

sorry but im confused, if i drain it, it would be stuck at the bottom of the tank, what good would that do

 

[Jennewt]

The risk with soil is that the newt(s) will walk back and forth between soil and water, and they will drag dirt into the water. There's no huge harm in that, but it looks messy and may cloud up the water. If you really need a soil-like substrate, I would suggest using coco-fiber (bed-a-beast type stuff), not real dirt. Some may end up in the water, but it won't cloud the tank.

Another problem with divided tanks is that if the land side gets waterlogged, it's a mess to get the stagnant water out (and this is true, regardless of whether you use gravel, sand, soil, whatever). I've had this happen. Thus, I highly recommend keeping the water level well below the "lip" of the divider, or putting in some kind of ledge.

 

[jazz298]

I only plan on having a slope of subtrate, and adding water to it, i dont plan on having the water actaully separated from the the land
i just did not want to have to mix 2 different substrates because then its hard to re-scape the tank. very messy

 

[JWERNER]

sorry but im confused, if i drain it, it would be stuck at the bottom of the tank, what good would that do

If you read up on how this is done by lots of pro's and such you will understand. This is why I said it would even be better yet if you could drill ( I thought that was something you mentioned) and place a drainage valve in the hole. It is best if your going to use terrestrial plants, even when taking care of house plants and all they tell you that you should have drainage or at least make sure you don't over water it. Even the pots almost always have holes in them for this as well.


I never had a problem with potting soil and other substrates like it doing anything wrong but, sometimes things happen I guess. It never clouded the water for me and when the animal did carry it into the water ( I had frogs most of the time ) it settled to the bottom and just got sucked out with the next water change.

I went many ways with making Vivariums and Terrariums and I never went wrong with any ideas, ( there are many out there that I chose )this might just be some simple words but I feel it is ones you could take as advice.

I had tanks do fine with just some gravel pilled up then a gradient slope down toward the water with soil substrates on top, never any harm as well as tanks using the same method but no soil. I had tanks divided by plexi glass and some with just wood and I tell yah, I never had anything go wrong. The whole point of dividing it is so that you don't water log the dry side, I don't get that one. You then follow it with gravel for drainage so that it don't keep the soil wet and dries up faster.

Do some searching, you'll find that even false bottoms have gravel for drainage but like I said it is not always needed, its just a suggestion toward what may fit you best but what will fit you best is always what you should look for.

Now your last post, and I may be wrong about this, seems as if you asked if you could use just soil for the water and land substrate. If that is so I would say no.

 

[jazz298]

I'm just trying to understand everything before I go out and buy a live animal, I cannot find anything on the internet that helps me with trying to get the substrates layed out correctly, and the correct kind. I cannot find pictures anywhere for ideas and apparently words aren't helping me any. So if any one has pictures or something like that to help me out that would be great, even if they are from the internet.
I am about to just put fish in the tank, at least I already know how to do that much!

 

[tomthlee]

Here's a picture of my fire-bellied newt tank (sorry about the water spot stains):

Size: 25 gallons
Light: 18" fluorescent tube 15 watts (low light)
Substrate: washed playsand
Plants: Java fern, java moss, bits of duckweed, a tiny watersprite, lucky bamboo, and pothos

Before building this tank, I considered the idea of a divider set-up but I concluded that such a set-up robs the newts of swimming space. Cynops are a mainly aquatic species that require only a small haul-out area. I provided this on the right-hand side with a cork bark deck. Even so, it rarely gets used.

I hope that helps!

 

[Jennewt]

There are a bunch of photos of aquatic and semi-aquatic tanks here:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups.shtml
If there's a specific one you like, you can ask about how to design it. In general, I stick to having just terrariums with water dishes, or fully aquatic tanks with just islands. Trying to do soil and water is tough.

Tom, may I post the photo of your tank in the page I linked above?

 

[tomthlee]

Absolutely, Jen. Feel free to crop out the junk at the bottom. Thanks!

 

[lims]

I keep a small clean up team of freshwater shrimps for my fire bellies, they are no bother and eat nearly anything (including wrestling segments of earthworm and eating them alive, footage coming soon...) you dont have to feed them really they will just scrape a living somehow, someway,,, mostly on your newts leftovers or just algea I think.
You can get them form fish shops and pet shops, various different kinds, some have very small (harmless to newts) pincer arms, for manouvering bloodworms into the 'eating jaws' or just intimidating other less fortunate shrimps, not gifted with such impressive apparatus...

 

[MRIGUY]

I have a pair of C.o. in a 6 gallon Eclipse system The land o water ratio is 40/60. One of the C.o.'s never leaves the water and the other never leaves the land. Both are healthy eaters and seem quite happy. I have a sloping layer of gravel covered with a nice growth of moss and 2 small plants. There is a small driftwood thrown in for accent. I'll try to post a pic later tonight.

 

[lims]

I'm going to post pictures of my newly constructed 30 gallon tank soon. What you could do (if you want) is build a structure underwater out of aquarium wood then wedge/build up rocks on top of it for the newts to rest on. The underwater bit provides caves and hiding places too.
you can then get moss to grow on the rocks if you want.
Small spider plant cuttings can be planted in the cracks of the rocks and will grow well with no soil at all, roots will go straight into the water. Another plant which you could use would be creeping jenny. This grows fast over rockeries and even lives underwater aswell, I find enclosures like this work well for Fire bellies, as they are mostly in the water anyway. I might go for a set up like you are talking about for a European species though...