ciara
New member
Hi! I'm a newbie and I'm about to write an essay, apologies in advance-
I have had CFB newts for over a year... and they laid loads of eggs, which I wasn't expecting!
So I have managed to "take care" of them as larvae just by leaving them in with the parents tank because it had loads of hiding places and it already had micro foods for them to eat and they seemed to be doing fine.
I cycled a new tank (100l) and created a paludarium with shallower water and more land than the original tank and more aquarium plants and java moss etc... (was quite rushed so it hasn't turned out the be the best design, but managed to get another slightly bigger tank for free so will be spending more time creating that one)
I transferred 2 larvae in to the new tank to begin with.... the ones I assumed were near morphing (wasn't really sure what to look out for, but I panicked and put them in just in case).
I gradually added a few more larvae- over several days, in case I broke the cycle (think there's now 8 in there), but everything's still been working well. I was buying live Daphnia from Ebay and live white worms (which they love)- they also eat frozen foods too which is a bonus. I did try/ am trying to hatch brine shrimp with no success.
So on Friday I noticed one of the larvae was going to morph that day because he looked like a tiny newt clone and I could barely see gills (so at least now I know what to look out for). The next morning I woke up to find him on the land portion- thankfully
However as I hadn't prepared for it to happen so quickly there was no where really to hide except I'd made some "cave's" using those black aquarium plant pots dug into the substrate and covered with more substrate. I went and bought cork bark so now he has somewhere proper to hide- finding moss seems to be impossible. I would prefer moss because the substrate's getting stuck all over him....Question, is that ok? :s (they naturally burrow right?)
I've made the land portion using perspex with holes drilled for drainage.There's a gap between the water level and the shelf. I added a ramp and used plumbing pipes for support- both with gravel siliconed on- just for aesthetics and also for them to grip the ramp. I then added a layer of gravel (pea gravel) on top of the silicone shelf (hopefully to help with drainage), then used a mixture of coco husk, fir orchid bark- newt friendly, and a little sand for substrate.
I've planted the water portion as much as I can physically, but I need help with the land section- I've planted a tiny Maidenhead fern and some English ivy so far, I know some ivy is safe, but was wondering if anyone knows about English ivy- newt safe? Does anyone have any other plant ideas?
Also I've read it's normal for newly morphed efts not to eat how long does this usually last/ how long before it becomes an issue? What foods are good?
Do I need to keep him well hydrated or will misting the substrate do that?
The last question I need to know is whether coco husk getting into the water section is bad?
Would appreciate some help- have read so many posts I can't keep track of information anymore! Sorry it's such a long post. Please feel free to let me know if there's anything wrong with my set up too appreciated-
Ciara :dizzy:
I have had CFB newts for over a year... and they laid loads of eggs, which I wasn't expecting!
So I have managed to "take care" of them as larvae just by leaving them in with the parents tank because it had loads of hiding places and it already had micro foods for them to eat and they seemed to be doing fine.
I cycled a new tank (100l) and created a paludarium with shallower water and more land than the original tank and more aquarium plants and java moss etc... (was quite rushed so it hasn't turned out the be the best design, but managed to get another slightly bigger tank for free so will be spending more time creating that one)
I transferred 2 larvae in to the new tank to begin with.... the ones I assumed were near morphing (wasn't really sure what to look out for, but I panicked and put them in just in case).
I gradually added a few more larvae- over several days, in case I broke the cycle (think there's now 8 in there), but everything's still been working well. I was buying live Daphnia from Ebay and live white worms (which they love)- they also eat frozen foods too which is a bonus. I did try/ am trying to hatch brine shrimp with no success.
So on Friday I noticed one of the larvae was going to morph that day because he looked like a tiny newt clone and I could barely see gills (so at least now I know what to look out for). The next morning I woke up to find him on the land portion- thankfully
However as I hadn't prepared for it to happen so quickly there was no where really to hide except I'd made some "cave's" using those black aquarium plant pots dug into the substrate and covered with more substrate. I went and bought cork bark so now he has somewhere proper to hide- finding moss seems to be impossible. I would prefer moss because the substrate's getting stuck all over him....Question, is that ok? :s (they naturally burrow right?)
I've made the land portion using perspex with holes drilled for drainage.There's a gap between the water level and the shelf. I added a ramp and used plumbing pipes for support- both with gravel siliconed on- just for aesthetics and also for them to grip the ramp. I then added a layer of gravel (pea gravel) on top of the silicone shelf (hopefully to help with drainage), then used a mixture of coco husk, fir orchid bark- newt friendly, and a little sand for substrate.
I've planted the water portion as much as I can physically, but I need help with the land section- I've planted a tiny Maidenhead fern and some English ivy so far, I know some ivy is safe, but was wondering if anyone knows about English ivy- newt safe? Does anyone have any other plant ideas?
Also I've read it's normal for newly morphed efts not to eat how long does this usually last/ how long before it becomes an issue? What foods are good?
Do I need to keep him well hydrated or will misting the substrate do that?
The last question I need to know is whether coco husk getting into the water section is bad?
Would appreciate some help- have read so many posts I can't keep track of information anymore! Sorry it's such a long post. Please feel free to let me know if there's anything wrong with my set up too appreciated-
Ciara :dizzy: