Question: Few beginner questions

[hovercraft]

Hello all,

I am planning to get a couple of FB-newts soon, and after doing some research, still have a couple of questions. (Picked up a 10 gal tank yesterday, which is good for 2 newts right?

1. Substrate, What should I use? Can I use sand mixed with some larger rocks?

2. Plants I definitely want live plants for my little buddies, which ones are best in newt tanks? I've read Java Moss and Java Fern are easy, anything else? Any good online site for plants?

3. Decorations, Is there a certain way to pre treat decorations before putting them in the tank? I am a geologist and have lots of cool rocks/fossils that I'd like to use as decorations.

4. Filter, I picked up a Sponge FIlter since they don't produce any current, should that be fine for the tank? Do I need a airpump?

Thanks in advance for your help, can't wait to have some newts (had 1 when I was a kid and loved him)

 

[Azhael]

Hey, welcome to the forums!
You can find all the information you need in the CC articles (check my signature) and in the forums. There´s enough information to make your eyes bleed. However, as a quick response:

Fine sand or no substrate are the best choices. Don´t use use gravel.
Java moss and java fern are great options as well Elodea, any Hydrocotyle, Vallisneria, Anubias, etc, etc...
You can find info about preparing wood and other materials in the CC articles. An important point is to make sure you don´t use any rocks that contain soluble compounds that will alter the chemistry of the water.
If you use lots of live plants no filtration or aeration is required. In fact, it´s best avoided as no current is better than some current.

Now i´d like to give you some advice about the newts. I strongly recommend that you look for breeders in order to acquire captive bred animals. ALL newts available from pet-shops are wild-caught. They are imported in terrible conditions and many die before even reaching the costumer. Many more die shortly after being purchased because of the severe stress, exposure to patogens, negligent care, etc.
As a costumer even though these wild animals are cheap and widely available, you´ll be getting an animal with a crashed inmune system that is likely to develop infections or other problems. For the wild populations and the animals themselves, this takes a heavy toll.
Consider this before purchasing animals. It´s in your best interest and the animal´s.

 

[hovercraft]

Hey, welcome to the forums!
You can find all the information you need in the CC articles (check my signature) and in the forums. There´s enough information to make your eyes bleed. However, as a quick response:

Fine sand or no substrate are the best choices. Don´t use use gravel.
Java moss and java fern are great options as well Elodea, any Hydrocotyle, Vallisneria, Anubias, etc, etc...
You can find info about preparing wood and other materials in the CC articles. An important point is to make sure you don´t use any rocks that contain soluble compounds that will alter the chemistry of the water.
If you use lots of live plants no filtration or aeration is required. In fact, it´s best avoided as no current is better than some current.

Now i´d like to give you some advice about the newts. I strongly recommend that you look for breeders in order to acquire captive bred animals. ALL newts available from pet-shops are wild-caught. They are imported in terrible conditions and many die before even reaching the costumer. Many more die shortly after being purchased because of the severe stress, exposure to patogens, negligent care, etc.
As a costumer even though these wild animals are cheap and widely available, you´ll be getting an animal with a crashed inmune system that is likely to develop infections or other problems. For the wild populations and the animals themselves, this takes a heavy toll.
Consider this before purchasing animals. It´s in your best interest and the animal´s.

Thanks for the info! I will check out some of the articles
The pet shop I am going to get them from here have captive bred newts from a local breeder . And they said if mine eventually end up breeding, I can bring them the extra newts for store credit
First pet shop I checked had a tank with a dead newt in it, so I knew I had to find a better place than that!

 

[Azhael]

Excuse my skepticism but i´ve heard similar things before. Don´t just take their word for it. If they are selling cheap, adult sized animals with deep red bellies, they are almost certainly lying. If they are not, then this is a nice find.
This species is not the easiest to raise because of the tiny size of the metamorphs and the fact that they are typically hydrophobic to various degrees and pretty clumsy when it comes to eating. This translates in rather slow development for most individuals and the need for special foods and attention. Very few breeders would put in the time and effort to raise these newts to adulthood (which takes between 1-3 years) only to then sell them to a pet-shop at very low prices. Breeders almost always sell juveniles and if pet-shops generally strugle with aquatic adults, tiny terrestrial juveniles are far worse.

Of course this is all up to you, i just wanted to point out that pet-shops blatantly lying about the origin of their newts is a VERY common thing. It doesn´t mean it´s the case here, but it pays to be suspicious and not take their word for it no matter how nice they are. Me, i would never believe such a thing unless i got to meet the breeder, but then again, i´m jaded...

 

[hovercraft]

Yeah I am not sure if they will be juvenile's or adults yet, as they are awaiting some new ones. I will definitely investigate further. If they end up being wild caught, wouldn't it still be better for me to give them a proper home and food, rather than letting them die in the pet store?

If they end up being Juvies, what needs to be different about my tank set up? Juveniles need more land?

 

[Azhael]

It would be better for the individual newts although they will still be highly stressed, possibly already ill animals and taking them home may not make any difference. However, buying the newts has repercussions because it promotes further importations. If the shop knows they sell well, they´ll order more and more newts will suffer the same fate, except this time you may not be able to take them home too.
The best course of action if you don´t wish to participate or perpetuate this problem, sadly, is to not buy the newts, even if this means the poor things dying at the shop, because at least this might convince the shop owners to stop ordering them. In the long run, this means fewer deaths. It has worked in the past.

Sometimes people will buy ill or dying newts from shops to give them a "better" death...which is an understandable emotional response, but the message it sends to the shop is "i can make a profit from a dying, misstreated animal, yay!".

Juveniles of this species, Hypselotriton orientalis, typically undergo a terrestrial phase that might extend until the onset of maturity. They will drown in open water. Depending on the housing conditions, it is possible to keep most if not all individuals semi-aquatic and even aquatic but this requires specific things like huge amounts of plants, apropriate foods, etc, and in my opinion is best done with a certain amount of previous experience. If this is your first time as a serious newt keeper, i would strongly recommend other species rather than starting with tiny hydrophobic juveniles (or wild-caught adults for that matter)...There are plenty of widely available, captive bred species that make far better beginner choices and are just as fascinating and rewarding.

 

[hovercraft]

In my area, it's hard to find any other kinds besides Fire Bellies. One pet store has an Axolotl, but that's about it. I will try to look into online stores that ship maybe.

What other species would you recommend if I don't get fire bellies?

 

[Azhael]

Yeah, it seems Canada is not the best place for finding variety when it comes to caudates, but there must be some breeders somewhere that are able to ship to you. It may require quite a bit of patience.

The best beginner species as far as newts goes are Pleurodeles waltl, Triturus cristatus, T.karelinii, T.carnifex, T.dobrogicus, Tylototriton verrucosus, Hypselotriton cyanurus/chenggongensis and even Neurergus kaiseri. All of those can be kept fully aquatic from egg to adult, have larger juveniles and are robust and very easy to keep. P.waltl is probably the ideal species if you can find them.

 

[hovercraft]

Okay thanks for the suggestions

 

[hovercraft]

One store around here has a Marbeled salamander, how are they as a beginner salamander?

 

[Bellabelloo]

Marbled salamanders are very pretty, but I rarely see mine unless I dig them out. They are also terrestrial and rarely enter water. They are very easy to keep. But I wouldn't recommend them if you want something visible