Fire Belly newt newbie help

[planetwaves]

Hello guys im new to newts but i recently brought two fbn from my local pet shop.(Are these chinese fire bellynewts?) I currently have them in a 29 gallon tank with a TetraFauna Viquarium (which also have an 3 stage filter) . I was thinking to add some coco husk and layer that with a nice moss carpet but i wanted live plants for the land side. Would the plants grow in the coco husk if so what kind of plants. For the water side i have drift wood for now its bare bottom i wanted some sand for that side. Can plants grow in the sand ? Help i like hardy low lighting plants. Any ideas or suggestions.

 

[Asevernnnn]

Here are some links that might help you out, heathy H. orientalis would require a large land area like that. It also looks like the worms you're trying to feed are way to large for the newts to eat.
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly
Caudata Culture Articles - How to Feed a Large Worm to a Small Newt
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...-new-chinese-fire-belly-newts-not-eating.html

 

[planetwaves]

Thanks for the link and yeah i kinda figured out about the worm later on that night i give them blood worms. And would you know about any good plant species?

 

[Asevernnnn]

Bloodworms are nutritionally incomplete, worms or carnivore pellets should be fed as a staple instead, they will most likely refuse pellets on land.
In my tanks I have mostly java moss, java fern, hornwort and elodea.

 

[planetwaves]

How many fire belly can i keep in a 29 gallon of you know? And whats the name of the pellets so i can buy some tomorrow?

 

[Asevernnnn]

How many fire belly can i keep in a 29 gallon of you know? And whats the name of the pellets so i can buy some tomorrow?

Any carnivore or newt pellet should work, if they aren't in the water they won't take them.
You could keep several in a tank of that size if it was filled to nearly the top w/ a floating land mass. I would wait until you get everything setup and under control before you even consider buying more. Buying from a breeder would also be best than buying WC petstore newts

 

[Chinadog]

If you fill the tank to the top with water, you could easily keep eight newts in there.
However, you need to do a hell of a lot of reading and perfect their tank first, even for the ones you have now to live very long.

The good news is Chinese firebellies are simple to care for as long as their basic needs are met. All they really need to be happy is a clean, cold aquarium with lots of live plants to hang out and rest in. It doesn't matter what kind of plants, just the cheap, fast growing pond weed type stuff you find in petstores is fine, It should be either left floating or at least allowed to grow across the water surface so the newts can rest within easy reach of the surface.
The only land area they need is either a small cork float or island, they will probably not use it once they're settled, but it should be there if they want it.

As well as the links Aaron has posted there's years and years worth of info on here in both the help section and the advanced Firebelly and Sword tail newt topics, but if you are unsure of anything at all ask away and we'll help if we can.

If you do decide to get more newts I would strongly urge you not to buy any more from the pet store. Petstore newts are highly stressed and often sick after suffering in transit from China and again in petstores. You can find healthy, captive bred ones for sale on here cheaply. I've added an old link, but sadly, its still 100% relevant today.

http://www.caudata.org/people/JM/firebelly.html

 

[planetwaves]

So lets say i decide to get rid of the fire belly newts which or salamander would be perfect for this set up?

 

[jamessamlev]

Alpines, warty, marbled, ribbed. All those newts would do fine and in this setup u could have around 3-4 of each

 

[Asevernnnn]

Alpines, warty, marbled, ribbed. All those newts would do fine and in this setup u could have around 3-4 of each

Most newts your going to find will be mostly terrestrial or mostly aquatic. Alpines, Warty, and Ribbed newts can all be maintained in a mostly aquatic tank with a floating land mass. Marbled newts can be kept several different ways, but terrestrial is the most accepted way with an aquatic setup during the breeding season.
Some species of Tylototriton such as T. verrucosus and adult T. kweichowensis/T. yangi may use both ends but may also just stick to using one side.
I personally think the setup would be better for like Firebelly toads, or baby turtles.