housing male paddle tail newt

[moonstream]

today at the LFS I was sold a young male paddle tail as a fire belly newt, and I didnt realize the false identifacation until I got home. I have no poblem w/ having a paddle tail instead, tho I dont eally know much about them, and cant find much about them anywhere. I am wondering if they can be kept w/ any other kind of newt or amphibian? could they live with a male betta? small fish? could they be kept in a paludaium? do they need more water or land? what should I feed him? can he be kept w/ a female in, say, a 15g long or a 20g high?

right now he is in a 1/2 filled 5.5g w/ a rock island and a 15 watt light over him, I fed him some bloodworms, but he didnt notice them. also, what should the PH and temp of their water be? what would good tankmates be? could he be kept in the same tank as fire belly newts?

also, I fed him some small bloodworms that he didnt seem to notice, what is better food? is it okay that he has no filter in his tank? by the way, I named him Zeke.

 

[lilsoul]

they are very aggressive and don't do well with anything you might be able to keep a female with him if the tank is big enough with a lot of plants and hides for them.Try feeding them earth worms.

 

[Kaysie]

James, you're spot on with your paddletail description: they shouldn't be kept with anything due to their aggression. However, we discerned in another thread that the species in question is not a paddletail, but rather a japanese fire belly.

 

[moonstream]

I am now setting up Zeke's permanent home, a 15g w/ great stuff foam land area and many live plants. will update on progress. plan to have live plants, wood, rocks, and some gavel as the main substrate.

I am planning to keep several cool water fish in the tank w/ the newt, including my male betta (I plan to come up w/ a way to keep him and Zeke separate tho).

 

[Kaysie]

I assume you posted this before reading the other thread, and now know that fish and newts are a bad idea.

Also, JFB don't really need much land area, and using Great Stuff to make a land area will take up significant volume in your tank, leaving little over for water. It's best to maximize water volume, and provide floating plants or cork bark or something similar as your land area.

 

[moonstream]

the land area will be a floating island of foam, also in a 15g he will have plenty of swimming room.

as for the fish, I am only looking into species that wont impact water quality, wont turn aggressive, and if they do get eaten by the newt, wont be harmful. at the slightest sign of aggression I will be removing any fish I may have, as I have plenty of other tanks to keep them in. the betta I plan to house in the tank will be separated in a small container full of water that the newt cant get into.

 

[Kaysie]

Did you read the species mixing disaster page? It's just not a good idea. For one, ANY animal in the tank will impact water quality, as they all excrete waste. Second, even seemingly non-aggressive species, such as cory catfish or white cloud minnows can be fin nippers, or possess dangerous spines which have been known to impale caudates when they try to eat fish.

Also, caudates usually inhabit fishless waters, so having fish in the tank is a foreign object, and can induce stress in your newt. Bettas are called 'fighting fish' for a reason. You'll stress the betta out by constantly exposing it to the newt. And you highly underestimate the ability of newts to get into spots you don't think they'll fit. You're not the first person who's thought that they have the perfect solution to mixing species. There are hundreds of stories on the boards of people who have tried.

 

[moonstream]

well, after the betta was in QT w/ him for about 10 seconds he hid and didnt come out until the betta was gone, so no fish.

I am thinking about doing a biotope tank, anyone have and pics of their natural habitat?

 

[lims]

I could be totally wrong but don't paddle tails actually eat small fish in the wild?
But Kaysie is right, its probably not worth the risk, care should certainly be taken. I am tempted to think white clouds would be ok, unless I'm really missing something..

 

[Kaysie]

Sam, I think that's true, but we've determined it's a Japanese firebelly, not a paddletail. But if it was a paddletail, any fish 'cohabitating' would just be food.

 

[Lasher]

I could be totally wrong but don't paddle tails actually eat small fish in the wild?

I wouldnt say 'small' fish, the last paddle tail I kept(about 5 inchs long) happily chomped his way through several smallish(inch, inch and a half) guppy's... and a 3.5 inch otto. I came home one night and he was just sat in the middle of the tank looking smug with the tail fin sticking out his mouth.

I've always kept some fish with FBN's - minnows seem to do fine(my current batch are breeding like... well, minnows!). The newts will sit eyeing them up, occasionaly even try and grab one but I've never seen one eaten. Friends have had success with neon and black tetra's, as well.
Small otto's will live happily with FBN's as well, I know alot of people will probably disagree with me on this one, but never had any problems personaly. I'll add I've never had an otto die from stress, either.

Sufficient space for newts and fish in the tank is very important though. If you have two creatures that like to hang out in the same little corner your going to have problems.