I Need Help with Newt Enclosure Setup for Beginners

[eleanelbert]

Hey guys....

I am new to the world of keeping amphibians, and I recently decided to start with a newt. I have read through a lot of articles and watched quite a few videos, but I still feel a bit lost on how to set up the perfect enclosure. I want to make sure I provide a healthy and comfortable environment for my new pet, so I’m hoping for some guidance from more experienced keepers here.

I have a 20-gallon tank, but I am not sure about the best way to set up the land-to-water ratio. Some sources say to have mostly water with just a small land area, while others suggest a half-and-half approach. What has worked best for you? Also, what types of plants or substrates do you recommend? I’ve read that some newts like to burrow, but I’m worried about the substrate being too dense or too loose.

I had also appreciate any tips on water filtration and heating. Do I need a heater, or will room temperature suffice? How often should I change the water, and what type of filter is best for maintaining water quality without stressing the newt?

I also check this: https://www.caudata.org/threads/need-some-advice-on-new-newt-tank-setuqlik But I have not found any solution. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I just want to make sure I’m on the right track and doing everything I can to provide a safe and enriching home for my newt.

Thanks in advance!

 

[minorhero]

How much land (if any) is directly related to what species of newt you have. In the States we are somewhat limited on species because we can not import any newts into our country, so all non-natives come from hobbyists raising them in captivity. If you are in Turkey, then your country will have different laws regarding newts, and you might have much easier access to a variety of species. Bottom line though, if you are getting some species of firebelly or alpine newt, then they will not need or want land at all and you are much better off just keeping water in your tank with a small area they can haul out if they really want it (like a piece of floating cork bark).

If you have never kept an aquarium before, you will want to view videos or tutorials on how to setup a planted aquarium. There are many, many, many youtube videos on this. Bottom line is you need to learn about the nitrogen cycle and cycle your tank before you add a newt. Almost all the advice you find on planted tanks is good advice for newt keeping. The exceptions are as follows.

1) You need a lid that goes all the way around the edges. Newts can climb glass. Not well, but well enough to get out any hole near the edge of the tank at least as big as their head. Escapes from not having a proper lid is probably the most likely way newts die. You do not need the lid to cover the middle of the tank as newts can not go upside down. So a ledge all the way around the edge 8cm wide is sufficient.

2) You do not want to heat the water at all, you want to chill it. Newts want cold water, so ideally you would keep the temperatures in the 15C to 21C range year round. In the States I tell people you can accomplish this by having air conditioning in your house and then using a small usb powered fan to blow directly against the water's surface. This will triple water evaporation but reduce temperature a few degrees below room ambient. I do not know what your local climate is like or how common air conditioning is, so a usb powered fan may or may not be sufficient for you. Most newts will start to struggle around 25c and straight up die after 27c. Sooooo yeah, something to avoid.

3) Newts don't like a strong flow when it comes to filters. Most people use sponge filters because they can buy a mesh lid in the states very easily that will fit their tank and push an airline through one of the holes. That said, I prefer canister filters and just turn down the flow with a ball valve on the return line. I need to make custom lids for all my tanks because of this though. What you go with will be in part determined by your ability to make a lid work.

4) Some people believe it important to use only sand for substrate in newt tanks, they are worried about newts accidentally eating gravel. I don't have these concerns, but you will see it mentioned a lot. If you want to play it safe, then just use aquarium sands and steer clear of gravel or rocks small enough for a newt to swallow.

Those are the main points that newt tanks differ from a regular planted aquarium. Beyond these points you will see general disagreement about many different aspects of newt keeping as folks have had various levels of success with their own personal preferences and the internet being the internet, will declare their way of doing things the best and all others inferior

With that in mind, I am a big believer in water changes. I do 70% water changes in all my tanks once a week. Others will do substantially less. I keep my tanks at a very high standard regarding aesthetics, plant health, and animal health. So that is why I do such big water changes. Some folks only do a small water change once a month and don't worry about the algae. What you do is up to you. Good luck.

 

[Kaia]

Hey guys....

I am new to the world of keeping amphibians, and I recently decided to start with a newt. I have read through a lot of articles and watched quite a few videos, but I still feel a bit lost on how to set up the perfect enclosure. I want to make sure I provide a healthy and comfortable environment for my new pet, so I’m hoping for some guidance from more experienced keepers here.

I have a 20-gallon tank, but I am not sure about the best way to set up the land-to-water ratio. Some sources say to have mostly water with just a small land area, while others suggest a half-and-half approach. What has worked best for you? Also, what types of plants or substrates do you recommend? I’ve read that some newts like to burrow, but I’m worried about the substrate being too dense or too loose.

I had also appreciate any tips on water filtration and heating. Do I need a heater, or will room temperature suffice? How often should I change the water, and what type of filter is best for maintaining water quality without stressing the newt?

I also check this: https://www.caudata.org/threads/need-some-advice-on-new-newt-tank-setuqlik But I have not found any solution. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I just want to make sure I’m on the right track and doing everything I can to provide a safe and enriching home for my newt.

Thanks in advance!

Hello and Congrats! Newts are a delightful and long-lived pet. Mine are turning 25 this year. I'm in agreement with the other responder on several points,

Hey guys....

I am new to the world of keeping amphibians, and I recently decided to start with a newt. I have read through a lot of articles and watched quite a few videos, but I still feel a bit lost on how to set up the perfect enclosure. I want to make sure I provide a healthy and comfortable environment for my new pet, so I’m hoping for some guidance from more experienced keepers here.

I have a 20-gallon tank, but I am not sure about the best way to set up the land-to-water ratio. Some sources say to have mostly water with just a small land area, while others suggest a half-and-half approach. What has worked best for you? Also, what types of plants or substrates do you recommend? I’ve read that some newts like to burrow, but I’m worried about the substrate being too dense or too loose.

I had also appreciate any tips on water filtration and heating. Do I need a heater, or will room temperature suffice? How often should I change the water, and what type of filter is best for maintaining water quality without stressing the newt?

I also check this: https://www.caudata.org/threads/need-some-advice-on-new-newt-tank-setuqlik But I have not found any solution. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I just want to make sure I’m on the right track and doing everything I can to provide a safe and enriching home for my newt.

Thanks in advance!

Hello and Congrats!!
Newts are a delightful and long-lived pet. Mine turn 25 in a few months! And that is considering the day I got them from the store, so who knows what their actual age is. I'm also in the United States keeping Japanese Firebellies. However I do things a bit differently than the previous response so I thought I'd chime in.

First of all I'd highly recommend getting at least one more. Newts are social creatures and I will frequently find mine close together in the same region of the tank, sometimes even "cuddling" (on top of) each other. I use a half-and half approach with the substrate that has evolved over the years and I will share a bit about that. I use small, smooth, pebbles that are indeed "ingestible". I've found evidence when one of them was actually given an x-ray and you could see the stones in his belly! However I also find them in their excrement, so I know they are able to poop them out. Not too worried about it given their longevity. My guys actually seem to prefer being *mostly* out of the water, so I have minimized the possibility for them to ingest the stones by covering the land portion as much as possible with large-ish, smooth, flat rocks. (I live in the Pacific NW where the rivers are full of these!) Then I create places for them to "hide", building little caves for them by propping up this same kind of rock on top of other rocks. They are almost constantly hanging out in these so I know they appreciate my attention to detail. I use a very gentle "waterfall style" filter and minimize splashing by allowing the water to flow over a smooth, round stone. If there is splashing it does seem to stress them out. If it is possible for you to find a gentle filter small enough so that the entire unit can be below the surface of the water, that might be ideal. I used to be able to get one like that (TOM brand, for bettas) but of course it was discontinued. I think that my guys might prefer the land in part because I do not have plants. The prospect of learning about managing nitrogen levels, doing partial water changes, and doing the trial-and-error process with that was too overwhelming for me. So their water side just has some large rocks in it. What I've learned over the years is that they have a preference for the "middle zone" of the tank, where I build in some pools where they can recline, partially in and partially out of the water. These of course are cave-style and have "lids" so they feel protected. This is great because it's easy enough for me to find them when I want to feed them just by picking up the lids temporarily and replacing them when I am done feeding.

About feeding. Mine are hand-fed. One is large/plump/always hungry and the other is the opposite, so I have to make sure to not let the tiny one starve. They only eat bloodworms (aka blackworms aka tubifex worms) and I would strongly strongly recommend getting them used to eating the frozen variety if this is what you are feeding. (I would have to write a whole separate post about the process involved with keeping live blackworms. Let me know if you are going to go this route. The reason I don't recommend it is that they are very heat-sensitive and difficult to get access to in the heat of the summer... and if this is all your newts are used to, they will turn their noses up at the frozen kind). So anyway another bonus of hand-feeding is that it really helps to keep the tank clean. I just form a perfect little bite-sized worm clump on my finger, and I make sure that they are on a flat, smooth, rock that does not have pebbles on it (which is almost everywhere in my setup). This is because when eating on land, newts will "kill" their prey by twisting their bodies around and dragging the worm clump on the ground. And if they do this on the pebbles you can see the problems with this. It helps if the worm clump is not too wet, so I have a stone that is very absorbent specifically for the purpose of "drying" the clumps a bit so that they are easier for them to get a hold of.

I second the previous advice about water temps and the lid. I simply keep the ambient temperature in the room between 55 and 70 degress F at all times. In all honesty, it's probably closer to between 60 and 70. Because even though I know (based on what I have read) that it's totally fine for them to do so, I don't like to see it when their metabolism slows down and they start to enter a hibernation-like state (this happens at lower temps). It looks like they are dying and I just don't want to risk that. I do full water changes and rub the algae that accumulates off the rocks once a month. The whole process from start to finish takes 2 hours so it's a bit involved but it's literally the only maintenance required. And plus it's a bit of a healthy mindfulness exercise for me to get the set up just right with the caves, the pools, and the pebble-free feeding zone. I use water that has been filtered by a carbon filter and I have done random checks here and there of the water but everything is always in the right range so I don't worry about that too much. I think that another main reason the previous poster has been successful with their mostly aquatic setup is that they have figured out how to customize the filter so that the flow is not too intense. My guys really don't like much movement in the water at all. I've felt bad about this and so will sometimes unplug the filter to give them an opportunity to enter the water, but they have never taken me up on it. I guess newts, like humans, can be creatures of habit.

I don't know about burrowing or other species so maybe none of this applies, lol. Just wanted to share because newts are wonderful pets that can bring so much joy. Mine can be found on instagram at n.gingrich if you'd like to say hi. . Best of luck to you!!!