Is my enclosure suitable?

[Dips]

Hello all,

This is my first post on this website. For a few months now, my roommate and I have been setting up a viquarium in a 50 gallon aquarium. Currently, it is about 30% land, 70% water. The current PH is around 7, temperature is right around 72F. There are two filters, and currently there is a current near one side of the water. We also have several fish in the aquarium (guppies, tetras, neons). The water side is nearly a foot deep with rocks protruding, a shale "basking" area, plastic plants (though I'm going to add live), and a few hiding spots. The room is kept around 70 degrees.



My roommate and I are considering making a transition to a newt or salamander. Does anyone have any ideas for suitable species that would find these conditions suitable? Or any tweaks we could make to the tank to make it suitable?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Wildebeestking]

You would need to remove the fish of course, for the obvious reason that they cannot coexist without either the salamanders or newt suffering. As for what kind of species would work in this tank? Personally I think it would work wonderfully for eastern spotted newts, marbled newts, specific fire bellies, though, because more of the tank is water you would want something that spends more time in the water than it does on land. Shale? Is it actually shale or is it slate, because shale can leach metals into the water, adversely affecting the health of your pets. Hope this was helpful!

 

[jasper408]

Considering the temperature is at 72 around autumn, it will most probably rise higher during the summer. The most heat tolerant(Yes, above 70 is actually pretty hot) species is probably C. ensicauda popei, and they happen to appreciate some land, making 70/30 fine.. Some things to note: 1. Strong filtration flow is not appreciated by most species of newt, and the ones that don't mind need even cooler temperatures. Spray bars help with lessen the flow. 2. Fish are not recommended 3. Shale is risky in an aquatic environment.

I can't really zoom into the pic, but other than those three things, it should be fine. (the substrate is sand?)

 

[Coastal Groovin]

Ditch the tetras Neons are tetras by the way. They are notorious nippers. After all they are just Piranha's little cousins. Then you can dump the heater you won't need that anymore. Any of the Notophthalmus subspecies would be good.