Kaiseri tank set up

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

Today I spent time with a close friend of mine and we put together a 20 gallon tank for his 1.1. adult kaiseri. We had the idea that his adult N. kaiseri wanted more land surface so we needed to set up a new tank. We roughly spent 2 hours getting the slat rocks, water, filter, and everything together. I took some rather decent photos of the whole thing enjoy.

The newts seem to like their new home.

 

[SludgeMunkey]

I can't quite tell from the pictures, but they really like to hide between rocks when on land. Are there lots of dark spots to hide in above the water line? I find they make every attempt to escape without lots of hides.

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

True I believe your right SludgeMunkey. Not to mention that they are great climbers. It is kind of hard to see but yes there are hides between the rocks. That tank was set up to provide more hides and we made sure that there were hides between the rocks. Right when the newts were introduced to their new home one of the newts scaled the slate and aimed for one of the hides. Sorry for the poor photos and thanks for you input SludgeMunkey.

 

[Davo]

Very nice setup, was wondering if you were adding any plants, my kaiseri tank is heavily planted and they love to hang around in the plants!

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

Yes there will be tons of plants added in the tank. Mostly java moss and elodea will be added to the tank.

 

[SludgeMunkey]

Aye, they love hides both on and out of the water. What blows my mind is how much they all like to share terrestrial hides. I have this wild unsubstantiated theory that they do this in the wild to help conserve humidity. It makes cleaning easy as I almost always find them piled up together.

With that set up you have pictured I would bet a good temperature drop would result in a complete tear down to get all the eggs! (trust me when I say this is an awful bit of work to do, but happiness is a container of fertile kaiseri eggs!)

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

I've received eggs on rocks but mostly plants. As a result I take out the plants and just simply put them in tupperware or in a another tank. I know what you mean when it you say "happiness". Check it out the happiness over here in Detroit MI, USA.

 

[xMIDNIGHTx]

That is amazing Jaymes!! Great to see that many numbers. Keep them coming!

Mitch

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

Thanks Midnight! There are actually decent numbers, but the numbers I won't confess. I am going to say that the larvae grew up most their lives in tupperware till they out grew their containers. The N. kaiser larvae was treated just like any other newt me and my partner produced. A lot of time cleaning, feeding, and a lot of tupperware and you can raise a horde of N. kaiseri.

 

[caudatadude28]

They are just stunning! I am green with envy!

 

[SludgeMunkey]

I have to agree. These guys are some of the easiest larvae I have worked with to date. Keep them clean and fed and they do their thing. At this rate everyone will have kaiseri in just a few short years.

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

Yes Slugdemunkey your right! Soon N. kaiseri will be more common in a couple more years. The larvae were very hardy and always ate. I remember reading other peoples' posts about rearing N. kaiseri larvae and how they treated the larvae carefully and how hard it was to raise them. A number of people suggested they needed special requirements. I was very concerned my 1st time dealing with N. kaiseri larvae but I treated them just like Triturus larvae and everything came out fine. If you have reared Triturus larvae you can handle N. kaiseri.

 

[merk199]

Jaymes,
Are you doing anything extra to get them breed? Extra water changes, extra feeding, special lighting. Just curious. I have five CB with a similiar tank to your setup, except on one side I have sand as a substrate, and the other side is quarter size rocks. Mine when moved in initially displayed breeding signs but have since backed off. I do want to take the rocks out and go all sand.

Mine also are not voracious eaters. I have some popei they make look like Godzilla when comparing feeding responses. Also mine never leave the water. They can be found at various height levels throughout the tank, but I have yet to see one leave the water in 5-6 months. Just curious.

I'm hearing all these great anecdotal stories about others kaiseri, apparently I got the ones bred with no personality....

 

[SludgeMunkey]

Yes Slugdemunkey your right! Soon N. kaiseri will be more common in a couple more years. The larvae were very hardy and always ate. I remember reading other peoples' posts about rearing N. kaiseri larvae and how they treated the larvae carefully and how hard it was to raise them. A number of people suggested they needed special requirements. I was very concerned my 1st time dealing with N. kaiseri larvae but I treated them just like Triturus larvae and everything came out fine. If you have reared Triturus larvae you can handle N. kaiseri.

Absolutely. treat them like you would any of the Triturus complex and they raise up great. As for breeding, It is still kind of touch and go...we all know what I had to go through to get viable eggs, and et other folks had no trouble at all. I think by the time we get to F2 and F3 that issue will be resolved too.