making the land area?

[warrior]

Ive been out of the hobby for about 2 years now,just getting back into it again.Ive been trying to make some land areas for my tanks but all I can come up with is rocks laying on other rocks,which is what I used to do but never really liked it.Are there any other ways to make land areas?I like it to look as natural as the real habitat with moss and hiding areas on land.I tried silicone with plastic that really didnt work for me.I may have done it wrong. There is a place online called Aquariumlandproducts.com that sells aquarium land but its like $70 for a small 10 gallon land.Any ideas on making a good land area without covering any of the bottom tank so the newts have more room.Thanks......Eddie

 

[navaros]

You could use cork bark slabs and java moss. That's about as simple as you can get.

 

[Jennewt]

The two solutions I use for this problem are bricks and upside-down clay flower pots. Sometimes I place a flat rock on top of them if I want a larger area. I usually chip pieces out of the clay pots so that the newts can use the space underneath:

 

[freves]

Thanks for sharing the link Eddie. That is an interesting product however as you pointed out it is way overpriced. In addition the companies claim of "During our testing we had 2 fire belly newts, 2 fire-belly toads, 2 crabs, 10 goldfish, and 2 algae eaters living in harmony for months. Drop in a dozen crickets and watch out! it was really something to see." only demonstrates the lack of knowledge on their part.
I am still trying to figure out a way to create a functional yet naturalistic looking land area for my T. kweichowensis and T. taliangensis. Both species are fairly large by newt standards and the kweichowensis in particular are heavy bodied. In the old setups (50 gal breeders) I tried the classic half land half water with a divider in the center. I used gravel for the land area and ended up having to use many pounds of it. I ran a tube from the filter outlet underneath the gravel to the opposite end of the land area in order to keep as much water flow as possible through the substrate. After the plants took hold both setups were pretty but complicated. I currently have both species housed in 65 gal tanks half full of water. I am using cork bark floats however after a while these eventually become waterlogged. Jen's method is certainly functional but I am looking for something "prettier" (no offense Jen). I have one of these on back order http://www.blackjungle.com/Merchant..._Code=PT-1010&Category_Code=B&Store_Code=BJTS
I am interested to see how well it floats. Anway, I'm starting to ramble.
Chip

 

[jewett]

Along the way of the floating island, I have used Styrofoam in several tanks and it works pretty well. It doesn't look like much to begin with, but eventually (over a few months) java moss covers them up very well. I also like that the java moss grows over the side of the island, creating a nice under water hide as well as egg laying area. And Styrofoam is cheap and most people have some laying around anyway.
Have fun setting up your tank - the setup is one of my favorite parts of newt keeping/acquiring new newts.
Heather

 

[warrior]

Thanks for the suggestions.All were good ideas but I just went to petsmart and bought a few of those land type ornaments they sell next to the reptile and aquarium aisles.they were pretty reasonable prices and they give hiding spots for the newts....Eddie

 

[blckkeys]

What I did to make a land area was, I took a plastic container and filled it with that cocofiber substrate and put some pothos plants in it. Then I took some sturdy plastic strips and made three ledges all at the same height. I put one long one across the one side of the tank, and then on the two adjacent sides, I put the other strips. Then I put the plastic container on the ledges.

For the plastic container I used two take out plastic food trays. I glued the open ends together, then cut the bottom of one out, which then became the opening to put the plants. So the containers had an edge around the lip. This edge is what catches on the strips that are glued to the tank. For glue I used aquarium silicon. This was I have a land area, and I can still utilize the area underneath.

I am sure that is all very confusing. I will try to post some pictures if you like.

 

[coendeurloo]

Thanks for sharing the link Eddie. That is an interesting product however as you pointed out it is way overpriced. In addition the companies claim of "During our testing we had 2 fire belly newts, 2 fire-belly toads, 2 crabs, 10 goldfish, and 2 algae eaters living in harmony for months. Drop in a dozen crickets and watch out! it was really something to see." only demonstrates the lack of knowledge on their part.
I am still trying to figure out a way to create a functional yet naturalistic looking land area for my T. kweichowensis and T. taliangensis. Both species are fairly large by newt standards and the kweichowensis in particular are heavy bodied. In the old setups (50 gal breeders) I tried the classic half land half water with a divider in the center. I used gravel for the land area and ended up having to use many pounds of it. I ran a tube from the filter outlet underneath the gravel to the opposite end of the land area in order to keep as much water flow as possible through the substrate. After the plants took hold both setups were pretty but complicated. I currently have both species housed in 65 gal tanks half full of water. I am using cork bark floats however after a while these eventually become waterlogged. Jen's method is certainly functional but I am looking for something "prettier" (no offense Jen). I have one of these on back order http://www.blackjungle.com/Merchant..._Code=PT-1010&Category_Code=B&Store_Code=BJTS
I am interested to see how well it floats. Anway, I'm starting to ramble.
Chip

Check out how I did my land area Foster, you can make anything with these methods: http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=38607

I just recently finished a new 'island' in my 1.50 metre long tank using only Polystyrene plates on each other with the tile glue mixture, together with a color dye. This gave a pretty nice 'stacked flagstone' look. I used aquarium slicone to glue the plates together before applying the tile glue, and glued the whole thing to the bottom with the silicone. If I wouldn't glue it to the bottom, it would probably float. So using this method you can create beautiful floating islands. I used the same modified Polysterene plates as a background.

 

[cheddarsox]

Here's an idea I've been toying with. Garden centers sell foam rings to place pots of plants in ponds. I've thought of using those, with mesh in the center planted with java, or something similar.

One thing I've done in the past is to buy porcelain pillars and use them to hold up a piece of slate. Over the slate I placed a layer of filter floss/quilt batting. I let the water outake from the filter seep over that. Moss grew, it provided biological filtration surface area and the animals had a damp place to hang out. It was a beautiful system that I used for many years. Eventually I rooted potos in it and the frogs liked to hang out under the leaves. I had to prune it regularly.

 

[freves]

Coen - I remember that thread. That is a great looking setup however I am trying to come up with something that maximizes the space in a 65 gallon aquarium just over half filled with water. I am also trying to keep it very simple however I may have found a solution...

Heather - I kept thinking about your method. Last night when I was in my LFS I asked the owner for a lid off of a styrofoam fishbox. The underside of the lid has a lip around it so what I did was float it upside down. I poked a few holes in it to allow water to pass through and filled in the area within the lip with a layer of gravel. On top of this I placed some corkbark sections for hides and strung out some java moss around the edges. It is still early for my experiment but so far I am liking it. All of the water area is usable and there is now an appreciable land area without a lot of extra weight and/or complicated design. The only drawback that I can see so far is that the area underneath the float is much darker than before, which could potentially make it more difficult to siphon up debris.

Cheddarsox - I am not familiar with the floats that you are referring to but I will keep an eye out for them.
Chip

 

[jewett]

Foster, I have thought about making a more elaborate land area with the styrafoam but have not tried it yet. I was thinking about poking holes in the bottom of the foam to allow roots of plants like pothos or swedish ivy to grow into the water and provide a good newt hiding place, while the island would have hiding areas from the plant foliage itself. Once your island gets more established let me know how it works for you, and if you can post pics that would be great, too. All my floating islands are small so they don't block out much light, but I hope your water changes will still go smoothly.
Heather