Question: Paddletail newt tank setup

[CynopsAsianXD]

Hi all, I have 4 paddletail newts for over a month now. The water in their tank is cool but rather stagnant. I read that these newts live in moving waters. Is it best to stick in a couple of powerheads to make some current. I also want to change the setup. Currently running fully aquatic. Any suggestions welcome. Pictures will help A LOT as they can give me an idea for and ideal setup for my newts.

 

[nwmnnaturalist]

Firstly, you need to make sure you have an actual Paddletail Newts versus a species of Firebelly, such as Chinese Firebelly.

If you indeed have Paddletails, you need to make sure you have them in a large enough habitat to allow them plenty of hiding places, since they are territorial and may attack one another. Even with proper hiding places, they can be aggressive and fight over territory.

I do not personally have experience with these, but I know of quite a few folks that gave them large habitats and still saw injuries from fighting. They should NEVER be housed with any other species, unless you are perfectly happy with that other species dying.

 

[jane1187]

I have no experience with this species either but for my tanks I just use an air stone to create a gentle bubble to prevent the water stagnating. It doesn't affect the newts too much and provided much needed oxygen. You may find that powerheads may cause too much turbulence for them and will make feeding difficult.

Its up to you but check the caudata culture section for housing requirments, I believe its at Caudata Culture Species Entry - Pachytriton - Paddletail

 

[Azhael]

Depending on the size of the tank, one powerhead should be enough. A moderate to strong current is important with this genus.
As nwmnnaturalist said, these are territorial animals that can be highly agressive and even kill each other. Some combinations work, others don´t even with enough space. Keeping 4 Pachytriton together even if it was in a very large tank, is likely to end up in trouble.

 

[CynopsAsianXD]

Since the day I bought them I confirmed they were paddletails. I've got a powerhead that will put out a moderately strong current now. Do you guys recommend fully aquatic with floating plants or a little bit of land?

 

[Azhael]

Fully aquatic. As adults, these newts are 100% aquatic. They will only go on land if something is VERY wrong, be it terrible water conditions (which could be deadly before they even get out of the water), serious illness or bullying from other, dominant individuals.
Plants are optional. They help with water quality and they provide valuable visual barriers but then again, as stream dwellers, their natural habitats contain few plants, mostly in the form of aquatic mosses.

 

[CynopsAsianXD]

Thanks a lot. Gonna get java moss for mine. I got tonnes of driftwood as hiding places for them. Will that work out?

 

[Azhael]

As long as they have been cured. Driftwood releases large amounts of tannins initially, and i doubt Pachytriton apreciates high concentrations of tannins as they come from waters with very little organic matter.
Piles of rocks would be better as that´s what they typically use for shelter.

 

[CynopsAsianXD]

True that. Would you recommend those cave-like hiding spots in aquarium shops?

 

[Azhael]

If you like....but personally i think they are expensive **** for naive people...
I´d much rather use river rocks (granite for preference) stacked to make crevices. You can secure them with silicone if you want, but if you choose the right rocks and stack them properly, there shouldn´t be any trouble.

 

[CynopsAsianXD]

Okay. Thanks a lot Rodrigo. I'll post photos when I'm done with the setup.

 

[AngieD]

I'd just like to add that mine seem to prefer the live plants over the plastic ones (I use elodea).

Also, plant pots placed on their side can make nice areas for them to sit on or hide behind, as well as being a lot cheaper.

When I set up the new tank for mine, I put in a combination of real and plastic plants, a log formation, a big rock, a plant pot (on its side) and a hiding pot with holes in. Within a day they picked which end of the tank they wanted, and hardly bother with the pots, preferring to sit on the log formation or plants

 

[CynopsAsianXD]

I use elodea as well for my firebelly and he loves it. I never touched plastic plants because they just felt 'wrong'. I have a few old flower pots at the moment and the newts love them.

 

[aaustin15]

Hello!
I have a paddle tail newt and I just use rock formations for hiding places- no plants. I find it hard to find a balance between the amount of light these newts like and the amount of light the plants like, but that's just me. As for the current, i have a power head in my tank and I just turn it off while I'm feeding. It helps the bloodworms not get shot around the tank haha