endersblade
New member
Hey folks,
So about 4-5 months or so ago, I got two SRNs, both about 2 inches long, still babies. I put them in a 10 gal with 3 African Dwarf Frogs. Fed them on a diet of blood and tubefex. Both of the newts seemed to grow up quickly. About 2ish months in, one of them started really fattening up, lost the gills, and has turned into a nice fat little sausage! The other, however, took another month to drop the gills, is still rail thin (well, I guess as healthy as a normal looking newt, but being a SRN I expect it to be FAT), and lately has been spending a lot of time just floating at the surface of the tank.
The fatter, healthier looking SRN has been moved to the 40 gal breeder I have for them. It's about 6 1/2 inches long at this point. The other is maybe 4, 5 at the most, and skinny. It eats about every other time I feed the tank. I don't notice anything physically wrong with it, the frogs leave it alone so I don't think it's being bullied or anything, and the fact that it's just floating at the surface and not hiding makes me think it isn't stress related. It goes up for air as needed, it will swim away rapidly if I try to touch it, but will eventually go back to floating at the surface.
Is there anything I can do, or need to do, to get this little guy healthier and as big as the other so I can move it to the larger tank? I do weekly water cycles, I test water conditions once a month, always good, I dechlorinate the water before putting it in the tank, I dose with liquid CO2 for the plants and have been doing so since before the newts were put in. No visible damage to the newt, as in the frogs haven't been nipping at it or anything. All fingers and toes accounted for. Even when it's on the bottom of the tank the frogs just ignore it. The tank care routine has not changed at all since before they showed up, so I don't think it's anything I'm doing or not doing to the water. But I'm no expert. Any info would be greatly appreciated!
So about 4-5 months or so ago, I got two SRNs, both about 2 inches long, still babies. I put them in a 10 gal with 3 African Dwarf Frogs. Fed them on a diet of blood and tubefex. Both of the newts seemed to grow up quickly. About 2ish months in, one of them started really fattening up, lost the gills, and has turned into a nice fat little sausage! The other, however, took another month to drop the gills, is still rail thin (well, I guess as healthy as a normal looking newt, but being a SRN I expect it to be FAT), and lately has been spending a lot of time just floating at the surface of the tank.
The fatter, healthier looking SRN has been moved to the 40 gal breeder I have for them. It's about 6 1/2 inches long at this point. The other is maybe 4, 5 at the most, and skinny. It eats about every other time I feed the tank. I don't notice anything physically wrong with it, the frogs leave it alone so I don't think it's being bullied or anything, and the fact that it's just floating at the surface and not hiding makes me think it isn't stress related. It goes up for air as needed, it will swim away rapidly if I try to touch it, but will eventually go back to floating at the surface.
Is there anything I can do, or need to do, to get this little guy healthier and as big as the other so I can move it to the larger tank? I do weekly water cycles, I test water conditions once a month, always good, I dechlorinate the water before putting it in the tank, I dose with liquid CO2 for the plants and have been doing so since before the newts were put in. No visible damage to the newt, as in the frogs haven't been nipping at it or anything. All fingers and toes accounted for. Even when it's on the bottom of the tank the frogs just ignore it. The tank care routine has not changed at all since before they showed up, so I don't think it's anything I'm doing or not doing to the water. But I'm no expert. Any info would be greatly appreciated!
