Rocks as substrate

[felipe]

I have a question... I have triturus and pleurodeles, in both aquariums I use river rocks as substrate, but using theese rocks is some kind of problem, because the live food hide in the rocks before the newt see them, and the dirty of the aquarium acumulate under the rocks! My newts will be stressed if they dont have substrate???

 

[mark]

No, they won't be stressed and your tanks will be much easier to keep clean. I don't use substrate in any of my aquatic tanks.

 

[felipe]

Do you have aquatic plants in the aquariums? how do you fix the plants? could you post a picture of your aquarium?

 

[jennifer]

One option would be to use LESS river rock, just enough for a single layer. This way, you can still clean easily under the rocks, and the tank looks nice.

Another alternative is fine sand. Here is a photo of a tank with sand. The dirt is easy to see on the sand.

More tank setups can be seen here:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups.shtml

(Message edited by jennewt on October 27, 2005)

 

[felipe]

Thanks for the ideas! There is no possibility of the newts ingest the sand and get digestive problems? And one more thing... what is the correct PH of the water? Acid or basic? How can I fix the plants in the bottom of the aquarium if I decide to don't use substrate?

(Message edited by felipe_brasil on October 27, 2005)

 

[mark]

Hi Felipe - I use mainly silk/plastic plants in my tanks. If you don't use a substrate there's not much point having plants that want to root in one. There are lots plants such as java moss, elodea and hornwort which do well just floating around.

Sand that is ingested will pass through harmlessly.

I’m no expert on PH – I think newts can tolerated various levels but not extremes. Anywhere between 6-8 is probably fine. Well established tanks become more acidic over time due to nitrification but in 15 years of newt keeping I’ve never tested mine once. Good filtration and frequent water changes do the trick.

 

[felipe]

If the sand dont hurt them I will use one of my aquariuns with sand in the bottom and other with nothing...I will see how the salamanders react to each one! Thanks a lot!