Question: Setting up my semi-aquatic tank for C.pyrrhogaster

[stitchpunk]

I bought a 2nd-hand tank with a stand (measurements 60cm long x 45cm high x36cm deep approx) and i thought it would be good to sort out my semi-aquatic set-up now and get it all running well before my babies metamorphose in 2 or 3 months. But I've never done anything like this before and I have a couple of questions that i couldn't find answers to with a forum search.

Firstly - with a semi-aquatic set-up where the tank will be 1/4 to 1/3 water depth with live plants, do I need to cycle it? I wasn't planning on having a filter at this point, just an oxygen shell (do those really do anything by the way?) and siphoning and water changes to keep it clean. Or do I really need a filter? Can you even cycle a tank without one?

Secondly - because this is my first ever tank and I want it to be easy to clean I wasn't going to use gravel or sand. I bought some large polished river stones to scatter around the bottom. But I didn't think through the implications of that approach when it comes to anchoring live plants! I bought half a dozen small ones in those plastic mesh tubs and took them out of the tubs, and currently the plants and that foam stuff that came with them are anchored by a few stones. But it is quite precarious and I suspect that they will come adrift easily when there are newts swimming around in there! One idea I had was to silicon a piece of sewing thread to a rock, then tie the other end around the roots or stems of each plant to keep them tethered close to the rocks - would this work ? (assuming that i keep the threads really short so that they can't present a hazard to the newts.)
I also wondered about siliconing small pebbles to the outside of the plastic tubs to disguise them and then glueing each tub to a larger rock to anchor it and putting the plant back in. But would that stop the root system from spreading?

Um. yeah. I'm pretty clueless about set-ups, despite all the photos here! So please advise me! I have ceramic pots filled with pebbles to use for islands - I thought I would put a piece of filter fabric on top of each and then add substrate, but I'm unsure what to use - I can get bark chips and I have a bag of coconut fibre that people use for plants, would those be ok? And I have a largish piece of Y-shaped driftwood that will be a "path" between the islands and the water.

 

[Lusiwarrior]

Hello stitchpunk,
first, of all the aquarium must be cycled before they are inhabited, have a very good article on this subject in Caudataculture. Secondly, a filter with a flow of water reduced, because the genus Cynops not enjoy rough waters, would save you much work, it does not require changes to water as often, not to mention that you more oxygenates the water. Java moss is also good for oxygenate!
As the stone that you use as a substrate did not seem bad, but already on the way that you put the plants do not seem so good. It suggested a clay pots of similar color to the stones. In pots which are fertile substrate and sand!
Concerning the islands also do not like the idea, I think that in case you just had to put a platform cork or acrylic mossy!
Just an opinion!
I have helped! :happy:
cheers

 

[Liorah]

The only thing that I would consider concerning the islands is how much water space they will take up. Just something to consider depending on how many animals you're planning on housing :happy: I think it's quite a neat idea though, if it will suit your needs!

As for coconut fibre, that's what I use as substrate in my tank and I love it! It holds water incredibly well, is soft, sterile, and burrow-able Though I would suspect it may dirty your water to an extent, as your newts will end up dragging it into the water.

As Lusiwarrior suggested, I tend to bury my plants in separate pots, and then bury those into the substrate of my tank. (This is actually for my terrestrial set-up, but I assume it would work just as well for you!)

Good luck!
You should post pictures of what you end up with :happy:

 

[Joost]

I use this kind of setup for juveniles, for the first year. After one year, they're put in a setup where I raise the water level to 10-15 cm

 

[stitchpunk]

Thanks guys for the advice so far. Its hard to know what to do because it seems like some juveniles really don't like the water and others do - so some people have almost no water in their tanks and others have almost no land! I have six babies so I want to move them into the tank once the plastic tub they are in starts to get crowded. This is the only tank I have, so whatever I set up needs to be easily removable for when they go aquatic again. I figured I would have a lot of land to start with (using the ceramic pots) and then if they don't use the land much it will be easy to remove the pots and give them more water area. The pots I have are narrower at the bottom which reduces the space they take up.

Joost those photos are interesting - it looks like you just have the gravel piled higher at one end to give a land area and then shallow water at the other end with no pump, just plants - is that right? Do you find the gravel hard to keep clean? And what plants do you have in the land area?

Lusiwarrior you are right, the way I have the plants right now doesn't work. But the river stones that I have are white and grey mostly, so terracotta pots will not match. I suppose it doesn't matter really....but I wanted my first tank to look pretty!

Thank you all for giving me some more ideas. I will post some photos once I have decided on how to set things up. I think I may have spent quite a lot of money buying the wrong things. I suppose that's not uncommon when you don't really know what you're doing!

 

[Lusiwarrior]

Yes it is true the first setups are never very good, only after spending some money and make some changes is that we usually get it right! Part of the hobby, I think most of us went through that! :grin:

Good luck

 

[Joost]

It's indeed only gravel. Just like an aquatic setup with lot of plants (and snails), this doesn't need cleaned much, because of the bacterial balance. Everything is the same, only the water level is just about 3-4 cm.
The plants that I use on the land area are Rhaphidophora, Elodea, Philodendron, Javamoss and some mosses from the forests here

 

[Joost]

I rather use a setup, where they can choose to be on land or in the water. If the juveniles can choose, they most stay on land. Sometimes I see one swimming (submerged).

 

[stitchpunk]

Thanks for that Joost! Yes I want to give mine the choice of land or water. They will probably go in to this tank before they metamorphose; I'm thinking once they begin to change I can lower the water level for safety. That's why I was wondering about the gravel, because a lot of people say that it is hard to keep clean - but it is easier for me to get gravel than sand.

 

[ebonykrow]

Hey Joost your set up looks cool, alot like mine will after they morph and I drop the water level.
Thank you for the photos ^__^