Suitable tank for pair of marbled newts?

[Newtagen]

hello I’m new here and recently set up my first vivarium of any kind. Marbled newts caught my eye so I did some research and built a 20 gallon long bioactive tank with my friend. We used lava rock for the drainage and made our own reptisoil with a mix of eco earth, crushed leaf litter/charcoal, and some of our backyard soil that was baked to get rid of any bugs or anything. I have pothos growing on two corners of the tank and some wood and moss I got from repticon. I live in Florida, a place naturally a little warm for them so to keep the tempature at ideal level I mist with chilled water. Nothing is in this tank as I built it a week ago but I’m investing in springtails and isopods to hopefully sustain the tank for 2-3 weeks before I add the newts. The shallow bowl you see with pebbles will be their water bowl! If you need any more information feel free to ask!

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[frank beard]

Your setup looks pretty good. My experience is that marbled newts can tolerate pretty dry conditions for a salamander and your setup appears to be pretty dry. Personally I like to make setups that have some sloped substrate which helps create a moisture gradient with the higher parts being drier and the lower parts being moister.

I don't think that misting with chilled water could possibly be effective at cooling the tank. I assume your setup is in a room kept at room temperature and if that is the case it should be fine. Although, if there was ever a power outage following a big tropical storm or hurricane they would probably be toast.

 

[Newtagen]

Your setup looks pretty good. My experience is that marbled newts can tolerate pretty dry conditions for a salamander and your setup appears to be pretty dry. Personally I like to make setups that have some sloped substrate which helps create a moisture gradient with the higher parts being drier and the lower parts being moister.

I don't think that misting with chilled water could possibly be effective at cooling the tank. I assume your setup is in a room kept at room temperature and if that is the case it should be fine. Although, if there was ever a power outage following a big tropical storm or hurricane they would probably be toast.

Thanks for your input. Do you have any recommendations for keeping the tank cool? My room temperature is around 73 degrees and from what I’ve found marbled newts generally prefer cooler temperatures than that.

 

[frank beard]

No suggestions besides turning the temperature down or possibly moving the setup right near the vent. They can definitely tolerate 73 and will eat and behave normally at that temperature. Cooler is probably safer from the standpoint that you have more of a buffer but they can thrive at that temperature. Something like Cynops ensicauda that tolerates warmer temperature might be a good candidate for your setup.