My adult
Tylototriton verrucosus tank is a 60 cm long x 30 deep x 35 cm tall aquarium, just under half full of water. It has no gravel/substrate. One corner has an island made from piling slaves of petrified wood and slate. The island is about 12 cm x 12 cm in area. There is a lot of
Egeria densa (aka
Anacharis), and some java moss attached to slender pieces of petrified wood.
The aquarium receives about 12 hours of fluorescent light per day (it's on a timer). Temperature is maintained at a minimum of 18 degrees C (winter) and allowed to vary with the room temperature for the rest of the year. The tank is filtered by an internal power filter. The animals don't seem to have any problems with a slight flow of water in the tank, but I have the filter at an angle such that the water emerges vertically (a little like a fountain but the flow only causes ripples on the surface, not a fountain).
At temperatures below 18 degrees, it has been my experience that the animals require a more terrestrial set up because they spend more time out of the water. They seem quite content to remain in this nearly fully aquatic setup indefinitely, though at the temperatures mentioned, and as you know my adults have bred a number of times since the beginning of this year (6 spawnings at the last count), so it seems to be OK.
You can keep them in a more terrestrial set up if you wish, but they seem a lot more active when aquatic and they look far more attractive when in the water than on land (at least in my opinion). Having talked to others, there doesn't seem to be any disadvantage in this kind of setup, the only important thing seems to be a variance in temperature over the year (in my case 18 degrees in winter to mid twenties in the summer).
-John
