The perfect newt tank?

[natuhlee]

Hey everyone! It has come to my attention that my newt tank set up is not ideal, so I have come to you all for help! I have two fire belly newts that are either young (they've grown from about 3 inches to 4 since ive had them in the past couple months) or are adults who are very used to land. As my tank is now, theres about three inches of water. The gravel is sloped up on one side with moss on top of it. There is a piece of bamboo laying across the bottom with a fake little log on the other side of the tank that they can go inside or get on top of. Any opinions/suggestions are absolutely welcomed. Is the water level okay, is the moss potentially harmful, should I have live plants, if so, do I need a filter? Im a first time newt parent so I'll really take any advice!

 

[Asevernnnn]

First of all I would ditch that moss incase it is acidic. I would also ditch the gravel for bare bottom or rinsed sand. Since they're adapted to terrestrial life, you're going to want to start them out in a shallow (about 1" of water) tank that only has live plants, nothing to it can get completely dry without climbing walls. After that gradual increases of water can be done every couple of weeks to get them used to the water opposed to land, if they stick to the sides of the tank, they'll eventually come down. I would change all the water every couple of days when theres only that little amount.
Now when they're aquatic, they should have a minimum of 10 gallons of water, with that and live plants in addition to daily spot cleaning and weekly water changes, a filter is not necessary.
Also, here is a caresheet if you haven't seen it already:
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly