Wanting to get my feet wet and I'm looking for some help

[jmowbray]

First let me start by introducing myself. My name is Jared and I'm 26 y.o. I have no prior experience with salamanders or newts but 'm very used to taking great care of captive animals. I currently have 6 aquariums in my house ranging from 8gallons to 120 gallons of total water volume and have had fish for a majority of my life. Here are some pictures of what I'm working with.

90 gallon reef with all live small polyp stony coral dominated:

72 gallon bowfront Amazon River biotope w/ all live plants and CO2 injection

55 gallon general angel breeding pair:

50 gallon corner general angel:

I have been reading general care and beginner guides and I'm looking at salamanders as of right now. I haven't made a trip to the local store to see what they have but I don't plan on getting anything for at least another 5-6 months so I have time. I do have some general questions though. As I gift I was given (not here yet but future) a new biopod. If you have not seen these google biopod and it's the first and second website that loads. The first is their crowdfunding page. As it stands right now I have options yet for the tera version or the aqua version. I was wondering what the experts opinions were on each. I know salamanders need water to some extent but also land. The aqua one though doesn't appear to have much dry land. Thoughts? I like the tera to but liking fish so much you can see I prefer the aqua and think it would be awesome to have little cory catfish in the bottom as filter feeders. What would be a beginner salamander that would work in a tank like the aqua?

 

[salamandersock]

There are fully aquatic salamanders. such as axolotls and Siren intermedia (my favorite). The general rule of thumb is to not mix different species, however. so if you decide on the aquatic version, you should only get the species of salamander you want. There's a variety of old threads iv'e combed through that talk about this more in depth.

 

[jmowbray]

There are fully aquatic salamanders. such as axolotls and Siren intermedia (my favorite). The general rule of thumb is to not mix different species, however. so if you decide on the aquatic version, you should only get the species of salamander you want. There's a variety of old threads iv'e combed through that talk about this more in depth.

I do love the cute axilotls my issue is that I know they like colder water. My fear is that I already know I don't have central air and the house gets warm. On top of that I don't know if the biopod plants will tolerate these love temps as they are tropical rainforest plants. The way it works is by filtering the water through a living wall containing the plant roots to absorb excess nutrients.

 

[jmowbray]

This place is dead anyone else have any input. I need help.

 

[jclee]

Read up on some of the salamander/newt profiles on caudata culture. (Accessed through tab that says "Caudata.org sites".) That will help you get a sense of temp needs. While there is some variation, salamanders generally don't like high temps (above 74), so you'll have to deal with that challenge regardless. (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong - I seem to recall firebellies having a slightly wider temp gradient?)

You can read up on cooling methods -- chillers and/or fans -- to tinker with the temp. Since you aren't planning to get your animals for a while, you have time to run a tank and test out ways to cool the tank.

 

[Chinadog]

Hi, welcome to the site!
Firstly its a common misconception that newts move from land to water with any regularity, they don't. Generally, they are either seasonally aquatic to breed, or fully aquatic year round and their bodies adapt accordingly. While on land their skin becomes dry and waxy to help guard against dehydration and their tail becomes rounded like that of a lizard, so much so, that they become poor swimmers and can easily drown in open water. Newts that are adapted to live in water develop smooth slimy skin to allow oxygen exchange from the water into their bloodstream and their tails become paddle like and flat along with webbed toes or elaborate crests etc depending on species. They can easily dessicate and die on land while in their aquatic phase.
All this means housing them is best achieved in a terrarium with a small water bowl for terrestrial species, or an aquarium with a small island or float for aquatically adapted newts, so depending on which point in their life cycle they're at either the land or water section of a land/water set up will be a waste of valuable space, especially in the (17 gallon?) cube.
As long as their basic needs are met their housing can be as simple or as complex as you like, here's a link to my 17 gallon tank and some ideas from Caudata Culture.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...ria-etc/99561-17-gallon-alpine-newt-tank.html

Caudata Culture Articles

This is the list of species care sheets for most of the newt family.

Caudata Culture Species Database - Salamandridae

Given the choice, very few newts will coexist with fish, forcing them to share an aquarium is often asking for trouble. Cory catfish specifically are hazardous due to their dorsal and pectoral spines, larger newts can attempt to swallow them and choke with these spines lodged in their throats.

Caudata Culture Articles - Species Mixing Disasters

If you use the site search function you'll find years and years worth of info on almost every topic related to keeping newts and salamanders, but if there's anything at all you're unsure of ask away and I'll do my best.