Water temp

[fiona]

perhaps this is a stupid ? but how do you keep the newts tank water cool enough for them ? im 5 days into my life as a newt owner and know little. obviously i will have to change my lighting system but is it as simple as placing a fan infront of the tank or adding refridgerated, de-chlorinated h20 to the tank???????????

thanks in advance

Fiona

 

[sarah]

You can take a bottle of spring water and put it in the fridge and set it up so that it drips into the tank. Also, one thing I do in smaller tanks (like 10 gallons) is buy those plastic "reusable" ice cubes and drop a couple in if the temp goes up. I keep them in a ziplock so that they don't touch my regular ice-cubes, and the water in them doesn't actually get into the tank at all. I generally try to keep them spread out around the tank. One way or the other, best luck to you!

 

[Jennewt]

Fiona, by far the best solution is to keep the newts in a cool room, either a basement or a room with extra-cold air conditioning. I know one person that ran an air duct from their AC outlet to the side of their tank, keeping the tank always cooler than the room. But if your house is constantly over 80F, it's just not feasible to keep newts (except a few species that are more temp tolerant).

You can make several adjustments that will reduce the temperature a degree or two, for example, using a screen top instead of a hood, or moving the tank to floor level instead of higher up, or reducing the use of electrical appliances (lights and filters). And there are other adjustments that will lower the temp, but only temporarily. I put frozen bottles into my tanks every other evening during the hottest weather. For most of the tanks, this keeps them under 72F all night.