New newt help

[Wietfeldtamanda]

Hello,
We got a juvenile Spanish ribbed newt on Wednesday. We set up a tank using Salamander Wilds ideas on YouTube. We fed him some blood worms on Saturday and he was bloated and unable to swim after. He only ate a couple. But I’m also worried he might have eaten the substrate? He was being fed pellets before we got him, and I notice they look similar. (I ordered a feeding tray to use from now on.) His bloating seems to be going down, but he’s still struggling to swim. We have pulled him out into a shallow Tupperware container so he doesn’t have to swim to the surface of our tank. We had him in there for a day and tried again in the tank after lowering the water level in the tank, checking all levels, and adding more plants for him to climb. But he was still struggling tonight so I pulled him back out into the Tupperware. He is also shedding bits around his torso and legs which I noticed could be a sign of illness? Anyone have any insight for us??

Pic 1 (in Tupperware) is current
Pic 2 and Video are of him yesterday
Pic 3 is him a couple days ago (before we fed him)
He should be about 8 months old.

 

[minorhero]

Hello,
We got a juvenile Spanish ribbed newt on Wednesday. We set up a tank using Salamander Wilds ideas on YouTube. We fed him some blood worms on Saturday and he was bloated and unable to swim after. He only ate a couple. But I’m also worried he might have eaten the substrate? He was being fed pellets before we got him, and I notice they look similar. (I ordered a feeding tray to use from now on.) His bloating seems to be going down, but he’s still struggling to swim. We have pulled him out into a shallow Tupperware container so he doesn’t have to swim to the surface of our tank. We had him in there for a day and tried again in the tank after lowering the water level in the tank, checking all levels, and adding more plants for him to climb. But he was still struggling tonight so I pulled him back out into the Tupperware. He is also shedding bits around his torso and legs which I noticed could be a sign of illness? Anyone have any insight for us??

Pic 1 (in Tupperware) is current
Pic 2 and Video are of him yesterday
Pic 3 is him a couple days ago (before we fed him)
He should be about 8 months old.

It's pretty typical for newts who haven't eaten for a few days to bob around on the surface after being fed. They basically get some gas they need to get rid of, doubly so if they went through shipping. Being out of water a few days in shipping could also cause some shed issues. Both should resolve themselves in under a week if you keep them aquatic in a proper tank.

Regarding your tank, hopefully its cycled and has ammonia and nitrite of 0. If you don't have test kits for those, get one now. Do not use strips for this as they are frankly not accurate enough, a liquid test kit is required equipment. The cheapest in the states is API Freshwater Master Test and is available at most pet stores as well as online.

The other thing to check is temperature. You want your water temperature to be in the 60s F. You can achieve this by putting a fan blowing on the surface of the water and having the room air be in the low 70s. The fan will decrease the water temp by up to 6 degrees below room ambient.

Sooooo all of this is lead up to me saying that if you have a cycled tank with no ammonia, no nitrite, and proper temperature, you should 100% be keeping the newt in the tank and not in the Tupperware because conditions in the tupperware can turn bad for him VERY quickly whereas your tank will be a much safer place. Hopefully this is helpful.

 

[Wietfeldtamanda]

It's pretty typical for newts who haven't eaten for a few days to bob around on the surface after being fed. They basically get some gas they need to get rid of, doubly so if they went through shipping. Being out of water a few days in shipping could also cause some shed issues. Both should resolve themselves in under a week if you keep them aquatic in a proper tank.

Regarding your tank, hopefully its cycled and has ammonia and nitrite of 0. If you don't have test kits for those, get one now. Do not use strips for this as they are frankly not accurate enough, a liquid test kit is required equipment. The cheapest in the states is API Freshwater Master Test and is available at most pet stores as well as online.

The other thing to check is temperature. You want your water temperature to be in the 60s F. You can achieve this by putting a fan blowing on the surface of the water and having the room air be in the low 70s. The fan will decrease the water temp by up to 6 degrees below room ambient.

Sooooo all of this is lead up to me saying that if you have a cycled tank with no ammonia, no nitrite, and proper temperature, you should 100% be keeping the newt in the tank and not in the Tupperware because conditions in the tupperware can turn bad for him VERY quickly whereas your tank will be a much safer place. Hopefully this is helpful.

Thank you! He wasnt shipped but we did have a couple hour drive with him and I think he was living in a small container with the breeder. We checked ph and ammonia with liquid tests. Ammonia was the lowest it could be and ph was 6.5, I think. Temp is 66-68 degrees. I’m waiting for our nitrate test, should be here today. I have snails and shrimp in the tank, and they are doing great in there right now. We don’t have a filter. We were using plants and shrimp and snails to clean but will keep checking the ph, nitrate, and ammonia to make sure that is working. We have only ever put spring water in the tank. Do you think we should remove the substrate and do flat bottom? Or will this substrate be ok if we use a feeding tray?

 

[minorhero]

Thank you! He wasnt shipped but we did have a couple hour drive with him and I think he was living in a small container with the breeder. We checked ph and ammonia with liquid tests. Ammonia was the lowest it could be and ph was 6.5, I think. Temp is 66-68 degrees. I’m waiting for our nitrate test, should be here today. I have snails and shrimp in the tank, and they are doing great in there right now. We don’t have a filter. We were using plants and shrimp and snails to clean but will keep checking the ph, nitrate, and ammonia to make sure that is working. We have only ever put spring water in the tank. Do you think we should remove the substrate and do flat bottom? Or will this substrate be ok if we use a feeding tray?

Regarding substrate. Various people will talk about impaction etc, I have never had a problem. All of my tanks have sand in them with small rocks. If you want to use a feeding dish you can, but honestly that's more an aesthetic consideration or a way of tracking how much they eat.

It does however look like your substrate is aquasoil. Aquasoil naturally releases ammonia when new. When you say your ammonia "was the lowest it could be", do you mean its zero? Because that's what it needs to be for your newt to be happy. Some people don't do proper water changes or have a lot of organic matter constantly in their tanks and don't get zeros on ammonia in their aquariums so they don't think it can be zero. But allow me to assure you, zero ammonia is not only possible, but pretty important.

Regarding filtration, you definitely need one. Your tank has what looks to be some moss, a sword plant, and 2 java plants stuck in the substrate. The java plants need to be attached to hardscape and will rot if left in the substrate. The java and moss are pretty slow growing and only the sword plant is quick growing. That said, you don't have enough of them if you truly want to just use plants as filtration. Instead, I would get a small sponge filter and a usb powered air pump. Those small air pumps are essentially silent and can be hung onto the side of the tank, an airline can be poked through a mesh top without issues, and the sponge filter just placed in the back of the tank.

Regarding water. If you are buying "spring water" from the grocery store or some such, I would stop doing that. Tap water is fine. If your tap water is city water, then make sure you use a dechlorinater like seachem prime. If you use another brand, just make sure it does NOT have aloe in it or other 'slime coat' enhancing products (a fish thing that is not applicable to amphibians). If you are on well water, you can skip this step. "Spring Water" is not a regulated term in the USA so it can have anything in it so long as its potable, but hey, your tap water is already potable and a LOT cheaper then buying water from the store. In other words, there is no benefit to buying "spring water" over whatever is coming out of your tap beyond it likely not having chlorine in it, but a bottle of prime is a cheap thing to buy.

Soooooo

Where does that leave you right now?

Well I am guessing your tank is not quite properly setup. So tubbing the newt, putting a fan on the surface or otherwise cooling the container down to mid 60s, and doing 100% water change every day (yes all the water) is probably pretty important until your tank gets to zero ammonia and zero nitrite (notice I said nitrite, not nitrate, they are different with the former being deadly and the latter being plant food). You could do this in your aquarium of course, but it would make water changes a little harder since the water volume is bigger. How you want to go about doing it is up to you.

You can also look into other plants you can add to the tank, local facebook groups for freshwater aquariums are a great source for this as often people will have plants they are literally giving away or selling for very very cheap. In my area (Maryland) we have people literally giving away trimmings on a weekly basis. If you want something super easy to grow, look into floating plants like salvinia, frogbit, and guppy grass. Other easy growing plants include pearl weed, hornwort, and wisteria.

 

[Wietfeldtamanda]

Regarding substrate. Various people will talk about impaction etc, I have never had a problem. All of my tanks have sand in them with small rocks. If you want to use a feeding dish you can, but honestly that's more an aesthetic consideration or a way of tracking how much they eat.

It does however look like your substrate is aquasoil. Aquasoil naturally releases ammonia when new. When you say your ammonia "was the lowest it could be", do you mean its zero? Because that's what it needs to be for your newt to be happy. Some people don't do proper water changes or have a lot of organic matter constantly in their tanks and don't get zeros on ammonia in their aquariums so they don't think it can be zero. But allow me to assure you, zero ammonia is not only possible, but pretty important.

Regarding filtration, you definitely need one. Your tank has what looks to be some moss, a sword plant, and 2 java plants stuck in the substrate. The java plants need to be attached to hardscape and will rot if left in the substrate. The java and moss are pretty slow growing and only the sword plant is quick growing. That said, you don't have enough of them if you truly want to just use plants as filtration. Instead, I would get a small sponge filter and a usb powered air pump. Those small air pumps are essentially silent and can be hung onto the side of the tank, an airline can be poked through a mesh top without issues, and the sponge filter just placed in the back of the tank.

Regarding water. If you are buying "spring water" from the grocery store or some such, I would stop doing that. Tap water is fine. If your tap water is city water, then make sure you use a dechlorinater like seachem prime. If you use another brand, just make sure it does NOT have aloe in it or other 'slime coat' enhancing products (a fish thing that is not applicable to amphibians). If you are on well water, you can skip this step. "Spring Water" is not a regulated term in the USA so it can have anything in it so long as its potable, but hey, your tap water is already potable and a LOT cheaper then buying water from the store. In other words, there is no benefit to buying "spring water" over whatever is coming out of your tap beyond it likely not having chlorine in it, but a bottle of prime is a cheap thing to buy.

Soooooo

Where does that leave you right now?

Well I am guessing your tank is not quite properly setup. So tubbing the newt, putting a fan on the surface or otherwise cooling the container down to mid 60s, and doing 100% water change every day (yes all the water) is probably pretty important until your tank gets to zero ammonia and zero nitrite (notice I said nitrite, not nitrate, they are different with the former being deadly and the latter being plant food). You could do this in your aquarium of course, but it would make water changes a little harder since the water volume is bigger. How you want to go about doing it is up to you.

You can also look into other plants you can add to the tank, local facebook groups for freshwater aquariums are a great source for this as often people will have plants they are literally giving away or selling for very very cheap. In my area (Maryland) we have people literally giving away trimmings on a weekly basis. If you want something super easy to grow, look into floating plants like salvinia, frogbit, and guppy grass. Other easy growing plants include pearl weed, hornwort, and wisteria.

I feel like we get different information every where we look! I will get a sponge filter, and I think we need different testing kit because ours seems different than the one you’re talking about. And yeah, I meant nitrite too but it looks look the kit I have coming is strips. Ugh so back to the drawing board. Thank you so much for all your help.

 

[Wietfeldtamanda]

I feel like we get different information every where we look! I will get a sponge filter, and I think we need different testing kit because ours seems different than the one you’re talking about. And yeah, I meant nitrite too but it looks look the kit I have coming is strips. Ugh so back to the drawing board. Thank you so much for all your help.

Oh and our Java ferns are not buried now. They are floating. We put them in buried but then realized they are not supposed to be. We also have Java moss and pothos. It’s hard to find plants that tolerate low temps. We are adding more plants this week though.

 

[Wietfeldtamanda]

Regarding substrate. Various people will talk about impaction etc, I have never had a problem. All of my tanks have sand in them with small rocks. If you want to use a feeding dish you can, but honestly that's more an aesthetic consideration or a way of tracking how much they eat.

It does however look like your substrate is aquasoil. Aquasoil naturally releases ammonia when new. When you say your ammonia "was the lowest it could be", do you mean its zero? Because that's what it needs to be for your newt to be happy. Some people don't do proper water changes or have a lot of organic matter constantly in their tanks and don't get zeros on ammonia in their aquariums so they don't think it can be zero. But allow me to assure you, zero ammonia is not only possible, but pretty important.

Regarding filtration, you definitely need one. Your tank has what looks to be some moss, a sword plant, and 2 java plants stuck in the substrate. The java plants need to be attached to hardscape and will rot if left in the substrate. The java and moss are pretty slow growing and only the sword plant is quick growing. That said, you don't have enough of them if you truly want to just use plants as filtration. Instead, I would get a small sponge filter and a usb powered air pump. Those small air pumps are essentially silent and can be hung onto the side of the tank, an airline can be poked through a mesh top without issues, and the sponge filter just placed in the back of the tank.

Regarding water. If you are buying "spring water" from the grocery store or some such, I would stop doing that. Tap water is fine. If your tap water is city water, then make sure you use a dechlorinater like seachem prime. If you use another brand, just make sure it does NOT have aloe in it or other 'slime coat' enhancing products (a fish thing that is not applicable to amphibians). If you are on well water, you can skip this step. "Spring Water" is not a regulated term in the USA so it can have anything in it so long as its potable, but hey, your tap water is already potable and a LOT cheaper then buying water from the store. In other words, there is no benefit to buying "spring water" over whatever is coming out of your tap beyond it likely not having chlorine in it, but a bottle of prime is a cheap thing to buy.

Soooooo

Where does that leave you right now?

Well I am guessing your tank is not quite properly setup. So tubbing the newt, putting a fan on the surface or otherwise cooling the container down to mid 60s, and doing 100% water change every day (yes all the water) is probably pretty important until your tank gets to zero ammonia and zero nitrite (notice I said nitrite, not nitrate, they are different with the former being deadly and the latter being plant food). You could do this in your aquarium of course, but it would make water changes a little harder since the water volume is bigger. How you want to go about doing it is up to you.

You can also look into other plants you can add to the tank, local facebook groups for freshwater aquariums are a great source for this as often people will have plants they are literally giving away or selling for very very cheap. In my area (Maryland) we have people literally giving away trimmings on a weekly basis. If you want something super easy to grow, look into floating plants like salvinia, frogbit, and guppy grass. Other easy growing plants include pearl weed, hornwort, and wisteria.

And the aquarium store said there are no other plants they have that tolerate this temperature. I assume all the other plants you listed tolerate 60 degrees temps?

 

[minorhero]

And the aquarium store said there are no other plants they have that tolerate this temperature. I assume all the other plants you listed tolerate 60 degrees temps?

Regarding low temperature plants. I have honestly not found a plant yet that struggles with 60 degree water. I think this would change if water temperatures were to be in the low 50s to 40s, but 60s... everything is fine. You just need low tech easy plants that tolerate low light to the low end of medium light. Floating plants generally are the easiest, but your options here really are legion.

I feel for you with multiple contradictory information. The truth is there are MANY paths to success. My advice to you is targeted around newts which will be a bit different then advice you might get from a petstore that mostly (or completely) specializes in fish. Also, you will get different advice from crazy errrrr, I mean passionate people who might keep axolotls on facebook for instance.