FBNs recovering nicely and have new set up (pics)

[fouramigos]

Hey all!!!!
As the title says, the newts have recovered nicely from those 2 other mysterious deaths a couple a weeks ago, and I have been taking advice concerning their set up.
I will be including pics, at the moment I did the regular water change, about 50% water change, removed some serious rocks (there are pics in my last post I believe - Sudden FBN deaths - showing the amount of rocks I had), and added a bit more water and plants.
Because I still have a newt that is water shy, I do still have some dry land, only because I am trying to do it gradually for all of them. I do have to say though, the 2 that have gone aqautic are totally enjoying this new set up, they are consistantly swimming happily in the water, have no problems swimming up for air, they even hunt for they food (thawed out frozen blood worms) at the bottom of the tank, and all 3 of them have a healthy appetite eating once or twice a day, and no bullying or fighting between the 2 in the water, they are gladly sharing their space in the 20 gallon tank.
I still do not have a filter in there yet, planning on putting a 3 gallon in-tank air pump filter, but for the purpose of circulating the water, avoiding the still water affect, I will continually to do manual cleaning of waste and possible left over food, depending on the water level, this filter barely even moves the surface of the water in a 10 gallong tank so it'll nice and smooth in the 20 gallon, and it's and air pump, so no heat is created.
So the pile of rocks to the left is also to disperse any water flow that may occur, I plan on raising the water level to the same height as that rock pile, which will be just over top of the log, which in turn will hopefully coax my last remaining water shy newt, to get in the water lol Just thought I would post an update and some pics, I'll post other pics in the albums & galleries section, enjoy!

 

[evut]

It's nice to see that the newts reacted so well to the changes.
I would recommend getting some elodea or hornwort. The plants you have look to me like they might need substrate in the long term (?). Newts love to hang out in plants near the surface - elodea or hornnwort float and spread and create nice environment for them. It would also be beneficial for the water quality.

 

[fouramigos]

Hey!
I will be investing in more plants, these ones were in my 30 gallon freshwater tank, just figured they would do the job for now, Buster and Angel make use of them. I was wondering, Buster seems to have an enormous appetite since he's discovered his love of water, they're on frozen bloods worms that I thaw out. They were all being hand fed with tweezers when they were terrestrial, but with the 2 in the water, I just drop it in front of their faces and they go for it...Buster is ALWAYS asking for more lol! He is the most attentive to my movements, he responds instantly if I move my finger along the glass lol and they all look up if they hear me making that funny little voice I make when I talk to them lololol!
Could they actually eat so much that they can't come up for air? Buster sometimes looks like that after he eats, no I don't keep feeding him, when they other 2 are done, I stop feeding Buster as well.
In the future I would like to add an in the tank air pump filter for a 3 gallon tank, but with that I would have to also add the fry guppies I have...I have no spare filters...they are only about 1/2cm to 1cm in size, they may even become a snack to the newts if they can catch them. As the guppies got bigger though they would go in my 30 gallon, the fish in there now are just too big to put the fry fish in, at least with the newts, they have a fighting chance lol! I also have some apple snail hatchlings, I'd just want to put one in their tank just to help with the cleaning, and once it get's big enough, or too big for the newts, I would remove it because I know that sometime they can cause some damage to newts.
Ok so yeah any advice would be awesome, thanks everyone!!!

 

[fouramigos]

Final FBN set up with air pump filter and guppies (pics)

Hey all!
So I have finished my set up for my 3 Chinese FBNs, which I now believe are 2 males DJ and Angel, and 1 female Buster...can someone else let me know what they think by the pics I put up?
As mentioned in someone elses post, my 2 that are water happy seem to have that dicolouration in the "thumbs", yet the one who prefers not to go swimming still has black thumbs...does it have something to do with them maturing? I'm not concerned or anything just curious, as I've been learning they are quite the interesting little critters
I have put the plants in sand confined to those containers, they should do ok in there, I'll still get some thorwort and elodia, at least this way these plants can still flourish and grow.
They don't quite break through the water because I have more water in now than previously, about 7 inches, instead I found some really cool cuboard and drawer liners that are made of a non stick, non slip rubber which I place at the bottom of the tank. Non stick means this stuff floats, easily taken care of by placing rocks along the edges to keep it from lifting. Now they finally have some grip at the bottom, and because this stuff floats so easily, I cut strips and anchored them by the rocks, then one end floats up which leaves a nice soft, smooth semi wet surface to hang out on due to lack of plants.
There is also a 3 gallon air pump in tank filter that I want mostly to circulate the water, keep and air flow going, and every little bit helps to keeping their water clean, but it's a very quiet and gentle flow to it, and I also have some rocks just below the spout to break up the water flow.
Because I was going to use this filter, I needed a place to put my guppy fry...they now reside with the newts, they're small still and fairly transparent, and quick so I doubt they will be snacks, but you never know lol! The guppies are thrilled, way bigge tank than the 0.8 gallon they were in, and the newts don't seem bothered by them. Every now and again I am sure a newt is hunting a guppy, then the guppy bolts and the newt figures what the hell lol!
Ok so now I'm going to add some pics, let me know what you all think please!!! Thanks!!!

 

[evut]

It looks like a nice interesting environment for the newts with lots of things to explore. I am not sure if the lining on the floor of the tank is such a good idea - it will trap dirt and you will probably always have to move all the stones etc. when cleaning (?). I would also worry about the animals getting stuck under it - mine are always trying to squeeze themselves into and under things.
I think bare bottom is better (many people keep newts that way). The plants in the containers would grow better if you put some soil under the sand. Check out this thread.

Or you could use sand for the whole tank - you could put your plants straight into it without the containers. You can use play sand from a DIY store (it shouldn't be expensive - a big bag costs about £4 here, I think). Have a look at this article.

 

[fouramigos]

Hey,
Yes Eva they do seem to enjoy the new set up, as for the lining, I kept a close eye on them, well on Buster seeing as she/he is the only one exploring the water at this point, for some reason Angel has stopped exploring the bottom like she used to?
As for the cleaning, I am still using a baster to remove waste and left over food on a regular basis, then just top up what I took out from there, until it's time to do a bigger water change.
I had those plants in my 30 gallon tank with gravel and the sand, no soil, and the sprouted pretty nicely...I'll have to see
Thanks for the input, will update again