Fire Belly Newts

[rheann]

Hey Guys

, I have 7 axolotls, and now a new member of the family, a Chinese Fire Belly Newt which I have named Sir Krowzer of Cali.

I want to make sure that I am doing things right.

I only have one fire belly Newt. I have him in a 21/1 gallon glass tank that has a layer of large gravel (big so he can't swallow it) a homemade swimming pool that is also filled a little with gravel. The water in this will be changed every day to every other day as needed. The pool is big enough he can swim around and play and also get in and out of it as he wishes. I am using Stress Coat Declorinator to treat the water. I also added some nice moss around the tank to keep it cool and moist and two Jade Plant cuttings that I have been growing for a few months now in a butter container that I decided would look much better in the Newts habitat lol.

I have also added a funny flat looking rock that with a few rocks underneath it as support has turned out to be a very nice little cave.

He seems pretty happy. He is being fed on Newt food by a brand called HBS and blood worms

. Before I got him he was kept in a tank a little bigger than the one I have with a bunch of tetras and nothing dry or flat to climb up on

. It was pretty pathetic.

I will move him when he gets a little bigger into a 10 gallon tank complete with water fall, soft mossy places to hide, and driftwood. He will be in newty paradise

. He's a little under weight and pretty scrawny but active.

I need some happy-habitat inspiration for the future tank setup

. Would anyone mind posting some pictures of their Fire belly setups for me? I want to make his new future habitat semi aquatic. I'll also browse through the gallery and see what I can find as well

Thanks guys!

 

[rheann]

Oh, I forgot to mention this.

I'm having trouble finding the name, but i know there is a type of moss that is toxic to newts and Sals, so if anyone would mind letting me know this name, it would really help

. I'm pretty sure however that I am not using it in my tank currently because I know the toxic moss is brown and what I have is green.

Thanks again guys! ^__^

 

[joan]

Just so you know, with most newts, you don't have to worry about gravel swallowing as they capture and consume their food differently than ambystomatids. Ambystomatids (cup mouth in latin) kind of suck their food in, like a straw, while most just grab and swallow.

There's no moss I know of that's toxic, but sphagnum moss is rather acidic, and shouldn't be used. Live sphagnum is green while dried is brown, so that's not a good indicator.

If you find he's spending more time in the water, you might want to switch him over to a more aquatic setup.

 

[rheann]

Hey Thanks Joan

. Glad to know now about the gravel thing. Since I have axolotls, wasn't sure if I should risk it with other newts and sals lol.

Yikes, didn't realize that about Sphagnum moss that it is also green. I'll be careful when I purchase moss at stores not to purchase that type.

What types are safe to use and not safe to use?

I have a great idea for a tank setup. I browsed through the gallery and forum and I think what I will do is get some plastic meshing from a craft store and some pvc piping and build up a three level platform using aquarium silicone. I'll use some Pete and press it nice and neat into the platform and then cover that with some rock moss, rocks and some small safe plants that won't grow very big. At the base of the platform I'm going to have a nice big area filled with water and gravel and some aquatic plants. I'll also add in some driftwood pieces and I think it will be really neat

 

[stipe]

Rheann if you actualy read through that thread Russ mentioned that the mesh wasnt a good idea as it is much harder to seal and wastes to much silicon. If you are making it use brown silicon like he did, looks nice too.

 

[rheann]

Hey Stipe - I did read Russ's post, but I have a similar idea of what I am going to try with the pvc piping and the plastic meshing stuff. I'm not going to build it in the method that he did.

I can't really describe what I'm going to do, but I have a good feeling it is going to work if I am careful with the materials I am using.

I think the best way to describe is that I'm not going to use very much silicone, and the pvc pipes will also be wider and I'll use more than one later of the plastic meshing. I also might use some pond sealant stuff; I have to do some further research on different types of sealants because I know I am going to need something to make it extra water proof.

I'm going to seal off the plastic meshing with the pond sealant (or something similar none-toxic) over the top and in the sides and inside the platform to make it really stable. I came across a thread where yellow foam stuff was used. I might try this but I have to look more into it on that thread. I was up late last night and didn't get through too many threads.

I think if I use wider pvc piping and seal off the back and the sides really well, I will have success

.

It's really about trial and error lol. I'll be starting this project once I get more of an idea down of what I will be doing and further my research on products. I won't rush into it because it really is a piece of art