Help Me with my FBN's Future Home

[elchicano]

Hello everyone, well I'm starting to build my semi aquatic home for my FBN's. Though I still don't have the FBN's, I want to prepare before I purchase them. I was going for a more natural look, until I ran into this at petsmart. It's more for a fish tank but I thought it would be cool if I made it into a waterfall.

But I have an issue, the filter doesn't fit perfectly over the stone cast. So I'm looking for suggestions as to what I could use to fill in the gaps. I have seen some people use expanding yellow foam and I'm wondering if it's really safe to use? If so what kind of paint should I use to paint over the expanding yellow foam? Will acrylic paint work? Also I usually find aquarium safe silicone at my local walmart but I couldn't find some today. So I'm wondering if I would be able to use regular clear silicone or would I have to get a certain kind?

Sorry for all these questions I would rather get your opinions before I do something I might regret.
TIA
-dave

 

[Greatwtehunter]

I've been using the Great Stuff foam for years now and have yet to run into a problem with it. As for paint I can't help you there, as I have always used silicone and coco fiber for the most part. I do have a suggestion however. You could use silicone on the foam and then cover it with an appropiately colored sand to match the waterfall.

Lowe's and Home Depot also carry the aquarium silicone, if you can't find it there then you can grab the GE II silicone. GE II has a thing called Bioseal in it which is supposed to be a mold inhibator I think, some people worry this may cause harm in amphibians. I can't say for sure it does but then again I can't say it doesn't. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[elchicano]

Thanks Justin for the quick reply. I just wanted to make sure about the foam. I will head out to home depot in the morning. I never thought about using silicone and sand, since the cast was painted I thought painting would be the way to go. You got me thinking and I don't think that's a bad idea.

Also I don't know if I should keep the corals, since some of them are broken. Due to the corals being broken and this being the last cast they had I bought the cast for half the price, which is a win for me. I also have some gravel and some fake plants to put in. I will be getting some java moss, which I will put around the cast. I might also get some live plants. This will be my build thread until I'm finish with my set up.

If any body else has some ideas of what else I should add to my tank let me know I would appreciate it.
-dave

 

[Jennewt]

My concern with this setup is how are you going to seal it against escape? There is no standard lid that is going to fit well over the filter when it sticks above the top edge of the tank like that.

 

[elchicano]

I have thought about this as well. I will buy a standard lid but i will just do some custom work over the filter. This is why i decided to finish my set up before i get my newts.

 

[eyrops]

I have used various kinds of silicone in aquarium building and setups. Currently, I am using DAP 100% silicone rubber sealant clear with 50 yr. durability guarantee. Although this does say "Not recommended for continuous underwater use.", I have not had problems with it. However, I always use a formulation of silicone that says "safe for food contact" on the tube.

 

[elchicano]

Well I went to home depot and they recommended GE Type II silicone. I told the guy I was going to use it in an aquarium. He said there should be no issue unless I was going to put it in a salt water aquarium.

So here's what I got done so far. I spread the expanding foam along the filter where the gaps were at. I think I might put some foam in the front coral and have it more of a pad for the newts to rest on. I also bought some drift wood, I set it up along with a log. So far the way I have it in the pictures is the best placement I have done.

What do you guys think? I still have to finish spreading foam on the coral and then gluing some sand along the foam. After that I think I will spread the gravel and place the fake plants. I'm not really sure if I want to continue with the fake plants. I might head out to the pet shop again and see what kind of live plants they have. They prolly recognize me by now since I have been there like 3 or 4 times now.

-dave

 

[lilacdragon7]

You might want to consider that your specific breed does not appreciate too much disturbance of the water's surface. They live in a grassy wetland. Also Live plants would benefit you when it comes to creating a self sustaining environment. This doesn't mean you don't have to touch it after setting it up; regular water changes and maintenance are still required. You're less likely to get a toxic spike in the tank, by taking such precautions as plants.

Another thing to consider is the possibility of being sold WC (wild Caught) or the wrong species. Some stores sell Chinese fire bellies in place of Japanese, Chinese are smaller, smoother, and less tolerant of high temps. Jap. Fire Bellies are a hardier species.

One more thing, there's a large probability that you will receive juveniles w/in a year of morphing in this case they are going to prefer mostly land after about 3 or 4 years they move over to the water. Jennewt can definitely clear up a lot of questions about FBN. Just search for articles and there's care sheets which will help you along you path. This forum really helped with my set up and now I have three beautiful fast growing JFBN from Jennewt herself.

hope some of this helps. I would rather you read before wasting money on things you might not need.:wacko:

 

[Holding2k9]

Hey i think your intentions are good but to be honest you are spending money that does not need to be spent on your set up.

to me it is just going to look so fake and i personally prefer a more natural set up.

 

[elchicano]

Hey i think your intentions are good but to be honest you are spending money that does not need to be spent on your set up.

to me it is just going to look so fake and i personally prefer a more natural set up.

At first i was going for a natural set up, but then i saw the cast and i thought it would look cool if i could change it into a waterfall. To be honest everything that I have there has been pretty cheap. The most expensive item would be the cast which costed $15. Thats' why I'm thinking about the live plants, it think it would take away from some of the fakeness i have put on there.

 

[elchicano]

You might want to consider that your specific breed does not appreciate too much disturbance of the water's surface. They live in a grassy wetland. Also Live plants would benefit you when it comes to creating a self sustaining environment. This doesn't mean you don't have to touch it after setting it up; regular water changes and maintenance are still required. You're less likely to get a toxic spike in the tank, by taking such precautions as plants.

Another thing to consider is the possibility of being sold WC (wild Caught) or the wrong species. Some stores sell Chinese fire bellies in place of Japanese, Chinese are smaller, smoother, and less tolerant of high temps. Jap. Fire Bellies are a hardier species.

One more thing, there's a large probability that you will receive juveniles w/in a year of morphing in this case they are going to prefer mostly land after about 3 or 4 years they move over to the water. Jennewt can definitely clear up a lot of questions about FBN. Just search for articles and there's care sheets which will help you along you path. This forum really helped with my set up and now I have three beautiful fast growing JFBN from Jennewt herself.

hope some of this helps. I would rather you read before wasting money on things you might not need.:wacko:

Any advice is good advice, yes i have been readng as much as i can about Cynops. This is why i have stoppped my search for them at my local petshops. I'm not ready for them and i don't have a proper home for them right now. I'm still in my building stage so for all i know i could change everything around. Well thanks i will do more reserch and I'll see if i can contact Jennewt. Thanks

 

[elchicano]

Also I'm thinking about adding some java moss and some elodeas. Depending how much room i have left what other plants would you guys recommend? Any terestial plants i can put in small planter?
-dave

 

[elchicano]

My concern with this setup is how are you going to seal it against escape? There is no standard lid that is going to fit well over the filter when it sticks above the top edge of the tank like that.

This has been making me think for a while. This is what I have so far, I'm thinking of either putting a 1/4 inch strip of wood or plastic along the top of the tank. Just enough so a standard lid could clear the filter. I might go for a bigger strip just for more clearance.

Also I put more into 4thought of what you guys said about it looking a little fake. So I changed some stuff around. I like this set up even more, I'll post pictures as soon as I the expanding foam dries. I also had a little mishap with it, after I took my gloves off I noticed some foam on the edge of the tank. I cleared it off without a glove and boy did it cause a mess. Learned my lesson

 

[AflackMatt]

Is it just me, or is anybody else wondering where the filter is going to get its water intake from...

Also, I know for a fact that the hide that you have on the bottom of the tank will mold when placed in the water and I also know it only takes like a week. This has personally happened to me a couple different times.

The whole thing seems like a big waste to me, because the newts arent going to wanna sit on that cast because the current from the waterfall will be too strong, and the big wood branches thing might be good but that might mold and they might not want to be climbing it just to rest in the "sun" for a little bit then climb back down...you would be better off with a turtle dock, or doing the glass tank divider project (seeing as youre doing so much work already)

Also, I know that Peter (onetwentysix) has C. orientalis for sale that are captive bred, and he is a pretty nice guy. I would recommend buying from him or somebody else on this site. C. orientalis arent that hard to find captive bred, you just have to pay shipping

 

[elchicano]

As i have stated above i completely changed my tank. Those images were what i was thinking when i started. After reading some threads I decided not to go with what i had planned. Currently everything has changed. I will post a new thread with the finished product. I still have some last minute things to do. As for the newts i was already contacted by someone in this forum and will most likely be buying from him. Thanks for your suggestions though.

 

[AflackMatt]

By the way, I would get Chinese Fire Bellies (C. orientalis), just because of your tank size. You could get a Japanese Fire Belly but only if your getting only one...2 of them would be too cramped in a tank that size. That being said, I wouldnt recommend over 2 or 3 orientalis for a tank that size either

 

[elchicano]

As of right now I'm only thinking of getting two. Two males or two females as i would not want them to breed. Later on if i get a bigger tank i will introduce more.

 

[SnakeDancer]

What is this "expanding foam" stuff that's been mentioned in this thread? Sounds like something with which to make artificial rocks and scenery? Can someone give more details?

 

[AflackMatt]

As of right now I'm only thinking of getting two. Two males or two females as i would not want them to breed. Later on if i get a bigger tank i will introduce more.

If they bred, they would eat the larvae anyway. You would have to intervene for these to breed successfully, so it doesnt matter.

 

[elchicano]

If they bred, they would eat the larvae anyway. You would have to intervene for these to breed successfully, so it doesnt matter.

If thats true then i might get both male and female. I just don't want it to happen like my fish. I started out with two and a couple of weeks later i had 18!