How many 5 inch newts (N. v.) could I fit in a 125 gallon (475 liter) tank?

[sharrakor]

Hi everyone,

I am thinking about getting a 125 gallon tank for my larvae once they are fully grown. Currently, I have 3 adults (5 inches each), 13 juveniles, and basically as many eggs as I want, since my female is laying again!

If I have just this type of newt in the tank, how many do you think I can comfortably fit in there? The tank base tank dimensions will be something like 6 feet by 1.5-2 feet. It will be a planted tank with a canister filter.

I'm asking because I am trying to see how many more larvae I should raise. They are Penninsula newts (N. v. piaropicola), in case anyone was wondering.

 

[slowfoot]

You could probably fit as many adults as you could produce for the next few years. They aren't aggressive (except with food) or territorial. The only thing I would worry about is if you have a skewed sex ratio during the breeding season: the females could get stressed if there are too many males. You might just need to remove some males temporarily to give the females a break.

 

[sharrakor]

You could probably fit as many adults as you could produce for the next few years. They aren't aggressive (except with food) or territorial. The only thing I would worry about is if you have a skewed sex ratio during the breeding season: the females could get stressed if there are too many males. You might just need to remove some males temporarily to give the females a break.

So, you think even 40 would be ok? I think I will have a much larger number of juveniles come from this batch of eggs. Also, thanks for the tip about the sexes.

Btw, how is Sneaky doing?

 

[slowfoot]

He's doing well, thanks

I guess it depends on how many juveniles become efts, or transition directly to adulthood. I've never kept piaropicola so I don't know how likely they are to enter the eft stage. But I usually lose about half of my larvae when they transition to land and then it takes 2-3 years for them to finally go back to the water, losing a few more along the way to random things. So I never have as many adults as I start out with.

 

[sharrakor]

Well, N. v. p. actually always skip the eft stage So most of them will likely make it to adulthood. They are basically fully aquatic their entire lives; one important detail I forgot to mention is that the tank will be 98% water.

Currently, my 8-9 month old juveniles are around 1.5-2 inches long, and already fully morphed.

...And I already have 14 more eggs

 

[slowfoot]

I think you could probably keep 40 in a tank that large if everyone gets along. It will probably be harder to make sure everyone gets fed properly because there are always shy and bold individuals.