I have no idea what I'm doing...

L

lee

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Ok ok I admit, I made a "beginners" mistake. I went to Pets Mart and purchased a fire belly newt without knowing anything about them - whoops! Currently the newt is in a glass 2.5 gallon tank (yes, too small) with small natural colored gravel, a little cave, a fake floating plant, and no filter. I feed the newt twice a day...newt pellets in the morning and bloodworms in the evening. Im doing 100% water changes each week. I have some questions because I have no idea what I got myself into: 1) Do newts get stressed out by 100% water changes every week? 2) I thought newts dont like water currents, is a filter mandatory? 3) Im going to buy a 10 gallon tank asap, but how many inches should the water level come up to? Right now the water is only a few inches. 4) Can newts swim in high levels of water? 5) Are newts sociable creatures? Should I buy a friend for my newt? 6) Could I also feed my newt guppy fry? My guppies are reproducing alot and was wondering if I could give a few to my newt. 7) Can you offer any personal advice on keeping newts?
 
you should go to http://www.caudata.org/caudatecentral/caresheets.html to find out what species exactly your firebelly is, as many species are sold as 'firebelly newts'. many have different requirements, some are aquatic while some are not.

you're feeding it too much, try twice a week instead, and 100% water changes are far too drastic.

best of luck
 
Ok so maybe I'm feeding it too much. But how do I keep at 2.5 gallon tank clean without 100% water changes? I do this along with my betta tanks. And that site link you gave isn't any good. I know your trying to help but pushing me off to another resource doesnt go. I need real advice here...
 
Ok nevermind. Whats the point of having a help discussion form if everyone just tells them to go to other links? Thats not helping, thats something someone could do on their own. I thought the point of this form was to get help from actual people with experience, not from some website. Thanks anyways, I guess I'll just have to research my newt information since none of my questions have really been answered. Its as if you dont even know the answers so you give me a link with the answeres instead, lol.
 
Lee, the questions you asked come up every day. That's why some of us write information and post it on the web. Nate and I wrote much of the FAQ and firebelly caresheets at the Caudate Central website. The information there will answer your questions, plus the ones you will probably ask next. Here are the answers to your specific questions:
1. yes
2. yes
3. 6-8 inches
4. yes
5. no
6. no
7. Yes, keep them cool, clean, and keep reading this forum and Caudate Central!
 
Thank-you Jennifer. I bought a 10-gallon tank yesterday. Currently there is only gravel, a flat rock that comes to water level, and some fake plants. I dont have a filter yet. I was wondering if maybe I could just do some water changes and gravel vaccuming without having to have a filter?
 
Depends on what you mean by "some" water changes. You need "some", regardless of filtration. Without no filter, I'd say you need a partial change almost daily. And amphibians need well-oxygenated water, which you won't have if it is deep, or if the tank has a solid cover. I would at least recommend an airstone. And if you have an airstone, it only costs a couple of bucks more to add a corner/box filter.
 
i found a eastern red-bellied slamannder ive read up on them for then last 15min and ive only found indentifie info can these be kept as pets?
 
Eastern red-bellied salamander? There's no such thing...do you mean a red-backed salamander?
 
Well in my 10-gallon tank the water is up to around 3-4 inches. I have a screen top for the tank. But like after a few days the water has like this filmy stuff on the surface and I dont know how it gets there or what it means.
 
Residu of snails? In this case it should look like oil. If you mean a white kinda filter, I have that too, but only when a aquarium is not covered and has no movement on the surfuce. (use a filter to get some)
 
Lee, the film is normal in tanks that do not have airation (an airstone or something similar). Leftover protein from food and waste makes a film on the surface. Keep up with the daily partial water changes. Get a filter if you haven't already.
 
Ok good news, I went out and bought a $15 filter. Its an Internal Power Filter for 10 gallon aquariums that filters 100 GPH. Its the type of filter used in low-water terrariums. I've raise my water level a few inches, added more gravel, and put this new filter in my tank. I'm not sure if its too much water flow though. And this filter has a vibrating noise which I really don't like.
 
If the flow is too great, posistion the outflow so that it faces into thhe glass of the aquarium or pile rocks up over it to break up the flow.
good luck,
Chris
 
...and also...now that I have a 10-gallon tank will a filter and everything, could I add a friend or two of the same species?
 
Make sure you get the first newt completely settled and eating etc. with a balanced tank. When you buy new newts they MUST be quarantined especially if they are bought from a pet store to stop the spread of disease.
Chris
 
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  • Katia Del Rio-Tsonis:
    Dear All, I would appreciate some help identifying P. waltl disease and treatment. We received newts from Europe early November and a few maybe 3/70 had what it looked like lesions under the legs- at that time we thought maybe it was the stress of travel- now we think they probably had "red leg syndrome" (see picture). However a few weeks later other newts started to develop skin lesions (picture enclosed). The sender recommended to use sulfamerazine and we have treated them 2x and we are not sure they are all recovering. Does anyone have any experience with P. waltl diseases and could give some input on this? Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
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  • Katia Del Rio-Tsonis:
    sorry I am having a hard time trying to upload the pictures- I have them saved on my hard drive... any suggestions-the prompts here are not allowing for downloads that way as far as I can tell. Thanks
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    Katia Del Rio-Tsonis: sorry I am having a hard time trying to upload the pictures- I have them saved on my hard... +1
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