Illness/Sickness: I think my newts are dead.... not sure what I did wrong.

[jennesque]

My newts were alive last night, hanging out near the bottom of the tank, occasionally coming up for air. One had been hanging out in an elevated area that has like less than a quarter inch of water (I have a dry area too but these newts were previously kept fully aquatic.

They are eastern newts.. They were given to me and they are skinny and were in a fairly dirty tank. They were previously fed frozen bloodworms, which I offered them and they refused.. Apparently they hadn't eaten anything but an occasional ghost shrimp for a while.

I'm not sure if there's something wrong with my tank.. I just finished setting it up yesterday. It's divided in half with a glass divider... Gravel one side, sand and river rock on the other. I had fish in the tank previously without any issues, but moved everything in that tank to this one. I put the silicone in on Sunday, not sure if maybe it didn't cure long enough? Or if it's my plants, I have two ferns in there which I was told by someone with a similar newt set up, would be safe...

I don't know how to see if the tank is safe.. Should I put some ghost shrimp or feeder fish in to test the water. Or did they maybe go into shock because they came from such poor conditions? Or maybe they're weak from not eating?

I don't know what to do now. Also, I've heard newts play dead, by the rare chance this is the case, should I keep them in s Tupperware with a moist paper towel or anything? Or would I be able to see them breathing or something. The are just stiff as a board. I poked one and it moved a little .. But then it got flipped on it's back and it's not moving... I don't see breathing. Is there anything I should look for? I think their eyes may be sunken... :/

And just so you know, no heater is in the tank.. The room is kept about 70 degrees. They're in a 28 gal Bowfront tank.. And no filter but I was going to add one that had been in my fish tank today if needed.

 

[jennesque]

I've poked em a few times and they still aren't moving, so especially since it's highly unlikely that all three are playing dead.. I'm sure they're all goners.

I added a couple feeder guppies to the tank as, sadly, test subjects to see if they die soon. They did come from a very small reptile store that had only like 20 of them in a 10gal or so tank, with a filter and moss, so they shouldn't too unhealthy to start with. hopefully. I'm not if their survival means it's safe for newts though. I think I'll add some ghost shrimp as well since they seem to be fairly sensitive to water issues. but they're not exactly the top quality shrimp either.

 

[Bellabelloo]

What type of silicone did you use?

 

[jennesque]

It was one of the GE 100% acrylic ones.. No mold inhibitors. I don't recall if it was I or II but it was for windows and doors and I made sure it was just 100% silicone. I have used the same product in my fish tank to glue driftwood to slate anchors without any issue.

Are newts more sensitive than your average fish would be?

The fish still look fine after 24 hours.. Alive, active, not gasping for air, and eating.

 

[Jennewt]

Since all 3 died at once, that suggests something wrong with the water. Could be the silicone or some other toxicity issue, such as dead bloodworms, chlorine, something.

You added the fish AFTER the newts died, right? So whatever it was may be gone now.

So sorry, it's a bummer I"m sure.

 

[jennesque]

Awful. I feel terrible.. I failed them. It was like 1am that I noticed problems with the first one, cause I was headed to bed.. I was so tired I didn't really think to move the others. The one that went first was the thinnest..

I wonder if maybe the large change was just too much to hand. . The tank they had been in was dark and dirty and had a lot of duckweed floating. I put in some frogbit in hopes that it can tolerate the cool water, but the lighting is still considerably brighter. There are plants in there to hide around, and some rocks. I guess I will add more hides..

Yes, the fish, which are actually mosquito fish, were added after the newts died. I know theyre pretty hardy fish though. I'm going to get some ghost shrimp tonight and add them and see how they do. I usually have a pretty good survival rate from my local fish store. If the shrimps survive, I will try adding a newt again.. After adding more hides. I've also got dwarf lotus plants I'm trying to grow to provide little 'lily pads'. I did that in a FBN tank and it'd crawl out there on top at times, or hide underneath in the shade.

 

[FX1C]

Instead of sacrificing various life forms like coal mine canaries can I please suggest that you buy yourself a freshwater liquid test kit. That will test the important parameters like ammonia / nitrite / nitrate / ph.

Silicone should be left to cure for 72hrs then tank filled with water to cover silicone for at least a day then repeated so that any possible toxins leech out into the water which is discarded.

I'm sorry you lost your newts
but before you get more please understand things like he nitrogen cycle and new tank syndrome.



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[jennesque]

I have a kit and am well versed in the nitrogen cycle. I've got a small sponge filter running in my well established, cycled fish tank which I planned on stuffing in the filter I had and putting it into the newt tank. It was only a matter of maybe 6-8 hours so I don't think ammonia poisoning would be the issue if they started with fresh water with zero ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.

I know I can test for those aspects of the water. I do not know how to test for other toxins, such as something from the silicon. I don't know of an easy way to get access to anything that tests for anything but what the liquid freshwater test kit tests for.. Which is why, after testing the water with what I had available and not finding anything, I resorted to using other live animals.. Which.. I do feel bad about using as a guinea pig, but they're all 'feeder' animals and would likely be eaten soon anyways.

I've put ghost shrimp in a tank before for either my fish or my newts to eat.. Not that probably enjoy death by possible toxins, but I also don't think they enjoy death by being eaten.

I had a couple shrimp deaths in the newts tank, but I also had a couple in my other tank and even a couple in the bag on the way home. I think I'll move the remaining shrimp to my fish tank, move the mosquito fish out and rehome them, and fill and empty the tank a few times to try to get anything out of there before I add the filter and any future newts.