Looking for feeding advice

[poggle]

Hey all,

I recently got some T. Dobrogicus and I've really been struggling with feeding them without losing bits of food in the process. I'd been doing weekly water changes and going at the pebbles (large enough that the newts won't swallow) daily with a turkey baster, but I was still missing a good amount of uneaten food. Today I had to remove the little "hill" I made out of the substrate and make everything ~0.75 inches deep across the tank to prevent future hidden food deposits. This entire degunking session took about 3 hours and a whole lot of manual labor, so I really want to make sure I don't have to do it again anytime soon.

So far I've fed them BBS, daphnia, floating pellets, sinking pellets, and freeze dried bloodworms. They aren't super interested in the pellets anymore, and the bloodworms are difficult because they'll often snatch them off the tweezers and then drop them somewhere. Right now the daphnia seem like the best option, but I'd really like to be able to give them a more diverse diet.

So, how do you all prevent uneaten food from getting buried in the substrate? I've got a feeding plate for the sinking food, but I'd like to be able to feed them some floating/live food as well. Also, what has everyone's experience been with frozen fish cubes? I'm worried that as they melt little bits will be able to float off unnoticed, but in general they sound like a great solution.

Thank you!

 

[Viking]

I keep my newts in a bare bottom tank. I use Ramhorn snails to clean up uneaten food.

 

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How have you liked the ramshorn snails? I've seen some posts about them, but I'm curious how quickly they reproduce vs how quickly the newts eat the little ones and their eggs.

 

[Viking]

They are true hermaphrodites. Any two will do! They can lay eggs when only 1/3 inch across. I use them as food for many other species: crayfish, puffers, shrimps and newts. I smash them to feed larger larvae. I have seen eat fresh eggs. I do not see them eat babies or not fast enough to wipe out the snails. You can smash eggs every few days. They are amber colored. Also plants help keep water quality good.

I have both brown and red snails. I feed brown ones first. You can have hundreds of babies in a short time. I use this my my Spanish ribbed newt larvae. The snails keep algae off the sides of the tank.

 

[Methos5K]

If you want to keep the substrate; get a reptile corner feeding dish. It will contain the messiness.


Your substrate is collecting lots of waste, which will lead to a buildup of anaerobic bacteria; which in turn will produce Carbon monoxide. Not good. IMO ditch it and go bare bottom. Decorate it with large pieces of slate and potted plants.



Fish cubes are not a good diet for newts.

In order of goodness....


Nightcrawlers--Blackworms--Carnivore pellets--everything else really.