My new Triturus marmoratus tank

[lestat]

I'm quite pleased with how this new tank turned out. It has two types of fern (Scyphularia pycnocarpa and Polypodium formosanum), two types of moss (Vesicularia dubyana and Thuidium), and selaginella. There's a little pool of water that might get some duck weed... I'm not sure there's enough light for it to spread, but I guess I'll find out. The newts seem happy, and it looks like they've hunted down all of their crickets already.

 

[louise]

That's a lovely looking viv you got, and the newt looks happy too!

 

[Yahilles]

Beautiful tank, IMO you shouldn't put duckweed in the water part, it looks poor and it resembles some mess in the tank for me. Now you have cool terrarium.

 

[Azhael]

Very nice, kind of more suitable for dartfrogs though xDDD I like they way it looks.
I would takr the ginkgo leaves out....they are rich in fenols and they might not be a good idea for amphibian skins.

 

[snussmak]

Cool lookin' viv, how many newts does it house?

 

[lestat]

Thanks guys.

The duckweed wasn't on purpose. It came in on the java moss and I didn't notice until it was already in there. I've gotten it all out since then, which was rather tedious.

I have a lot more experience with frogs than newts, Rodrigo, which I guess is pretty obvious. lol There are lots of little burrows around the log for them, so there are more hiding places than it looks like. I'm going to try to find an oak or magnolia tree with smaller leaves or something similar so I can put a thicker layer of leaves down for them to crawl around in. I think they'd feel a little more comfortable with that, but they haven't seemed to be bothered by the lack.

There are two newts in this tank. They have become a lot more active since I made it for them, so I'm thinking I should have gone with a larger tank. They don't seem crowded, but they definitely use all the space they have. I really enjoy watching them explore.

 

[felizycontento]

I have been searching marmoratus for years to get some photos, and I have never see them in such an humid environment (unless it was raining in that moment)

Especialy the summer is very dry and hot.

I suggest you to provide some dry areas. Maybe I would use a small water pond instead of keeping all the botom of the terrarium with water. For breeding season you will need a bigger mass of water.

 

[Jennewt]

The tank is beautiful. What type of dirt-like substrate did you use?

I don't have any experience with these ferns, but wonder if they will survive. Please keep us up to date as the setup ages.

My other concern is how you will clean the water. Tip the tank and siphon it out maybe?

 

[bobberly1]

Nice! The gincko leaves look great.

 

[coendeurloo]

Talking about ferns, what is the best method to keep them alive? (substrate, lighting etc)

 

[Greatwtehunter]

It has been my experience that the light requirements for ferns seems to vary for each species but they all seem to require a moist but well drained soil to flourish.

 

[lestat]

The bottom isn't completely water. The land portion has a solid piece of polystyrene under it, and only a little area around the edges with gravel and water. It's definitely wet in those photos, but I let it dry a bit before I water it again.

The substrate is peat moss.

I haven't tried these species of ferns before, so it'll be interesting to see how they fair. They're already pretty big for that tank, so I'm not really expecting this to be a long term deal. I have two tanks set up like this, both with different amounts of light. So far the ferns in both tanks look healthy.

This tank was really only intended to be a temporary tank until I set up something nice for them... They had been in a really spartan cage and I wanted something a little nicer for them. I kinda got carried away though. lol That method is one idea I've had, Jennewt. With most of the base being polystyrene, it's actually very light weight, so tipping it is easy.

 

[Larryjo08]

the more I look at this marmoratus the more i want some for myself....keep sending pictures..by the way, how cold is the temperature where you have them.