New 10gal tank set up....?

[Fizzle]

Hello everyone!

I recently set up my ten gallon tank with new plants and rocks. I don't own a newt as of yet, but I want to make sure this looks like a good set up for one. The water level is a bit high at the moment, but in the left hand side would be the dry area. The water level would be a bit lower than it currently is. I have the rocks built up with a flat rock for a surface. I'm planning on growing moss over the rocks and bricks to make the surface is softer for the newt. I have 4 live plants planted in the gravel. I'm a little concerned about that however. Is the gravel enough for the plants to root in? There are glass marbles along the bottom of the water area. I also have some snails to help with clean-up and some white cloud minnows. I've researched the fish and it seems like those are best suited for living with a newt.

So, here it is and I would love comments or suggestions. I've never set up a tank like this before nor owned a newt. I'm very excited to be getting one soon, but I want to make sure this is ok.



I know its a bit blurry, but hopefully it shows it well enough.

 

[JWERNER]

What type of Newt?

You could probably, depending on what kind of newt, just fill it up to the top.

I like a more natural look so I dont have anything good to say about the substrate but if you want a good foundation for plants I would swap it out for sand.

 

[Fizzle]

I was thinking a firebelly newt as I heard they are good for beginners. I thought about sand and I'm willing to switch out the gravel for something else. Thanks for the imput!

So would this be an ok setup for a firebelly?

 

[Raven01000]

10 gallons of water is the minimum for one or two Chinese fire-bellied newts, but since your tank isn't filled all the way up, you don't actually have 10 gallons of water. You can still use your tank, but you will probably have to fill it all the way up.

Before you make a decision about getting a newt, I would ask you to consider this: fire-bellied newts can be a bad choice if you buy them from a pet shop. Newts bought in stores are always wild-caught and often suffer from extreme stress due to the importation process.

 

[otolith]

Your set up looks okay for a firebelly, the gravel is a good size since it will be too big for the newt to swallow but it allows waste to accumulate in the cracks. Clearing off a small area of the bottom of the tank as a feeding area is a good idea to minimize food getting trapped and rotting in the spaces between rocks. I would also recommend raising the water level and removing the land area since firebellys do not spend much time on land, a small piece of cork bark is usually enough. More water also equals less maintenence which is good for you and your newts. More plants (or fake plants) would be good too. Anacharis is a great starter plant, it grows quickly and creates lots of hiding places, you will probably need a light (if you dont already have one). Driftwood is nice too but may stain the water brown.

In general though, your setup is probably fine for 1 or 2 newts, the above changes would be ideal though. The care sheet on caudataculture.org has a ton of info if you end up choosing firebellies, you should definitely consider giving it a read.

off topic but i like your background, my brother was the artistic director of Bioshock 2 :happy:

 

[JWERNER]

Your set up looks okay for a firebelly, the gravel is a good size since it will be too big for the newt to swallow but it allows waste to accumulate in the cracks. Clearing off a small area of the bottom of the tank as a feeding area is a good idea to minimize food getting trapped and rotting in the spaces between rocks. I would also recommend raising the water level and removing the land area since firebellys do not spend much time on land, a small piece of cork bark is usually enough. More water also equals less maintenence which is good for you and your newts. More plants (or fake plants) would be good too. Anacharis is a great starter plant, it grows quickly and creates lots of hiding places, you will probably need a light (if you dont already have one). Driftwood is nice too but may stain the water brown.

In general though, your setup is probably fine for 1 or 2 newts, the above changes would be ideal though. The care sheet on caudataculture.org has a ton of info if you end up choosing firebellies, you should definitely consider giving it a read.

off topic but i like your background, my brother was the artistic director of Bioshock 2 :happy:

That set up is not suitable for 1 newt let alone 2 if you intend on doing it even close to proper. You can get by but why when that open space is just doing nothing?

He needs lots more water to begin with and if he really wants live plants he's going to have to use sand or a planting substrate. Fine gravel sometimes works but plants do so much better in sand and almost never do so well in gravel that large.

 

[Gaius317]

On a completely unrelated note, I like your usage of Ho-oh in the background.