Newbie with a Paddletail

[theshrimpghost]

Hello all! I recently came into ownership of a Paddletail newt (Pachytriton labiatus) and was hoping for some advice and/or validation on keeping the little one.

The ridiculously long story that you can probably skip goes something like...
My friend, who has a small Chinese (we think) Fire Belly Newt, was shopping for a friend for him, because she heard that he might eat better if he has company. The petstore she went to assured her that their Fire Belly Newt would get along with hers despite the size difference, because all Fire Belly Newts get along.
Anyways, a few weeks pass, and nothing horrible happens, even though her CFBN isn't really eating better and the new guy hides most of the time under the long, in a small tank with about 2 inches of water. Then, she wakes up one morning to find that her little guy is missing a leg! She's not sure what happened, and suspects the big guy, but the leg grows back, and everything seems alright. Then, a week or two later, the same leg is missing! It had just gotten its toes back! She decides that she has a cannibal newt on her hands, and goes about finding someone to take it.
Enter me: My betta has just died leaving me with an empty 10 gallon tank. After much "Er...."ing and "Well..."ing I conceded the fact that I can't say no to an animal in need and told her I'd take it. I did a cursory google search on FBNs, realized I needed cold water and some land space, so I took out my heater and lowered the water till the driftwood was poking out.

TLDR -> Start here:

I picked up the cannibal the next day, and introduced it to it's new home. It immediately hid, but my friend and I couldn't decide whether it was Chinese or Japanese, and I was determined to find out. So I lurked for long enough with my camera to get some reference pictures. It's not the best picture of the tail, but I got flashed plenty of it after my little one got over the shyness.
It appears!

Another friend recently got an axolotl, so I knew about caudata.org from her consistent gushing, and set about determining what I had on my hands. I was pretty annoyed to determine that my newt didn't really fit either description until I found this BRILLIANT article: Caudata Culture Articles - Firebelly

Mystery solved. Got a Paddletail. Famous for being ridiculously specialized and aggressive.

So I upped the water level, replaced the gravel with sand, and turned on my bubble bar to help oxygenate the water.
Result!

The tank contains (as you can see) a huge piece of driftwood, a rock-pile hide, some plastic and silk plants, a hammock leaf (was my betta's, RIP Narcissus), a bubble bar at the back, pebbles too big to choke a buccal-pump feeder of my newts size, a few empty shells (Narcissis hated apple snails), some anubias, and some java fern. The stuff you can't see are a pair of ghost shrimp (Pablo et Pablo), a Nerite snail (though the eggs are everywhere), and a few pond snails.
The water level is about 6-7 inches.

I know the power-filter is pretty much the worst thing ever because of escape issues and it's lack of current-producing abilities, but I went crazy on it with tulle and tape (after this pic) to seal up any escape routes and hopefully it's temporary until I can get a duetto or something.
Click to see Before and After of escape-proofing.

Temperature-wise, I have a fan pointing down at the tank and some more tulle taped over the front half to prevent any jumping/leaping mishaps. See? From what I read (and have seen so far), paddle tails can't climb up shear glass, so it's not as impregnable as I'd make it if I had a different species. The fan seems to keep the tank between 58 and 62 degrees F.

As far as food goes, she had been eating frozen/thawed bloodworms. I bought some red wigglers (thought they were earthworms, curses!), but she doesn't seem interested. Will try again later when she's not stressed/exploring/still full of bloodworms. And will get some actual earthworms to try feeding her.

Holy long post, Batman!

Anyway, that's the situation, my new paddletail, and oh yeah, "Hi, I'm new."
How am I doing so far guys? I'd appreciate your comments, questions and advice!

 

[Jennewt]

You are doing well. You've done your homework and are striving to get things set up properly, good work! It would be nice if you could post your photos directly into your post, so people can see them more easily.

The filter I would suggest to you is the Tetra 10i (you can google it). A paddletail won't mind the current, and it's a lot easier to clean an maintain than the Duetto. Also, it's fairly cheap.

Actually paddletails probably can climb shear glass, particularly at the corners. Never underestimate the Houdini-like abilities of newts.

 

[theshrimpghost]

Thanks! I had the pictures directly in the post earlier, but they were huge. I linked them instead, so it wouldn't inconvinence users with a slow connection or jerk the forum settings around.

I'd considered the 10i, but I didn't think they provided enough of a current for paddle tails. I may end up with one anyway though, because of cost.

As far as escape goes, she's been mostly pursuing the power filter route and can't seem to grip the glass with wet hands. If the glass is dry and her limbs aren't wet enough, she can make some headway until her tail doesn't any more leverage to push up against. In that case, she slides slowly down the glass, usually sideways.
Why yes, I have been watching her on and off for the past 2 hours, lol.

But you're right, "pride goeth" and what not.... Next items on the shopping list, internal filter and a secure lid.
Does anyone happen to know how much heat the common internal filters usually produce? I'm kinda new to the concept of room temp being too warm, heh.

 

[Jennewt]

The heat produced is directly related to the wattage of the filters, so if you can find out the watts this will help as a comparison. Also, filters that splash the water around help to dissipate the heat by evaporation to some extent.

Until you get a secure lid, duct tape works wonders

 

[theshrimpghost]

Alright, the cover and internal filter are installed and running.
Thanks for the recommendation Jennewt, I did end up getting a Tetra 10i. Like I worried about, the current isn't as strong as I'd like, but my newt seems pleased anyway, so what do I know. And with the added evaporation due to the mesh cover (and fan), the temp is holding around 60 degrees F.

Pictures coming as soon as I can get them to upload.

Edit: Pictures!

The whole shebang:

The filter and a nice below view of filter media shoved through the hole I had to cut in the mesh:

And the above shot: