Newts in an aquascape??

[dannyyyallenn]

Greetings all. Its been a really long time since last I was on here. In that time I've learned never to order amphibians online. The newts I ordered from reptile city on two different occasions came in sick, physically deformed, or carrying bacteria. I'm currently without an amphibian :/ I can take blame for one occasion when my filter turned off while I was at work and took me a few days to get it running again, in the mean time the water got dank and the newts died. The second occasion, I tested my water and it was fine, the newts all died purely of sickness from before I got them. In both cases the newts arrived in bad condition or with bite marks.

I plan on started the hobby of aquascaping, planted aquariums and such. I would like to set up a 30 gal planted aquarium with two paddle tail newts in it. I can easily keep the water temp below 20C while using an LED light to keep the plants healthy but not affect water temperature too much. I'll probably keep one large tank snail(chinese mystery snail) and a few small Amano or crystal shrimp to keep the tank clean but also act as a food source for the newts.

Does anyone here know how newts do in planted aquariums? I know P Labiatus naturally live in pretty barren streams, so I don't know if a planted aquarium would be a healthy stretch for them or not. I also know I have to keep my water cool, so I'm sure that will limit the type of plants I can use. Does anyone think a really nice aquascape could suit a newt tho? I'm probably going to do Iwagumi style. Any advice would be great.

 

[Doomus]

Lots of newts love plants but most paddletail live in streams and they prefer water with a current and a few plants for a tank that's full of plants I would suggest most cynops,triturus or Pleurodeles waltl


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[Otterwoman]

THe forum is full of pictures of wonderfully planted tanks with newts thriving in them.

 

[dannyyyallenn]

Okay. I was just wondering if I had a chance with any pachytritons since those are the species I've researched my brains out on in the past. Crested newts would definitely be the first thing that comes to mind if I wasn't doing paddle tails. They also take slightly warmer climates which would be more ideal for a planted aquarium. I'll start some research on triturus and see if I go with them. How well do they take currents? My aquarium would have a filter which probably would give off a current.

 

[Asevernnnn]

Triturus don't generally enjoy having a current in the tank like most newts. The problem with Pachytriton is that it's nearly impossible to find captive bred individuals where as finding captive bred Triturus is quite easy.
If you want something that tolerates warmer water maybe look into something like Cynops pyrrhogaster, but they wouldn't enjoy a current either.
Maybe you could try to put something in front of the filter to prevent the flow from being too strong.

 

[dannyyyallenn]

I just meant warmer than pachytriton, which prefer water as low as 12 C. Instead I could keep the water at a good 18 C or so. And I could probably put a rock or plant under the filter to break the current up. The only problem is I would have to get oxygenation in the tank some other way. Besides plants, any ideas on how to keep a tank oxygenated without a strong current?

 

[ChristineB]

My P. waltl love their plantings and aren't bothered by a low to moderate current from a hang-on filter. They uprooted new plantings until they got established, but start with small newts or let your plants grow while you cycle and that won't be an issue. I have a large mystery snail and cherry shrimp with them, and from my experience they can't catch shrimp or small fish very well. Maybe if needed for survival, but they prefer pellets.

P. waltl are actually very cute and engaging. Maybe not glamorous, but attractive in their own way . . .

 

[ChristineB]

Oh, and I use a couple little aquarium fans on the water, which is usually about 68 degrees.