Please help me on my C.O. Tank

[paddy]

I've acquired a new Cynops Orientalis and i don't know very well how the tank should be i would like you to answer these questions please:
-What kind of plants should it have?
-Can i use fake plants?
-How big should the tank be?
-how much water should it have?
-should it have a place for the newt to stand out of the water?
-What should the substrate be?
(i am also planning to get a female for him to mate- do they fight each other??)

 

[mark]

Hi Paddy,

Read the following articles:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml

http://www.caudata.org/cc/faq/faq.shtml
There's lots of good info there that will help you look after your newts.

 

[paddy]

Thank you very much the information was very useful however could you people post pictures of your own C.O. tanks in order for me to get ideas on what to do??
thank you

 

[ali]

Search the photo section and you should find many photos.

 

[paddy]

The information you gave me was useful Mark but some of my questions weren't answered.
If you know the answers to my questions please post them.

 

[ali]

Hopefully this will help you, Paddy:
-What kind of plants should it have? Any kind you want, as long as they are aquatic. if you use live ones and they begin to die, take them out.
-Can i use fake plants? Yes.
-How big should the tank be? ten gallons would be great for one or two orientalis
-how much water should it have? anything from about three inches to a little more than half.
-should it have a place for the newt to stand out of the water? yes. you could slope the gravel up to one side or provide a floating piece of bark or something similar.
-What should the substrate be? sand is easiest, or you could use gravel as long as you clean it with a siphon regularly, and a bare bottom is perfectly acceptable and very easy
(i am also planning to get a female for him to mate- do they fight each other??) No, they should not fight.

 

[mark]

Hi Paddy - for inspiration for aquatic set-ups have a look at:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups1.shtml
And for semi-aquatic set-ups see:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/setups2.shtml

The only thing I would add to Ali's post is that a sloped gravel bank and deep substrates will trap dirt and can therfore be detrimental to your water quality. You are better off with a floating island or a submerged plastic tub.

 

[ali]

Good point on the deep substrate, Mark. I didn't think of that. Another thing you can do, Paddy, is to set a potted plant in the aquarium and fill the water up to the edge. This will give your newt plants (that can drape into the water) as well as a land area. this can take up lots of swimming space which is why i too prefer a floating island, but I notice that my orientalis doesn't swim much, so this is what I do in her tank. She has a tall mason jar with a plant in it.

If you do this, cover the dirt in the pot with moss or something so that the newt doesn't pull dirt into the water.

 

[ali]

Here is a picture of how my orientalis tank used to be, with a sloped gravel. It now has the potted mason jar in it with the water level much higher, sorry I don't have a pic of that.

And here is my t. granulosa tank with floating corkbark (which I highly recommend). This is the former home of my orientalis.

 

[paddy]

Thank you for all that data my tnk is starting to be very nice whenever i get my hands on my own computer i will post some pictures of it .
Thank you very much.

Do you know where can i get moss?? because i live in argentina and i dont think that i will be able to buy it.

 

[paddy]

I forgot about this:
-Should it have a filter and/or an airstone??