Poll: species mixing

[Kribby]

Hmm, this is an interesting thread and I will have to remember to go back and read all the posts in detail when I have more time. As it is I just skimmed the thread, reading here and there, and picked up some important tidbits of imformation. I do however, feel inclined to give my two cents on the subject for whatever it is worth.

I have been keeping aquatic pets for some time and I had the good fortune to be mentored by a very knowledgeable "wet-pet" keeper for a couple of years while I worked for him. During this time I learned to be very careful in selecting species to cohabitate with each other and to carefully weigh all the factors I could identify carefully. That said, I do mix my wet-pets.

My current setup is a 25 gallon aquarium, heavily planted, with no heater, and a small filter with reduced water flow. In the tank I have:
7 C. orientalis
4 celestial pearl danios (CPS)
many cherry shrimp

-The Cherry shrimp prefer lower temperatures, as do the CPDs, which corresponds nicely with the temperature ranges of my newts.
-All three have overlapping pH and hardness ranger.
-The shrimp and CPDs prefer the top level of the water column and the newts prefer the bottom.
-Neither carry intermediate parasites.
-The shrimp and CPDs are no aggressive and not so busy as to stress the newts. (CPDs are a very laid back small fish).
-The shrimp and CPDs provide natural food to the newts through live young and egg scattering respectively.
-The shrimp ans small fish act as a very good clean up crew for the newts and eat any left over food.

I have been monitoring the health of all three types of animals in the system for the last two years and I haven't seen anything to suggest that their is stress or ill effects arrising from the mixing. The water parameters are always good, the newts eat and are quite active, the newts do not leave the water and are well fed and plump. There is breeding activity in all of the species.

I'd say I support the mixing of animals so long as it is monitored and done in a knowledgeable manner. There are many ways to do something right and countless ways to do something wrong. It is all about planning, education, and weighing the factors appropriately.

 

[Scorpion]

When I was less experienced with this sort of thing I kept a paddletail newt in a tank with an African clawed frog, twice. Neither times did the two species ever seem to have problems with each other. The were both healthy and never bothered each other. Oh, and it was the same African clawed frog both times. I also kept a betta in with that same African clawed frog (I had that frog for a long time; I was sad when he died) for a long time, and then when I put a much smaller albino African clawed frog in with the two, the big frog ate both the little frog and the betta. At least we assume so, because the two disappeared without a trace and were never seen again. But now that I'm a lot more experienced with newt keeping, I'm not going to be mixing any of those three species together again. Who knows if mixing a paddletail newt and an African clawed frog would be successful a third time? I don't want to take the chance. Plus they both probably need to be kept in different conditions.

 

[Brian M]

I have a naturalistic setup in my 48 gallon oceanic tank were I house different species with no issues. The main idea is to pick species that use different niches in the tank and of coarse dont view each other as an easy meal.
One third of the tank has a water area layered in river pebbles and a ghost wood branch rests into this hiding a fluval filter. I have two white cloud mountain minnows( Tanichthys albonubes) and two panda catfish( Corydoras panda) which produced three juviniles this May. I noticed the male courting the female again this morning so hopefully more babies coming soon to trade for crickets and black-worms.
The land area consists of the remaining two thirds of the tank and is planted with tropical moss, clubmoss, and trunks of tree fern and cork. There are multiple hides through out this area for the other two tank inhabitants one female S.s.terrestris and a rescued male barking tree frog (Hyla gratiosa). They have lived together now for almost three years after a month long quarantine of the treefrog which come up north in a tropical palm shipment at work. The answer to this is they don't use the same niche in the tank and their food requirements are the same. That way their isn't any issue of food items left over from a feeding attacking smaller cage mates. It can be done you just have to plan what it is you hope to accomplish with multiple species setups. Rushing into a purchase with no plan almost always ends poorly for the animals.

 

[BIGBODYBEAR]

for months i have had my tiger larva & 3 axolotls together in their 55 gallon tank they get along fine no issues of snapping or aggression towards each other , i live in Miami FL & no stores sell either anymore , i only found one pet shop with a batch of 10 tiger larvae & they havent had anymore ever since , its been a year since i had the tiger & i bought it at 6 inches , its 8 inches now so i am starting to think its neotonic , believe it or not its harder to find tigers than axys so i opted to get juvenile axys i few months ago , now they are 6 inches long , they get along fine no problem , im aware interbreeding though very unlikely might be an issue & im not intentionally trying to mix them but if it occurs then ill dispose of the eggs properly or send them out to expert handlers who might want to see the rare result plus genes wont mix & create extra chromosomes , i see it like different races black , white , brown all mixing , im interracial lol ,

 

[Pasleylg]

I got 5 axies and they get along with the pleco fish just fine. There is also 1 feeder guppy but they wont eat it until it dies lol.

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[Jan]

I got 5 axies and they get along with the pleco fish just fine. There is also 1 feeder guppy but they wont eat it until it dies lol.

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They might 'get along fine' until they don't. There are several accounts here Caudata Culture Articles - Species Mixing Disasters of newts and axolotls swallowing spined fish with disasterous consequences...for both animals.

 

[peter5930]

I mix species all the time. Axolotls with worms and snails, terrestrial salamanders with slugs, newts with worms and fruit flies, larvae with daphnia, whiteworm, microworm and midge larvae... Species mixing has given the leucistic axolotls in my pond a healthy yellow tinge from all the carotenes in the wild invertebrates they eat.

 

[markcorpus]

Since you asked. Yes I am a proud mixer. (and yes, I have seen the link)

 

[JReed]

I am not generally one that likes to mix species. But there are select situations when it seems to work. Having knowlege/experience of the two species you are going to mix is a big part of the decision. For example, closely related species that get along together, and are not likely to ...or show signs of wanting to ....hybrize, argue for cases when mixing species can work. For example, my Taricha granulosas and Taricha torosas get along just fine together (in fact, many people can't even tell the species apart). They feed sleep and hang out together, but appear to have no breeding interest in each other (thank goodness). They do have some behavioral differences that give them away. Granolosas are more aquatic, more tame and "human/begging" focused.. The torosas are more independent, terrestrial and exploratory.But they seem to be a happy family overall. It makes for an interesting tank.

 

[GraffLife]

I vote for #1....I don't mix random species, but I keep Limnea and Planorbis with my Pleurodeles Waltl, the snails eat organic waste and newts don't look the snails...I had bad experience with Ampullaria and P. Waltl, they love so much the snails and ate them...

 

[Nettuno]

I have a tub with newts, snails and prawns

 

[skelly98]

I actually accidentally mixed species a few days ago... I added some ghost shrimp as feeders, and now they clean my tank. Looking into cherry shrimp, would love some of those...... Let's see if my axie eats the ghost's, first

 

[nelso229]

^Haha, that's what a wanted to happen when I mixed my betta fish with a ghost shrimp. ): Poor Sherman the shrimp was gone the next morning.

 

[Redear]

I mix some species of newts in some of my display tanks, but only if it makes sense. I do have guppies in some of my tanks. But I haven't bought any from the pet shop in years. I have spare tanks where I keep my population going. I would never trust feeder guppies from the pet shop. I have kept ghost shrimp in the past, but not any more. I have concerns about disease or them dying and polluting my tank. I also worry about shrimp eatting newt eggs.

 

[sde]

I mix newts with snails, because of the benefits of snails. I also keep A. Macrodactylum with E. Eschscholtzi.

 

[beefsteak]

I threw an Andersoni in with with 6 ribbed newts over 2 years ago and they get along fine.

 

[geron]

I mix ghost shrimp with just about everything. Pond snails as well (Not on purpose though, I just can't get rid of them.).

 

[Asevernnnn]

I mix ghost shrimp with just about everything. Pond snails as well (Not on purpose though, I just can't get rid of them.).

Lol I wouldn't have the patience to quarantine ghost shrimp

 

[jAfFa CaKe]

One thing I don't get... How would you mix a Reptile and an Amphibian???????????

 

[Chinadog]

Turtles withd newts or frogs? I've seen it done a few times in pet stores!