Ribbed Newts Cleaning (Help?)

[Dasher]

Ive got 4 SRNs. and i clean them out completely about once evry 45 days or so.
this means completely changing water and rocks and plants and everything.
i clean the sides and do partial water chages regularly.

I really am not sure what i am doing, so any correction would be greatly appreciated. thanks.


Dasher-

 

[Azhael]

Mmmm...not the wiser choice, really.
If you completely clean the tank every 45 days, you are basically constantly annuling the cycling process. Therefore your tank should be very inestable, with parametres going crazy after every cleaning. This is very dangerous to your newts, since ammonia or nitrites can raise to dangerous levels and even kill the animals.

The best way to keep a tank is to fully cycle it before introducing the newts, and then follow some simple maintenance, like weekly 20% water changes, removal of left-over foods and decayed matter, etc. You never have to clean the rocks, or the plants...
Older, well stablished tanks are muuuuuuuuuch healthier and stable than a fresh one.

 

[Jennewt]

One important question is, what is the size of the tank? If the tank needs such drastic cleaning, it could be too small.

I agree with Azhael, it would be much better to do less drastic cleaning, but more often.

This article might have some info that will make things clearer:
Caudata Culture Articles - Water Quality