Semi Aquatic to Aquatic?

[Ronathan]

Hello, I have 4 firebellied newts(Cynops Cyanurus), still pretty young (I got them from a breeder, I believe them to be 3-4 months old as efts). I currently keep them in a 10 gallon tank with moss as a substrate. It has a large water bowl that takes up about 1/3 of the tank for them to swim in. The rest of the tank is full of hiding spots and such. They spend most of the day hiding in the damp moss, but sometimes at night, they like to go into the water dish. After setting up their tank this way, I would actually prefer to keep them fully aquatic. My question is if i'm able to do that at this stage in their lives. Thanks for the help!

 

[Chinadog]

You should be fine whenever you want. Start off with a very shallow set up with loads of plants, then slowly increase the depth over a few weeks and add more plants to prevent drowning. They might climb the sides for a while, but they should spend more and more time in the water until eventually they'll stay there. I think generally, with Cynops/Hypselotriton, the the older they are, the more willing they are to go back to the water, but cyanurus are often raised fully aquatic from the start.
This is the kind of set up you should be aiming for to begin with. As they grow and become better swimmers you can fill it up with water and thin out the plants a bit, but to begin with, you want them really crammed in there.