Small chinese firebelly newt tank set up

[Rabidhobo]

I recently bough two chinese firebelly newts about a little over a month ago. Ive had these newts before, but ive never had ones this small. I have them now in shallow water with a bunch of things for them to climb out on. But i just bought a bigger tank for them and more stuff for their tank which would make me have to make their water a little deeper, would they be okay from this much of a change? Also would newts this small be okay in deeper water?

 

[Chinadog]

Hi, welcome to the site.
The main thing is to have plenty of places for them to rest near the surface. The outright best way providing these places is lots and lots of live plants. The cheap bunched pondweed looking ones that petstores sell are ideal, just remove the weights from the bunches and let them float at the surface. Once the newts are used to the deeper water you could tidy up the plants a bit, but Chinese firebellies will spend most of their time hanging out in the plants if they can and they are dependent on them for egg laying, so there should always be planted area in their tank.
Here is the care sheet for them if you haven't found it already.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynops/C_orientalis.shtml

 

[Rabidhobo]

Hi, welcome to the site.
The main thing is to have plenty of places for them to rest near the surface. The outright best way providing these places is lots and lots of live plants. The cheap bunched pondweed looking ones that petstores sell are ideal, just remove the weights from the bunches and let them float at the surface. Once the newts are used to the deeper water you could tidy up the plants a bit, but Chinese firebellies will spend most of their time hanging out in the plants if they can and they are dependent on them for egg laying, so there should always be planted area in their tank.
Here is the care sheet for them if you haven't found it already.

Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

Okay thank you i want to change their tank this week, right now i have lots of rocks for them to climb on and some fake plants. Im gunna have to get some live ones this week though are there any certain kinds you would reccomend ?

 

[Chinadog]

To begin with, the cheap bunched stuff (I think its called Anacharis?) that they sell in petstores is good for giving them something at the surface to hang on to until they get used to the deeper water. For actually planting the tank so it looks nice is up to you really. I would recommend Java fern (needs tying to rocks or driftwood with fishing line, not planting in the substrate), Java moss, Hydracotyle, Hornwort, etc, etc. Just make sure the ones you choose are ok in cold water rather than tropical.
This link shows an excellent idea for planting while keeping the tank easy to clean.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...ensely-planted-bare-bottom-tank-tutorial.html