My Fire Belly Newt Tank Set Up

[Da_One]

Just got back from Pets at home, got 2 fire belly newts as a Xmass present for the g/f.

You can see them right of the tank. Will get better pictures later, only had the telescopic lense on so had to stand quite far away to take lol.

Filter, gravel, light, coconut cave, java moss + other 2 plants I dont know the names of

Tank was meant to se set up for Guppies for when the baby comes along, but... going to get another tank later lol.

Its true when you buy 1 tank........ you end up buying more & they get bigger each time lol.

Right just need to find a place open around the xmas period which do some live bloodworms....

 

[Truck]

Just got back from Pets at home, got 2 fire belly newts as a Xmass present for the g/f.

You can see them right of the tank. Will get better pictures later, only had the telescopic lense on so had to stand quite far away to take lol.

Filter, gravel, light, coconut cave, java moss + other 2 plants I dont know the names of

Tank was meant to se set up for Guppies for when the baby comes along, but... going to get another tank later lol.

Its true when you buy 1 tank........ you end up buying more & they get bigger each time lol.

Right just need to find a place open around the xmas period which do some live bloodworms....

tank looks great, i have one constructive critisism, give them a bit more land area, a good ratio is 2 parts water to 1 part land.

but your set up looks great, i used to have 2 of these guys, until the cat ate one after it escaped, and the cat died of poisoning from the deadly toxins in their skin.

 

[Da_One]

tank looks great, i have one constructive critisism, give them a bit more land area, a good ratio is 2 parts water to 1 part land.

but your set up looks great, i used to have 2 of these guys, until the cat ate one after it escaped, and the cat died of poisoning from the deadly toxins in their skin.

Thanks , criticisms are most welcome. We only gave them more water because, otherwise that filter would be nosey.

We will certainly give them more land......... I only bought a small bag of gravel to top up my existing gravel ..... I guess a small bag of gravel is too small lol

probs get more gravel, or more large rocks or even some bogwood. I just dont like buying bog wood lol, my last bogwood spent a good month in the sink with hot water, leeching tannins.

 

[Truck]

theres these floating platforms you can buy called turtle docks, they stick to the glass via suction pads and allow swiiming space underneath, a good investment.

yes keep the filter FULLY submerged or it will burn the pump out

the big long plant with the long leaves, looks like vallis

 

[21rm]

ya the turtle docks are really good. i use one for my turtles and it would be really good for our tank
adds to land space while not takin up water space,
Plus, with it you could prob remove some of the gravel your usin at the min, there fore givin even more swimmin space lol

 

[ghent_3rd]

What size tank is this, this could be another option for one of my 10 gallons that I am setting up!!!

 

[raptorrex]

tank looks great, i have one constructive critisism, give them a bit more land area, a good ratio is 2 parts water to 1 part land.

but your set up looks great, i used to have 2 of these guys, until the cat ate one after it escaped, and the cat died of poisoning from the deadly toxins in their skin.

the amount of land depends on the type of firebelly you have.

Chinese firebelly, those most often sold at P@H, need nothing more than somewhere to pop their head out of the water. indeed if they are trying to get out of the water it is a sign they are unhappy.

Japanese firebellys, need more land, much more! however i feel that 2-1 is a bit more than they need.

I have three Chinese firebellys in a 20g tank, which seems about right for stocking. I weaned mine off fresh/frozen blood worm and they now eat flake and bloodworm pellets.

 

[Truck]

2 parts water to 1 part land is a good ratio for japanese firebelly's

 

[Da_One]

What size tank is this, this could be another option for one of my 10 gallons that I am setting up!!!

Its a 35 litre tank.

Just bought a turtle dock, but theyhave not even touched it yet, well I put one on it, it just ran off.

Fed them some frozen blodworms.

 

[Truck]

What size tank is this, this could be another option for one of my 10 gallons that I am setting up!!!

Its a 35 litre tank.

Just bought a turtle dock, but theyhave not even touched it yet, well I put one on it, it just ran off.

Fed them some frozen blodworms.

put some food on the dock

 

[Da_One]

They have now eaten
Dropped some bloodworms in.
They dug up the gravel & started to look for food.
1 is active the other is sleepy head!

 

[21rm]

Im sure they'll use it anyway if they need it
im really considerin gettin a couple of them newts now. how big do they get.
great pics too

 

[Truck]

4-6 inches max, and the way to tell the difference between the japanese and chinese variations, is to look at the plumpness, the chinese fire bellys are quite plump compared to the japanese fire belly

 

[raptorrex]

ok Da One, you have Chinese Firebellys there. no amount of food on the dock will get them up there. you need to feed in the water. apart from breathing air, they are totally aquatic. i should junk the dock, absolutely no need for it. i found an ornament that, just, sticks out of the water. or indeed the head of the filter, is all these guys need.
as long as they have somewhere to hide/explore in they will be happy enough.

as you dont have Japanese Firebellys, i will cover them only a bit. they are, in fact, larger and fatter than the Chinese firebellys. do best in 25% land 75% water. they also have a much rougher skin. there is a differences in colour. though this is not a good guide, as there is such a variation in the colour balance of peoples digi cameras. you never know if the colour you see is the real one. there temperature range is about the same as the Chinese variant, roughly 55-72f.( both these guys are temperate not tropical)

I'm sorry truckasauras123, i cant even find an, erroneous, comment that Chinese firebellys are the larger of the two.

 

[Truck]

what i mean is the chinese fire-bellys are often fatter than the japanese ones and this is a good way to tell them apart according to a book i read few weeks ago