10G Vivarium HERE I COME!!

[Primetime]

Alright guys, I've finally made up my mind on what I want inside my 10 Gallon tank. For a while I was undecided and was thinking either Dwarf Puffers or Multi Shelldwellers. Then I was set on Shelldwellers. Now after buying a Fire Belly Newt for my 2 Gallon, I've realized that I want to upgrade, not only for me, but for him as well.

Dont get me wrong, the 2 gallon tank was set up and prepared so beautifully, that he had all the water space and then all he had to do was climb a piece of slate, and had 2 FLOORS of land space! It is still working good for him, and with careful planning, its basically as much space now as a 5 gallon unplanned would be!

Now, for the 10 gallon, I was thinking of doing the same type land/water thing I did with the 2 gallon for extra space.

My main question is, what else can I keep in a 10 gallon with 2 Firebelly newts? I am looking for variety. Maybe some type of frog? I know that I'll be keeping ADF's for the water area, but if I can get some kind of other frog that will go in the land, I would like that. Also, I have no idea about the prices and the availibility of amphibians, and would prefer if you guys only gave me info on the ones that I could afford (max $20), and the ones I can find at stores.

Thanks A LOT!

[Primetime]

bump
Moved firebelly newt to 10 Gallon tank. Temperary setup, but it has a lot of space. Going to set it up real nice when I go to my LFS and buy Silicone.

[Lobo.]

Nice looking tanks Prime! I especially like your snail tank, I used to have one too, which i used to selectively breed my snails... out of brown, normal pond snails, i now have white, spotted,golden, and golden flaked snails... I've got too much time...

back to your question tho... your two gallon looks really nice, although you might want to watch that wood, if it starts to rot, it could foul up the tank. I've done some work with gluing a pump and water area in my 10gal frog tank (tree frog, i don't know if newts are ok, with them...) use 100% silicon glue if you do these projects, it needs some time to dry, but it works great if you are patient (its the stuff that holds the tank glass together)
if you make it where there is a shallow area, as well as a deeper one for the newts (depending on which type of fire belly you have, some love to swim while others hardly ever do) you could get fire belly toads... although this does add an amphibian, they do look a lot like a toad-version of your newts... (with more green)

just remember that when you deal with amphibians, make sure the water is of high quality, and running water (with a pump) is ideal, as this helps it not to stagnate
this is important because amphibians absorb water, not only from their food, but through their skin, they are just as, or more, susceptible to disease from water as fish are!
sorry i wasn't able to give you many options on what type of frogs, i just don't know much about fire belly newts, so although i know that they wont eat the fire belly toads (they would die if they could fit one in their mouth) a tree frog (which is what i know about) would be able to fit in the newt's mouth...

for more info, here is a good site to visit, its got tons of info that I'm sure that you would appreciate, and their vivariums will make you drool!
http://www.amphibiancare.com/frogs/articles/tropicalterrarium.html

[webcricket]

You might consider a Whisper In-Tank filter for the 10 gallon set up - they operate in as little as 2 inches of water and would make a neat waterfall feature if you decorate it nicely.

[JoeRags3]

Good luck with the vivarium project, I'de keep your FBN in your 2 gallon for now until your totally done with you 10 gal setup (cycled water, cured silicone, and all). I recently just set up a 10gal for some FBNs (still waiting for the LPS to get a shipment :rant2: Here's my tank (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72976)) I would stray from keeping terrestrial frogs/toads with your FBN. I've read some pretty horrible stories of toads biting limbs off newts. I know some people have kept them together with no problem, but I personally wouldn't chance it. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think dwarf puffers can be aggressive, and require a temp that is not compatible with a FBN. Hope this helps some.

Joe

[DaisyTattoo]

I would suggest a fire bellied toad if you want a frog species with your newts. They are pretty neat little guys, but they are escape artists so you have to make sure that EVERY opening is blocked. I had one make it from my bedroom 20g tank which I thought I had taped off every opening, to the floor, which is where my cat found it and brought it to me in the living room and flopped it on the floor and meowed at me. The cat didnt even break the skin! I put him back in the tank and he was fine. Here is a pic of a fire bellied toad.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i66/jodimartin2003/firebellytoad.jpg

[Lobo.]

lol the cat probably knew that it was poisonous, and gave it as a present hoping that you would eat it...

[DaisyTattoo]

lol the cat probably knew that it was poisonous, and gave it as a present hoping that you would eat it...
I figured instinct must have told him it was poisonous b/c that cat ate every other small animal he ever came across plus he actually ate one of my bettas once before I knew you shouldnt keep them in bowls.

[Primetime]

Thanks for the help everyone! This should be a fun experiment.
What is the estimate price of Fire Bellied Toads?
How many can I keep in there with 2-3 Firebelly Newts?

[JoeRags3]

Thanks for the help everyone! This should be a fun experiment.
What is the estimate price of Fire Bellied Toads?
How many can I keep in there with 2-3 Firebelly Newts?
FBT are easy to find and relativley cheap. $7 AT MOST! Just be careful and hopefully you wont have any problems between the two species.

[justintoxicated]

Go with firebelly toads, I keep them with my newts.

Only problem you may have is feeding both of them, since I feed my Newts live blackworms, as well as teh toads, what I do is put a bunch o them on a rock in my water area, and some on the land area. The newts will hunt them out of the gravel once they fall under water, or they will crawel on the rocks to eat them. The toads are more picky and will only eat them off the land area, I have never sceen them hunt ofr worms under the water.

I would do 1 newt 1 toad and call it done, I had 2 newts and 2 toads for some time but it was over crowded IMO.

I now have 2 firebelly toads, 2 newts, and 2 huge California Toads, and an ADF in a 20 long and it is crowded again, CA toads get huge, but seem very peaceful, they let my Fb toads and newts crawel on them or share cae space with them.



BTW I kept my newts in standing water with no filer for about 10 years...I did not know any better, and would rarely do water changes as well. I then got a whisper 10i filter and they are much happier now, unfortunately my filter did not last long.... I now have a zoomeds cansiter for my vivarium, it has slow current but alot more space for media and does not take up valuable tank room. It is a much better filter for ampibians IMO, although I would think something like a fluval 104 might be better if you could slow down the output.

[DaisyTattoo]

I fed my toads live crickets. The only problem with that is they cant swim and they are so stupid that the first place they go is into the water(at least in my tank). So I ended up cleaning the water of dead crickets after every meal.