Hey guys - first post here, but have been reading through threads for quite awhile for some helpful hints.
When I was younger I had fish tanks of all kinds, Cichlids, community, breeding livebearers, Turtles, etc, but have never done a paludarium. My latest adventure was restarting a 29g tank my dad was getting rid of. My roommate wanted something that "looked nice" so I did a simple community tank with a nice school of neons, a couple zebras, a few mollies, and some black skirt tetras. Well, an issue with the stand caused me to shift them to an empty 10g I had laying around so i could move the 30g to it's new location easier. I decided I wanted to do a paludarium, but it seems I am sort of doing it backwards - I have the the fish first rather than the toad/frog/newt/etc.
Now to my question: since I already have an established community of fish, I decided to go with a setup with a relatively deep water supply to house the fish comfortably (and they love it) and do only false bottom setups along the sides and back. My issue has now become - is the water too deep for any kind of amphibian? The water to land ratio is pretty good, surface-wise, but it seems the depth (about 2/3rds of the tank - about a foot of water) might be an issue. I was thinking Fire-Bellied Newts would love it, but I read they survive best in colder temps, but my tank is being kept in the mid- to upper-70's for the fish. So this would lead me to the toads, but it seems the depth might just be too much for them. Any suggestions on either of these two animals (as I really like both of their prints and they are relatively good beginner pets for the paludarium) or suggestions for others that would fit well in this set up? I don't think there would be enough room for tree frogs or the like since there isn't too much climbing space above the water (about 6 inches).
I apologize for the rambling - but I appreciate those who have read this far, as well as I appreciate any help you can provide! Thanks!
When I was younger I had fish tanks of all kinds, Cichlids, community, breeding livebearers, Turtles, etc, but have never done a paludarium. My latest adventure was restarting a 29g tank my dad was getting rid of. My roommate wanted something that "looked nice" so I did a simple community tank with a nice school of neons, a couple zebras, a few mollies, and some black skirt tetras. Well, an issue with the stand caused me to shift them to an empty 10g I had laying around so i could move the 30g to it's new location easier. I decided I wanted to do a paludarium, but it seems I am sort of doing it backwards - I have the the fish first rather than the toad/frog/newt/etc.
Now to my question: since I already have an established community of fish, I decided to go with a setup with a relatively deep water supply to house the fish comfortably (and they love it) and do only false bottom setups along the sides and back. My issue has now become - is the water too deep for any kind of amphibian? The water to land ratio is pretty good, surface-wise, but it seems the depth (about 2/3rds of the tank - about a foot of water) might be an issue. I was thinking Fire-Bellied Newts would love it, but I read they survive best in colder temps, but my tank is being kept in the mid- to upper-70's for the fish. So this would lead me to the toads, but it seems the depth might just be too much for them. Any suggestions on either of these two animals (as I really like both of their prints and they are relatively good beginner pets for the paludarium) or suggestions for others that would fit well in this set up? I don't think there would be enough room for tree frogs or the like since there isn't too much climbing space above the water (about 6 inches).
I apologize for the rambling - but I appreciate those who have read this far, as well as I appreciate any help you can provide! Thanks!