Chinese Firebelly Newt questions

[vombatus]

Hi all! I just got a pair of Chinese firebelly newts. I've had them a few days and they're doing great, but I want to make sure they'll continue to survive. I hope some of you out there have experience with these guys, because I am getting some conflicting information about their care.

1. Temperature. The Internets tell me they should be in the high 60's-low 70's (F), like a goldfish tank, and that over 75 is generally bad. The guy at the pet store told me I need a heater, because they are amphibians after all, and that I should keep them in the mid 70s. The Internets say don't let them get too warm! The guy said don't let them get cold! Summer's approaching, so I'm concerned.

2. Tankmates. I have a 10g with these two tiny newts, and two dwarf underwater frogs. Everybody's doing great. Is this okay? They had frogs and newts together at the store, so I had the idea to take the froggies out of my community tank and put them in this all-amphibian set-up. But a couple of sites say that newts shouldn't be kept with frogs. I also don't want to keep the froggies in water that might be too cold for them if I turn the temp down. Opinions?

3. Feeding. I've read everything from twice a day to every few days. I'm going with once a day right now. I'm also trying to decide what else I can feed them besides live bloodworms, because live bloodworms die so fast and it's a pain for me to go get them. Crickets and waxworms would be easier for me, but these newts are so little; could they get their mouths around those things? I also saw ghost shrimp on one site, but I wonder the same thing. I mean, these guys are really small.

Thanks much!

Laura

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Hi Laura, congrats on your new newts! I haven't kept this species in a while but they are pretty easy to care for if you follow a couple of rules.

First off, don't bother with a heater as long as you keep them at room temp. They do indeed stress when kept in temperatures in the high 70's on up so room temp is just fine. Make sure you don't keep them near a window where the light from the sun can heat up the tank water.

Tank mates: Lots of debate about keeping them with other animals. They do have the ability to leach toxins from their skin into the tank. In a large well filtered tank this usually isn't a problem but in a tank the size of 10 the toxins can become more concentrated. An amphibians' skin is very permeable and can be more sensitive to toxins than a fish. So keeping them with dwarf frogs is a bad idea. Dwarf frogs also like to kept a bit warmer, mid 70's for the most part. Pet stores have a bad habit of mixing species, usually because of lack of space or that they don't plan on having them for very long in the store.

It sounds like you have them on a good feeding schedule. Once a day or every other day works just fine. When I kept them I fed them broken up pieces of Reptomin along with chopped up earthworms, flightless fruit flies and pinhead crickets. Some will also take frozen bloodworms and shrimp pellets.

I hope I helped answer some of your questions.

 

[vombatus]

Yup, thanks!

 

[FluffynTex]

I had 2 in a 10 gallon tank with mollies and live plants, fed them the same fish food I fed the mollies and they thrived for over a year before I moved and got rid of the tank.

 

[arise1dwr]

have two of these little guys myself, my local petsmart sells small crickets at 6 cents each and they are the perfect size for these guys, they have a big mouth trust me. Ive tried anole food but they dont seem to like that as much as aquatic frog food. just make sure to keep their diet balanced for optimal health.