Chinese Firebelly Newts

i dont think he/she meant to cover the whole water part over just have some place for the newts to climb onto......

on a second look your wording is kind of ambigious, details please! :)
 
I wouldn't do it.

They are better off without heat for the most part, and your cichlids might need heat...they have sensitive skin...they are semi-toxic (probably really toxic to fish)...they look like food...they need really clean water (so you'd have to clean the tank much more often than a normal cichlid tank!)

Here's a page which might mention some more drawbacks to mixing Firebellies with Cichlids: http://www.jounipaakkinen.fi/newts.html
 
Very good points have been made. What I am trying to acomplish is to have some top dwellers and fish using the same tank. here is a picture of what I was using. I just recently took this tank down and setup a 85 gallon 72L X 13W X 22H. I am in the stages of making a new crab chamber but though it would be cool to keep other animals that might be safe for the tank and look nice.http://home.comcast.net/~enomadra/family/fish_tank/fresh/new_top_tank/new_top_tank.htm
 
that is a very nice and interesting setup!
 
I don't really how it would work out, but grey tree frogs just might be compatible. They don't like going into the water (at least mine never did), the only prob might be the fish jumping out of the water to get them if they are stuck on the glass over the water. You can also feed them crickets, which your large cichlids would love if they accidently wandered into the water :).
 
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