10 replies to this topic

[minorhero]

Hello,

I stumbled over someone keeping native newts with fish and really liked the idea. That said I wonder how it would work in a well stocked tank. My main interest would be in keeping an aquatic adult eastern newt in a 120 gallon tank with killifish, banded sunfish, ghost shrimp, and maybe some flag fish. Obviously I would need a land portion of the tank.

But my main concern is that apparently all native newts are extremely poisonous. This is a defense against predators and is supposed to be released if something tries to eat them. My concern is if this is released through their skin would it foul the water so that fish or shrimp die just from being in the same tank?

I see people online keeping a few small fish with newts but have not seen anyone heavily stocking a tank. Has anyone here kept newts with fish and shrimp before?

And finally I briefly wonder about newts and crayfish. My initial thought is the crayfish will eat the newt and then die from poisoning. But then I wonder if they would recognize the newt as off limits for that very reason?

[bullhead]

because crayfish are so smart???

[minorhero]

Heh good point, but self preservation instincts might take over. There is natural cross over of these species in the wild after all. I would expect the newt to not always get killed whenever they encounter a crayfish.

[Doug_Dame]

I kept a couple of what I identified as peninsular newts in a 90g with a variety of fish for a couple of years. AFAIK, no harm was perpetrated by or against the newts or co-residents. I assume the newts ate some Heterandria, but I never observed that happening.

[Matt DeLaVega]

I find newts in water that doesn't hold a large number of fish. There are fish, just not a lot. I don't know if this is typical or not.

[minorhero]

Thank you guys for the responses!

 

Doug based on your experience it sounds like the toxicity issue won't be a problem. I am planning on having a crayfish which unless someone tells me its ok to put in a newt I will just assume will preclude the newt. But if the crayfish becomes too much of a problem for the plants I want to have I will rehome the crayfish and get a newt. 

[Michael Wolfe]

crayfish will become too much of a problem for your fish before they become a problem for the plants.  crayfish hunt at night and eat sleeping fish.

[truecrimson]

In high school my best friend and I got a couple of crayfish from the grocery store and pit them in our tropical aquariums. It was a buffet them. They grab and eat anything that passes within reach. Plecos and maybe corys were the only things that were safe.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

So far I have been able to successfully keep crayfish in the same tank with my darters and smaller shiners without incident. They seem to leave the sleepers alone. However, I tend to keep them decently fed and they pick the bottom clean. Doesn't mean that they won't snack on a darter at some time though. Perhaps I've just been lucky....

 

Chris M.

[Doug_Dame]

There's many crawfish species, so to some degree what aggression/predation you see in random local-to-somewhere species will be hit or miss.

 

(Cambarellus) shufeldtii is reportedly very well-behaved and suitable for a community tank. And stay pretty small.

 

I had some many years ago, they kept a clean police blotter. I'm always on the lookout to get some again.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

I keep the Rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) in my tank and from what I've read about them, they're a nasty dispositioned and aggressive species and that's why they're so dreaded in all other states. They're so aggressive that they destroy the native species which tend to be less aggressive in nature. So far I guess I've been lucky.

 

Chris m.