And Now for Somthing Completely Different

Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens
Umbra limi

Nice newt, but where is the fish?

just right of middle in the 3rd pic, nice central mudminnow

I have some newts in my outside pond, they are beautiful.

Someday I'll have to take some pictures of the fish, but heres some older pics of my newts:

They swim like alligators.
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Face off
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Eastern Newts Display by undulating their bodies. They display to attract mates, and in this case, in territorial disputes.
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All your base are belong to newt, move zig now.
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Fundulus notatus (and some other critters)
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Hi Slim,
That tank looks awesome. I love the blackworm colony! What substrate are you using?

Hi Slim,
That tank looks awesome. I love the blackworm colony! What substrate are you using?

1.5-2" of pool filter sand on top of .5" dirt. The sand is mostly silica and partical size is about 1mm. I had planned on getting a sand grade of 2mm, but the store was out of stock. I should have waited, 1mm seems to be only good for the lightest of fish loads. I haven't been feeding the fish in the tank, I just throw in algae wafers for the black worms and snails(theres amphipods and other invertabrates too). I'm moving in three weeks, so I'll be going to a 2mm silica or quartz sand then.

Makes me want to add newts to my tank now......

Nice pics! Kind of a "deep lake" look. I like it!

Brian

1.5-2" of pool filter sand on top of .5" dirt. The sand is mostly silica and partical size is about 1mm. I had planned on getting a sand grade of 2mm, but the store was out of stock. I should have waited, 1mm seems to be only good for the lightest of fish loads. I haven't been feeding the fish in the tank, I just throw in algae wafers for the black worms and snails(theres amphipods and other invertabrates too). I'm moving in three weeks, so I'll be going to a 2mm silica or quartz sand then.

The pool filter sand you have is quite a bit darker than stuff I have used, which was really pale. Looked good at first, but mulm would accumulate on the surface and contrast with the sand color quite distinctly. Plus, I think your darker sand looks better anyway. (Hmmm... I wonder if sand can be dyed?)

I agree too that the finer stuff only works well with light fish loads, aesthetically. Was it a pool store where you were going to get the 2mm sand? That does seem like a very nice size, but I have never seen it for sale anywhere. I like using sands in particular for tanks with more delicate plants like Micranthemum, Mayaca, and the smaller Eleocharis species, but the small grain size of the pool filter sand I have used makes for more maintenance than I like. Plus, I would like some of the mulm to be able to filter down some into the substrate. I bet your blackworms are great at that.

Gads... I really need to get a tank set up before spring...

Agreed, really neat to see blackworms thriving like that in a tank with fish. Must be like living in the middle of a buffet for those topminnows!

How long have you had it going like this? Is the blackworm population holding its own, or do you have to re-stock as the fish eat them?

Agreed, really neat to see blackworms thriving like that in a tank with fish. Must be like living in the middle of a buffet for those topminnows!

How long have you had it going like this? Is the blackworm population holding its own, or do you have to re-stock as the fish eat them?

Bump for an answer. I always have to restock mine as they get eaten faster than they reproduce. 4oz goes a long way though and I never had any issues of a massive die off of worms polluting the water.

Thanks for all the compliments! I decided to prune the tank again today, I'll get some updated pics in a bit.

Was it a pool store where you were going to get the 2mm sand? That does seem like a very nice size, but I have never seen it for sale anywhere. I like using sands in particular for tanks with more delicate plants like Micranthemum, Mayaca, and the smaller Eleocharis species, but the small grain size of the pool filter sand I have used makes for more maintenance than I like. Plus, I would like some of the mulm to be able to filter down some into the substrate. I bet your blackworms are great at that.

The blackworms only disturb about the first half inch of substrate. What I need to do is find some critter that likes to burrow deeper.
As far as larger grade sand, the pool store that I got the sand from gets it from:
http://www.redflint....filter_sand.htm
If I wanted to wait about a week or so the pool supply store would've ordered me some larger grade stuff. Red Flint will get you sand and gravel of any grade you specify. Another type of place to look at is places that sell blasting sand, you might have luck there.

I'm probably just going to buy some aquarium purpose substrate next time like this:
http://www.drsfoster...12&pcatid=21412
Click more information for the grade sizes, its comes in 1-2mm and 3-5mm.

Agreed, really neat to see blackworms thriving like that in a tank with fish. Must be like living in the middle of a buffet for those topminnows!
How long have you had it going like this? Is the blackworm population holding its own, or do you have to re-stock as the fish eat them?

As of today its been going 7 weeks. Still plenty of worms.

Bump for an answer. I always have to restock mine as they get eaten faster than they reproduce. 4oz goes a long way though and I never had any issues of a massive die off of worms polluting the water.

When I put the worms in, I had about 1/2 pound of them between my 75g and 10g tanks. If your water quality is good, and you have quality worms, you shouldn't have to worry about dieoff and be able to stock them super heavily. I also feed the worms algae wafers every three days.

newts! i love your newts. imho, they are the most fantastic little critters available.

My GF decided she would buy me a fire bellied newt because it was cute. I actually didn't want it but you know how that goes. It is in the tank. I've had it for a week and have not seen it eat yet. For the first few days it just hid under the driftwood. Now it is out looking for food I assume.

What do they eat? I've waved wafers in front of it and got no response. Won't eat flake foods. And haven;t seen it eat any bloodworms but that is probably due to them being hidden in the substrate. Any suggestions?

The pool filter sand you have is quite a bit darker than stuff I have used, which was really pale. Looked good at first, but mulm would accumulate on the surface and contrast with the sand color quite distinctly. Plus, I think your darker sand looks better anyway. (Hmmm... I wonder if sand can be dyed?)

I agree too that the finer stuff only works well with light fish loads, aesthetically. Was it a pool store where you were going to get the 2mm sand? That does seem like a very nice size, but I have never seen it for sale anywhere. I like using sands in particular for tanks with more delicate plants like Micranthemum, Mayaca, and the smaller Eleocharis species, but the small grain size of the pool filter sand I have used makes for more maintenance than I like. Plus, I would like some of the mulm to be able to filter down some into the substrate. I bet your blackworms are great at that.

Gads... I really need to get a tank set up before spring...

I've had reasonable success finding wild substrates while on field trips. They generally hide under the water, in places that often also have interesting fishies and other aquatic critters & sometimes plants. You can catch them bare-handed or with some kind of a scoop. Or even a dip-net if you want Goldilocks specimens that aren't too small, and not too large. (Hint: if they rip your net off its rim, they're too big for that collecting device.) If you think buckets and plastic bags are only good for transporting fish from the creek to the car, it is time to expand your thinking !!!

Domesticated varieties can also be interesting, although there's usually more choices of the too-large types and not enough small stuff.

I can't be the only person who keeps wet samples of various substrates in labeled canning jars and other containers, so I know where to go to get more if I ever want to. As a semi-connoisseur, I can tell you it is not wise to trust your memory on where that perfect pea gravel came from ... you need to be able to consult the reference shelf, you don't want to be wasting time fruitlessly going to Home Depot when the stuff you need can only be found at Lowe's. Or a SuperWally. At least around my normal roaming area, there is no overlap between the different chains in the varieties/brands of the gravels and stones they each carry.

Also, bear in mind that gravel and stones are heavy but cheap commodities. (Except in the aquarium trade, where they're elevated to the price of gourmet coffee.) Thus these products tend to not be shipped too far. So when you go out of state, or to a different geological area, when you're buying your fishing license and cheezits at the SuperWally at 2 am, wander into the Garden Section too and see what might be interesting there at $3.50 per 40 lb bag.

Remember ... every $10 you save by not buying one bag of pet store gravel adds 40 miles each way to your next fish-watching/sampling/collecting trip. (D:YMMV.) OTOH, be respectful and take only what you can reasonably use, when you're catching Wild Substrate you are stealing and disrupting the homes, feeding zones and playgrounds of our little friends.

My GF decided she would buy me a fire bellied newt because it was cute. I actually didn't want it but you know how that goes. It is in the tank. I've had it for a week and have not seen it eat yet. For the first few days it just hid under the driftwood. Now it is out looking for food I assume.

What do they eat? I've waved wafers in front of it and got no response. Won't eat flake foods. And haven;t seen it eat any bloodworms but that is probably due to them being hidden in the substrate. Any suggestions?

I really don't know anything about the other species of salamanders. Check the temps, try turtle sticks, and try not to stress it out in while adjusting to the new home. There might be some food for especially for those newts at a well stocked pet store.
The following websites are the BEST sources of information of salamanders and newts.

Go here first,:
http://www.caudata.o...aresheets.shtml

Forum:
http://www.caudata.o....php?page=sites

fish and newts don't always get along (they rarely coexist in the wild):
http://www.caudata.o...cles/fish.shtml
http://www.caudata.o...les/toxin.shtml


The Noto's are awesome in the aquatic stage. However juveniles and some/most adults (varies regionally) are terrestrial and require live food. Mine are aquatic adults, and eat pretty much anything krill,snails , turtle sticks, blackworms, and any packaged fish food I've tried. When aquatic they hunt by smell as well as sight. I have 2 males and a female, my female laid eggs almost a month ago. My plan was to transfer them in the morning (to let her finish undisturbed) but the usually benign snails decided they were delicious and wanted to avenge their comrades (I didn't think to feed them that night ). I need to make a snail trap....Buggers destroyed a few leaves on my amazon swords (tender new growth 1-2day old). I need to figger out a better snail management program, I don't want to kill them . It would be nice if I could trap 90% or more (quickly would be nice) and beable to reintroduce as soon as eggs have been transferred.

If anyone decides they want to get notos, I very strongly suggest getting captive bred "peninsular" newts. The Florida subspecies is aquatic in all three life stages. Try the caudata forum.