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Newt Tank Build

24K views 110 replies 16 participants last post by  Learner 
#1 · (Edited)
Alright, I decided to start a new thread for this tanks build.

Fauna: 5 red spotted newts, feeder guppies

Flora: hygro compacta, anubias nana, anubias lancelota, anubias hastifolia, dwarf sagg, crypt lutea, anarchis

29 gallon standard
DIY background using the Greatstuff, styrofoam, and drylok method.
Eheim canister filter
non heated
Playsand substrate, root tabs, ecocomplete and laterite bottom layer.
 
#74 ·
I bring some of my high flyer kids down to a river site where the fish and game fertilizes a bunch of coho eggs for a hatchery program. I grab about 250 fertilized eggs and usually get about 90-95% to hatch (except this year). The kids volunteer and help me collect data on the growth rates and development based on accumulated thermal units. Pretty cool stuff. I coauthored a grant with some of my grad students and the Fish and Game doubled the money to get chillers, tanks, canisters, and all the fixins for a bunch of classrooms in the area. The high tech set up is awesome and cost me only for prime and an airstone to keep it up and running.

Like WY said, most of these tanks are just crammed with fish and have no aquascape qualities whatsoever. I decided to change that this year and so I built a BG and side panels to hide all the gear. I wanted to give the tank an eroded bank look like our beloved Kenai River but ran out of time and had to rush the whole build to get thigns ready in time for the eggs. Cut some corners and learned yet another valuable lesson. I talked to a fellow colleague who has some eggs for me. hopefully after the holiday I'll be abkc up and running.
 
#78 ·
I work with a few grad students on various projects. I am definately not their professor. Just a regular old teacher with some connections at the local college. I used to teach night classes there. Now I just help out some old friends from time to time.

I am no aquascaping master (duh, thats obvious) but a bare tank with 250 coho just didnt suit me that much. I am just changing the paradigm now and shifting my experiments to more of an observation standpoint. This will fit my hobby as well as my career lol. I am curious to see if the aelvin will prefer a certain sized substrate, flow rate, or if their habits and preferences will change will growth. I am gonna add some manzi and see if they take to it or just hold to the bottom. LOwer level stuff, but I could use the ease for this last semester.
 
#79 · (Edited)
Well I think the tank was finally ready to start planting. The silicone smell is almost completely non-existent. I decided to plant the terrestrials first and work on the water section over the next few days. Maybe a bad call since planting my aquatic section will now be even more tight than it should be. I am a bit worried about the plants. The pots are a bit small, I hope I wont run into much of a problem with them getting root bound. TIme will tell I guess.

Well, let me know what you think.
 
#83 · (Edited)
I planted the water section this afternoon and think I need some more crypts spread out along the edges. I know that the growth in this tank will be slow because of the cold water. Some plants may not make it I suppose and fail to acclimate. The newts spend a great deal of time walking around on the substrate so I think I'll give it a week or two before putting them in. Hopefully they'll root a little bit and be able to withstand the trampling.

Any suggestions would be welcomed. Water is super cloudy becasue of the planting in the sand. HOpe the 2213 eheim will clear it up over night.

I managed to keep the water movement to a minimum and wonder how the plants will do on the left side of the tank away from the out flow??
 
#92 ·
Thanks Bill. Already running into issues of course, just like any new build. The tree is a ficus. I really like the look of it and hope I can make it work. Unfortunately water seems to be wicking up the coco fiber and titebond mixture and into the ficus pot. Its a soggy mess. The pot was dry as a bone when I filled the tank before potting so I know its not leaking in any way. The ficus seems to be doing fine but I imagine if the soil stays boggy, I will lose it soon enough. NOt sure what to do, I lowered the water level a bit but I can still see wet coco fibers all the way to the rim of the ficus' pot.

I also lost the ferns. With cold water the humidity is average at best and the acclimation just didnt go well. I took them out to acclimate them in a different spot. I replaced them with something else I had laying around. Doesnt look nearly as good but I will try and find some more ferns this spring. I also lost the hygro in the water section, replaced them with an anubias plant and another crypt.

Newts seem really happy in their new home!
 
#94 · (Edited)
Hey Bill,

here is a FTS of the build. plants acclimating well and growing. diatoms still an issue for now...........wont be long till that clears i guess. The new build is progressing on the hex tank.............might just turn out to be a good one!

Im gonna start a new journal...........probably on the terrarium page i suppose. let me know what you think.

best fishes

JD
 
#99 ·
#100 ·
#101 ·
I'm gonna hijack jake's thread a bit, but yeah, 6' tank. All plumbing is going to be completely buried. The plumbing across the top is for the 6' drip wall. On the right is a mini ficus stump and the left will be a much larger version, which will have a "puddle" in the void. I'm going for a true rainforest floor look. Ferns, aroids and vines.
 
#102 ·
Bill I cant wait to see the 125...................nifty ideas. 6' drip wall sounds so tantilizing.

My ficus isnt gonna make it. I took all the soil out and it was just soaked. I replanted it and now its soaked again...............must have a leak or something I just cant figure. we'll see i guess. The crypt forest down below is really starting to rage.

Wishing my newt seemed more happy........... he used to frolic under the water but now has retreated to a mossy outcropping and hardly ever comes out. I am gonna have to grab him and put him in a bucket to get him to eat as he wont eat the earthworms i offered on land. only eats under the water. ill keep ya posted.

and thanks for the compliments gentlemen!
 
#104 ·
Bill I cant wait to see the 125...................nifty ideas. 6' drip wall sounds so tantilizing.

My ficus isnt gonna make it. I took all the soil out and it was just soaked. I replanted it and now its soaked again...............must have a leak or something I just cant figure. we'll see i guess. The crypt forest down below is really starting to rage.

Wishing my newt seemed more happy........... he used to frolic under the water but now has retreated to a mossy outcropping and hardly ever comes out. I am gonna have to grab him and put him in a bucket to get him to eat as he wont eat the earthworms i offered on land. only eats under the water. ill keep ya posted.

and thanks for the compliments gentlemen!
Sad to hear, hopefully he gets over whatever is ailing him.

howr far from your false bottom is the water line? wicking could be the reason your ficus is living in a bog.
Agree that this is the most likely source of the issue other than a leak, and I often find it to be the culprit in this type of tank.
 
#106 ·
Been a while since I posted this tank. Heres a quick pic. Sorry to report that all three newts are MIA in my biology lab and presumed dead. Man they are amazing escape artists. this tank is really in its prime right now, running on comlpete autopilot for the most part. wish i had a good camera. Theres a breeding group of fancy gupppies down below and thats about it, but boy the plant growth is brilliant.

hope you like it
 

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