[minorhero]

Hello folks!

I got a new tank, so it is time for a new journal! This one has some weird considerations that make some of the technical aspects a challenge. But before we get into that, some background.

I currently have 3 display aquariums and 2 display vivariums. I also have 3 other aquariums (tadpole growout, quarantine/winter holdover tank from my pond, and blackworm culture tank). Plus 1 other vivarium which is a dart frog growout tank. That's a lot of tanks, but my favorite by far of any of these is my High Tech Newt Tank. I really like newts, and having a very diverse tank with fish, snails, and shrimp, makes it even more awesome. So if I could get another newt tank going, I wanted to do it.

Problem being that the Alpine Newts I keep really need cold water (mid 60s). I only will keep a display tank in a space I spend a lot of time in, and there is just no more room in the office where the High Tech Newt Tank is located (and where it's cold enough to make it work).

This is the place I was in when I saw that one of my favorite newt breeders had Crocodile Newts (Tylototriton verrucosus). (Image found online - not mine - and probably not the exact morph I am talking about)

This species has been on my (long range) bucket list since I first saw them. They have a very unique look to them that newts from Europe and the Americas simply do not share. I had however, no real plans of obtaining them anytime soon. That is until some potential changes to how to get newts started coming down the pipeline, and I frankly decided that if I ever want to keep them, now is a good time to get them. Other then their look, another great feature about these newts is their temperature range. Unlike alpine newts, the Crocodile Newts prefer 68-75 degree water temperature. Or in other words, regular ol' room temperature.

Next problem is that none of my tanks is appropriate for these guys as is. Due to the 'Great Bargain' long since entered into with The Wife, I can not obtain a new tank without getting rid of a current tank. That means, to get these newts I needed to say goodbye to a current tank. The one that was easiest to part with by far is my shallow kitchen tank. BUT, that is also the tank with the biggest technical challenge for location.

It's literally sitting on a floating kitchen counter underneath a cabinet.

Worse yet, the dimensions are not generous. The countertop is approximately 37 inches long, by 13 inches deep, and the cabinet is only 17 inches above the countertop. This has worked fine for the shallow tank I have had on it. It also would work fine for a variety of less then 10 gallon tanks, but I wanted a newt tank and preferably closer to 20 gallons. After some searching, I settled on the classic 90L size (90cm x 30cm x 30cm) or (36 inches x 12 inches x 12 inches) and approximately 22 gallons. This does not leave me a lot of room! So little room in fact, I have no room for a canister filter, for a hang on back filter, or for even an air pump. Just getting enough room to plug in a light (the socket will be behind the tank) will take some creativity.

So how will I filter the tank? The plan is to use an eheim 350 surface skimmer that has 80 gallons per hour pump on it, and that is it. I will thus be relying upon the plants and internal hardscape/substrate to provide all of the biological filtration for the tank. Why not a stronger skimmer? Well the newts do not like strong flow. It's a bit of a balance to get something strong enough to create 'some' flow without it being too strong for the newts to enjoy normal behavior (they like to float at the surface sometimes).

Regarding specific equipment, there are a lot of companies making 90L tanks. UNS, Mr Aqua, Hydra, and Lifeguard (probably others). Of those, the easiest for me to get was Lifeguard (since they are sold on amazon with free shipping). And just 2 days later it arrived, along with a proper avalanche of packing peanuts

I wasted no time in mocking up potential scapes:

This one was ok, but the rock on the right did not feel like it was a natural fit.

Same rock placement, just flipped the piece on the left to see if I liked it more.

Different rocks on the right, still not great but better. Wood on the left more integrated then the previous layout.

Wood on the left is too close to the surface, I worry about the newts potentially being able to escape by leaping from it to the open-top I will be making.

New big rock on the right. I love this rock, but it wasn't working for me here. The scape now lacks the flowing look of previous iterations.

The Wife's new cat taking an interest in aquascaping.

His help was not productive..... ;P

Trying to make the giant rock on the right work.... it's just not happening.

Replaced the giant rock with a much smaller one on the right. This scape is checking a lot of boxes. Flowing look, not too close to the surface, good integration with rock and wood. Potential winner winner?

Once I get the tank on location with substrate in place the look of these things will change dramatically. If I do it right, the 3 pieces of wood in this tank will look like one single large piece, like a tree stump that got lodged in a stream. This flowing look will hopefully be supported by the two pots of crypt spiralis that will be going near the skimmer in the back of the tank. Other plants for this tank will be anubias nana petite, bylxa japanica, crypt flamingo, crypt parva, and probably the tiger lily from the shallow tank. So hopefully this will be a very low maintenance tank.

MOST unfortunately, I lack the room for my DIY co2 setup, so this will be a strictly low tech tank.

For the light, I am thinking of using my 30cm twinstar S that is currently lighting the shallow tank. This would mean a pretty bright spot under the light, with much less light everywhere else in the tank. Alternatively, I might get a 60cm light of some kind. The cabinet above the tank is not a full 36" long so I will not be able to get a full length light and hang it no matter what else I decide.

I will also have to make a partial lid for this tank much like the one I made for my other newt tank:

Newts after all can climb glass (after a fashion), but not go upside down. A partial lid like this allows me easy access to the tank while keeping the newts from escaping.

I will also for my piece of mind be adding additional screws through the cabinet beneath into the studs of the wall. I am not sure if this is strictly necessary, but it will definitely make me feel better.

And that brings me up to current! Hopefully I will be moving over all the substrate, plants from the shallow tank tomorrow. I have actually already purchased the newts for this tank from the breeder but they are holding them for me until the tank is properly cycled. Since I am porting over everything in the current tank, I am hopeful for very little (if any) cycle, but I feel much better with the knowledge that I don't need to rush anything to keep the newts and other livestock safe.

Yeah this was a long one, so if you made it to the bottom hopefully you enjoyed it

 

[minorhero]

Update!

Sometimes you need to try something before you realize you hate it.... ;P

I took down the old tank and removed the wood that was in that tank. I remembered as I did that I liked that wood quite a bit, so I decided to try and use it in the new tank and of course that meant redoing the whole scape and thus invalidating everything I had already done. Honestly this is hardly surprising as I've never yet been able to fully plan out a scape before its time to actually build it.

Old tank with the wood removed.

I took all the fish and shrimp (there were a lot of baby cherry shrimp so this took a bit) out of the old tank and put it in a bucket with the old tank water. I floated the plants in there as well then removed the old tank.

And picture of the new tank in place.

I then took the sand/aquasoil substrate out of the old tank and dumped it into the new tank. If there is a better way to do this then with a plastic dust pan, I do not know it. Then I topped it off with some new pool filter sand.

At this point the clock is ticking so I start to make my old scape only to decide I now hate it and make a new scape ;P

This scape looks pretty good I think but when it came time to start planting it I decided it was too much wood. The front piece on the left basically kept getting in the way and I worried this scape lacked certain livability that I require to not drive me mad when doing maintenance.

Once the reality of planting got underway I quickly came to dislike my current scape. It just doesn't work well with the plants I have and the layout of the tank. Here is how the tank looks right now:

Still a bit cloudy from the new pool filter sand but that will go away over the next few days. My real issue with the tank is that the scape and planting is just not very good. I'm also not a fan of the location. The other tank worked in this location because it was rather small. This tank is SOOO big its just overpowering. So I tried it, and I hate it, it's got to go. I ordered a new piece of furniture and will move the tank from it's current location to my kids playroom. There I will install the tank on a new stand right near the gecko tank. This means I will need to drain the tank, remove the rocks and wood (probably the plants as well), and hopefully nothing else, then move it over to the new stand and refill it. Or at least, this is my plan.... ;P We will see if I can pull it off. I will then need to rescape and replant the whole thing.

I already have an idea for the new scape. I was reminded of @Asteroid 's excellent tank recently and decided these bookshelf tanks really do lend themselves to island type scapes. So that is the direction I plan to go.

So next update will hopefully be a full rescape.

 

[Blacksheep101]

Very nice. Those newts are just ADORABLE!

 

[Asteroid]

Update!

...I already have an idea for the new scape. I was reminded of @Asteroid 's excellent tank recently and decided these bookshelf tanks really do lend themselves to island type scapes. So that is the direction I plan to go.

So next update will hopefully be a full rescape.

Thanks, glad i can help in a very small way. With all the unique setups you've come up with that are also visually pleasing I don't think you need much inspiration in that department.

 

[minorhero]

Very nice. Those newts are just ADORABLE!

Thank you! Newts are just so much fun to watch in a tank. One of these days I need to make a video of them poking around.

Thanks, glad i can help in a very small way. With all the unique setups you've come up with that are also visually pleasing I don't think you need much inspiration in that department.

Thank you! Your 3 foot tank is always inspiring. When I finished making this tank and stood back to look at it, all I could think was how much better your tank looks ;P

 

[Asteroid]

Thank you! Newts are just so much fun to watch in a tank. One of these days I need to make a video of them poking around.

I'm sure, I definitely want to get into something like that. In process of selling my house so once I'm settled I'll be doing something new.

Thank you! Your 3 foot tank is always inspiring. When I finished making this tank and stood back to look at it, all I could think was how much better your tank looks ;P

Don't know if it's better, just a different take on it, but I appreciate that. I actually recently redid it, so be posting pics soon. I wasn't going to do anything until I moved, but got bored. When I move I'll definitely be getting something bigger and doing some other thing within the herp area. I'll definitely be leaning on you for advice. It's been a while in that area.

 

[minorhero]

I'm sure, I definitely want to get into something like that. In process of selling my house so once I'm settled I'll be doing something new.



Don't know if it's better, just a different take on it, but I appreciate that. I actually recently redid it, so be posting pics soon. I wasn't going to do anything until I moved, but got bored. When I move I'll definitely be getting something bigger and doing some other thing within the herp area. I'll definitely be leaning on you for advice. It's been a while in that area.

I will be glad to help anyway I can. Excited to see what you have and will come up with!

 

[Asteroid]

I will be glad to help anyway I can. Excited to see what you have and will come up with!

Thanks, really appreciate that!

 

[minorhero]

Update!

I really wanted an open and expansive aquascape with only a small island of plants. BUT.... yeah that didn't happen. I did end up with something that's much better then the previous scape though. I also made a top out of quartersawn white oak for this tank and only 1 oopsie along the way. So definitely getting better at tops as well ;P

Here is how it looks now next to my gecko tank.

Closer look at the tank

And the top

I am not completely done with the hardscape yet. I think I still need some small stones, but its mostly done.

The light on this tank is the nicrew classic planted and honestly I'm not super happy with it. It has a very blue color which is not really working for me. I am thinking I will swap it out with the hygger on my gecko tank and if I don't like that... something else ;P

With the new location also comes the ability to go back to my diy co2 solution. I am definitely going to take advantage of that but I do need to change it up a bit. Previously I was using an open glass bell for the diffuser. I worry that with newts in the tank they will use that glass bell like a diving bell and go there to breathe so they can stay underwater longer instead of going to the surface. Since it will be full of pure co2 this would eventually asphyxiate them.

So my solution is to buy a dennerle flipper

That should have arrived today but fedex is saying there is a delay so... who knows ;P

Hopefully the holding bell is closed off enough that the newts won't be able to breathe there. I will need to keep an eye on them.

As far as livestock goes, there are celestrial pearl danios AND some dwarf green rasboras in this tank. Plus snails, one amano (probably will get some more when I find some big ones), and of course, soon to have newts.

 

[Asteroid]

That looks good, The wood over the rocks like that works very well. Definitely jealous of your herp setups I had so many different ones years ago. I had Flying Geckos and Three-Horned Jackson Chameleons that actually bred (live bearers) and would sell them to the LFS.

 

[Virtus]

Hardscape turned out great! Also, holy moly that gecko tank is something else!

 

[minorhero]

That looks good, The wood over the rocks like that works very well. Definitely jealous of your herp setups I had so many different ones years ago. I had Flying Geckos and Three-Horned Jackson Chameleons that actually bred (live bearers) and would sell them to the LFS.

Thank you! Its funny how these things go. The first time I scaped the tank I had all the same materials and struggled to make anything look decent. This time I made a little mound and this came together instantly. I liked the idea of the wood looking like one big log that broke over a rock underwater.

I am loving the herp life. Terrariums are so easy compared to aquariums and newts are incredibly fantastic to keep. I love the idea of chameleons but I would want to free range one Green Aqua style (they basically have a big island of vegetation in their show room that the chameleon hangs out on), and I have cats that would make that absolutely impossible. It seems most people keep them in screened enclosures as well which again.. cats... That's pretty cool that they bred for you! Can you keep them together year round or do you need to separate them?

Hardscape turned out great! Also, holy moly that gecko tank is something else!

Thank you! The gecko tank is a lot of fun. Only problem is my gecko is a baby (only about 3 months old right now) and he hides a lot during the day so right now I'm mostly just raising plants and occasionally replacing food ;P


Small update:

I recently changed the light from the nicrew classic planted that was on here to a hygger light with a built in timer. Only the timer is garbage so I opened it up and rewired it to bypass the timer. Here is how the tank looks now.

 

[minorhero]

Small Update:

Newts come in tomorrow. So I figure I would do one last update before they get here and steal the show ;P

I have been on a bit of a search to find the best internal filter for this tank. I really wanted a surface skimmer to be that filter. To that end I bought an eheim surface skimmer but unfortunately, I lost a LOT of small fish to it and all of my neocaridina. Basically the eheim skimmer cup has some big holes in it that the small fish found their way into. This is really intolerable going forward, so I ended up buying two other options.

Specifically, this critter:

And this one:

\

While they both stopped fish deaths, they were also both terrible. The second one was slightly better then the first, but was incredibly underpowered. That's when I decided opening my search up to 'internal filters' as opposed to just skimmers. Shortly thereafter I found the Fluval U1 which is sooooooo much better then anything else I have tried. And given that it has intakes on the side pretty high up while the pump is down below, it can actually act as a surface skimmer as well. So it's a best of both worlds kind of thing. Plus it is by far the most powerful of the filters I tested. The eheim is rated at 80 gallons per hour while the fluval is rated at 65 gallons per hour. But even with the flow adjusted all the way down the fluval is unquestionably putting out more flow then the eheim. Honestly its a tad on the too strong side for my liking in this tank, but I think it will slow itself down as the filter media gets more clogged.

While I was sorting out filtration I also added a few more smaller stones to the tank and few pieces of christmas moss glued to the wood. It's been a couple of years since I used moss in a tank. Last time it got out of hand, so hopefully this time things stay both more tame, and less problematic as far as algae is concerned.

Livestock wise, the tank currently has 2 male fancy guppies, a population of dwarf green rasbora, celestial pearl danios, a few amano shrimp, and today I added a spotted hillstream loach. I have another species of hillstream loach in my alpine newt tank for the last month or so, and he is has been doing really well in there. That is what inspired this addition to the crocodile newt tank.

And now for a bunch of pictures.

Tomorrow there will hopefully be another update showing off a trio of newts

 

[Virtus]

Tank is looking great! I think Hillstream loaches are so cool but I’ve not seriously considered them as everything I’ve read said they require really high flow.

 

[EmotionalFescue]

Tank's looking good!

 

[minorhero]

Tank is looking great! I think Hillstream loaches are so cool but I’ve not seriously considered them as everything I’ve read said they require really high flow.

I'm not certain about increased flow requirements. I am highly suspicious of any fish 'needing' more flow. Can survive more flow? Potentially enjoying more flow? Sure, those make sense to me. But so far very few (almost none) aquariums I've ever seen or even heard of has as much flow as some of the dinkiest streams I can step over when out hiking.

Time will tell and I definitely don't have long term experience with these fish yet, but so far my alpine newt tank has some of the weakest flow of any of my tanks and the hillstream loach in there appears to be doing really well. In other words, if you want to try it, I'd just go for it. So long as you have the right temperatures, and water parameters you will likely be fine.

 

[minorhero]

Update!

The newts have arrived!

It was actually almost a disaster, but it turned out fine in the end. I have Fedex notification turned on so I get text messages when packages are delivered etc, this is the only thing that saved the newts.

I got a text message saying the newts had been delivered. I immediately went outside looking for them but could not find them anywhere. While I was wondering around my front yard looking for them, I saw the Fedex truck driving by. I flagged it down and asked about the package. Turns out the driver had mistakenly delivered it to one of my neighbors down the street. They turned around and went back for it and delivered it to me. If I hadn't seen the text message and flagged down the truck, the newts would have been waiting outside in 40 degree temperatures for an unknown amount of time. For newts that are sub-tropical, it would likely have been fatal after enough time had elapsed. Even if they survived, I would have had to rely on my neighbors I don't actually know delivering it to me, which to be fair, they probably would do, but still, better to avoid the whole thing.

Anyway, once I got them inside I opened up the package and started letting them come up to room temperature. Here is how they looked:

After they started to move around a bit, I put them on a piece of cork bark floating in the tank. This way they could get used to the tank before taking the plunge. And now for a bunch of newt pictures ;P

After a couple of hours they started swimming in the tank. A couple of times they came back to the cork bark.

After a bit they ditched the cork bark and just kind of hung out in the water. One of them sunk pretty quickly, the other two are still floating.

The whole floating vs sinking thing seems to be a pretty common newt reaction to either being out of the water for a bit, or from not eating for a while. Once they get better acclimated they tend to sink. The one that sunk has already started eating which is a great sign.

Overall I'm super happy with the newts and the tank. Although I did have to move how my filter's oriented because the newts wasted almost no time in using it in the previous orientation to climb out of the tank ;P

I'll probably update sometime in the next few days with more pictures

 

[Virtus]

They’re photogenic little guys but that first picture they look a little frazzled from the trip ha. I love their coloring! Looking forward to more pictures.

 

[EmotionalFescue]

Wow - those little suckers are cute!

 

[LidijaPN]

Ok so newts are my new favorite thing now.