300 Gallon Newt Pond

[NathanKS]

Yeah, the largest one I own is close to 16” long. Not the 4-6” long firebelly newts most people are familiar with.

I added a red/purple led ufo this weekend to the top to help root all the new plants since I’m tired of having to clear my overflows every other day of uprooted java ferns. I also added 20 new Anubis plants I had in another tank to this one.

My trickle filter is finally starting to really activate and my k1 is still not here (dumb eBay sellers). Hopefully I can finish the sump this week since that’s all I’m waiting on. Then it’s just a quick day of work to install the flood table now that it’s all built.

Some pics

 

[NathanKS]

So its finally time for an update:

I didn't get eggs last winter but this year...…..

I GOT EGGS last week, This setup has resulted in not only my newts laying earlier (meaning they will likely lay a second time this winter), but laying more fertile eggs compared to previous years. Has been a great success and met virtually every desire I had in this project when I began.

The trickle filter as pictured in this thread is still in use, however, it now sits in a 2'x2' flood tray similar to the 4'x4' flood tray I will be using for hatchlings. My k1 filter didn't work very well and water paramaters are all perfect, so not really necessary. Will likely add it back in when my eggs hatch. Changes to the actual filter were limited, I strengthened some of the supports and added in carbon and zeolite to the bottom tub.
I am currently working on a LED algae chamber similar to markstrimaran 's projects to add into it with the hopes it reduces the algae that grows in the main pond.

The main ponds return pump was undersized at 2500gph for the flow I wanted, I am now running two 2500GPH pumps turned down and they are much better at mimicking a stream. Additional changes included changing out the loc-linefrom random flow to flared nozzles to educator's to one educator and one flared nozzle. There is also a new UV filter now along one of those return lines while a chiller was connected to the other one.

The red/blue led ufo has been replaced with a kessil a360x spot. it is technically undersized for the area, but I don't have high light requirements and the plants seem to be doing well.

LOTS more plants and rocks are in the tank now. I grew many ferns outdoors over the summer and transferred them to the tank.

Water parameters:
PH stays at 6.7 unless I do a water change greater then 25% due to my well water's PH, is easy enough to get back down with a few ml acid regulator. I tried using peat in the trickle filter but wasn't happy with the results, don't know if I didn't have enough peat, or it just wasn't working quick enough for me. Currently playing with peat on a gudgeon tank.
I've never seen elevated nh3/no2/no3 since the initial spike during setup even when I was forced to be away for more than a week in the middle of summer.
I've switched from filtered well water to 1/2 RO/DI and 1/2 filtered well water for fill-ups and water changes due to the higher than desired GH level in my well water and lots of TDS in the pond. KH is good at 10-12.
DO is kept high, 8.5 @68*

Next steps,
I need to finish my initial plans. The 4'x4' flood table has sat on the side for almost a year, it needs to be actually mounted between the two tanks and plumbed in. I had originally planned on using a single pump for it but have changed my mind. I will be using a main pump to draw water from the sump put it though the 4x4 table and into the main pond. and a second to power a rain bar. I also need to buy some acrylic to make a lip along the top of the flood table to prevent newts from climbing out.
The chiller was installed during the summer, I need to disconnect it and plumb in some valves so I don't always have to run the water through the chiller on that return line. I might do the same for the UV.

 

[twentyleagues]

How about some updated pics?

 

[NathanKS]

Of course twentyleagues

Main pond




Egg tubs


Eggs (most of these are likely bad, just were easy to get to for a photo)


Larvae

1-7 days out of the egg
(Font arms become solid about 5 days. Back legs appear at 7)

 

[twentyleagues]

Awesome!

 

[NathanKS]

So I have been busy working on the larvae and am generally happy with how this year has gone overall.

After spending 2 months i the water and quadrupling in size, they're onto land which meant I had to set up temporary terrestrial cages for them. For this I turned to my favorite storage containers,

Here you see the setup as it was 2/13. Note the lid is taped shut so that none of the newts can climb out. The water was dropped from ~3/4 full to the current height on 12/29 in order to encourage them to venture out of the water and onto land. This tank has also become home to the immense number of baby java ferns and anubis my main pond kicks off and that gum up the overfill. Whatever that scraggly green plant in front is has done fantastic at 67*F and unrooted, I got it in from a local fish club meeting for free.

There are also four land tanks in this picture, Each with 10 baby laotriton. Ive since built 4 more to house the ones that continue to climb out onto the plants on the top tank. ( Ill have to show the tanks I use between these two in my next post)


Anyways, Here is how I build out my terrestrial tanks for the babies.

Step 1: Lay a good layer of expanded clay pellets down. For this I used Hyrdocorn brand and did a base layer of the XL and then topped it with the regular sized.



Step 2: Lay down a weed block to prevent Coco Coir from getting into the expanded clay pellets easily.



Step 3: Lay down a bit of Sphagnum moss to hold down the weed block and also act as an additional barrier for the CoCo Coir. I lay it down in the corners first, then along the edges, then fold down the edges and place more along them so that the weed block is sandwiched between moss. Then I toss some Sphagnum over the top of it to hold everything down.



Step 4: dump in a good layer of CoCo Coir.



Step 5: Top with more Sphagnum moss and add a water dish (they won't use it but its handy for dumping water into the reservoir below and controlling humidity without messing up the coco too much)



Step 6: Mist it all down really good, add dome deco, and add the newts. (you might notice, I use the same fake plants throughout the process of breeding these because they work really well regardless of the stage the newt is in. The adults love hiding in it, the females lay in it, the larvae love hiding in it, and when they get onto land, the babies love hiding in it still. It really is great, so I RoCal them between tanks to keep them sterile. Some of the newts in this tank might have been born between the leaves of the same plant they're now hiding in which is pretty cool to think about IMPO)



So yeah, a little update about what's going on with this pond. Here are a few more pictures of the actual baby newts.




And one of the adults just because (for scale, That is the bottom of a 8"Dia clay pot besides them ,the female in front is just over 16")

 

[deeda]

Very nice job and congratulations!

 

[MatteoTheEnder22]

So I just read the entire thread and it looks awesome so is there any updates for 2020!!!

 

[Orthopod]

So I have been busy working on the larvae and am generally happy with how this year has gone overall.

After spending 2 months i the water and quadrupling in size, they're onto land which meant I had to set up temporary terrestrial cages for them. For this I turned to my favorite storage containers,

Here you see the setup as it was 2/13. Note the lid is taped shut so that none of the newts can climb out. The water was dropped from ~3/4 full to the current height on 12/29 in order to encourage them to venture out of the water and onto land. This tank has also become home to the immense number of baby java ferns and anubis my main pond kicks off and that gum up the overfill. Whatever that scraggly green plant in front is has done fantastic at 67*F and unrooted, I got it in from a local fish club meeting for free.

There are also four land tanks in this picture, Each with 10 baby laotriton. Ive since built 4 more to house the ones that continue to climb out onto the plants on the top tank. ( Ill have to show the tanks I use between these two in my next post)
View attachment 1362090

Anyways, Here is how I build out my terrestrial tanks for the babies.

Step 1: Lay a good layer of expanded clay pellets down. For this I used Hyrdocorn brand and did a base layer of the XL and then topped it with the regular sized.
View attachment 1362081
View attachment 1362082

Step 2: Lay down a weed block to prevent Coco Coir from getting into the expanded clay pellets easily.

View attachment 1362083

Step 3: Lay down a bit of Sphagnum moss to hold down the weed block and also act as an additional barrier for the CoCo Coir. I lay it down in the corners first, then along the edges, then fold down the edges and place more along them so that the weed block is sandwiched between moss. Then I toss some Sphagnum over the top of it to hold everything down.

View attachment 1362085

Step 4: dump in a good layer of CoCo Coir.

View attachment 1362087

Step 5: Top with more Sphagnum moss and add a water dish (they won't use it but its handy for dumping water into the reservoir below and controlling humidity without messing up the coco too much)

View attachment 1362088

Step 6: Mist it all down really good, add dome deco, and add the newts. (you might notice, I use the same fake plants throughout the process of breeding these because they work really well regardless of the stage the newt is in. The adults love hiding in it, the females lay in it, the larvae love hiding in it, and when they get onto land, the babies love hiding in it still. It really is great, so I RoCal them between tanks to keep them sterile. Some of the newts in this tank might have been born between the leaves of the same plant they're now hiding in which is pretty cool to think about IMPO)

View attachment 1362089

So yeah, a little update about what's going on with this pond. Here are a few more pictures of the actual baby newts.


View attachment 1362091View attachment 1362092View attachment 1362093

And one of the adults just because (for scale, That is the bottom of a 8"Dia clay pot besides them ,the female in front is just over 16")

View attachment 1362094

View attachment 1362084

View attachment 1362086

This is awesome - I used to keep emperor newts as a kid. We need more herpetologists around here which is my other love besides fish.
Nice job!

Any updates?

 

[Humphreys91]

Good work! I think it looks brilliant! The only neet I’ve ever kept was a fire belly, had him well over 10 years was a great little pet.