water/land tank

[devder1]

haha you said f***

ya i would think that the dirt would mess up the filter......... i would use probably rounded pepple gravel but thats just me

Ya I think the idea is, I'm gonna do half with like a 1inch sand/gravel bed on one side
And then on the other side put some big rocks on the bottom and bulid up the sand/gravel to go about 2 inches above the water level
For this setup, what kind of filtration would work best?

 

[Colubrids&Boids]

idk

 

[Noto]

If you're building up a land area in standing water, don't use sand or fine gravel. You'll get a ton of anaerobic bacteria growing in there, which will create a stinky black gunk all through the substrate. Trust me on this, it's no fun. You want a more porous substrate so you get some water circulation. Here's a decent article on setting up the type of tank you're talking about: http://www.blackjungle.com/basics.html

 

[Chelydra Serpentina]

If you're building up a land area in standing water, don't use sand or fine gravel. You'll get a ton of anaerobic bacteria growing in there, which will create a stinky black gunk all through the substrate. Trust me on this, it's no fun. You want a more porous substrate so you get some water circulation. Here's a decent article on setting up the type of tank you're talking about: http://www.blackjungle.com/basics.html

that is exactly right ^^^

and the way they describe it at black jungle is how it needs to be done. i would still divide the water from the land w/ a water tight divider. that way you can water the land as needed for humidity or any plants you have, and w/ the drainage layer it wont get over saturated. but as for what the divider looks like?.....u can make it look like anything that you want. i like natural cork, so i use that to cover some plexiglass and it looks natural...aswell as it is easy for animals to climb over. at a shallow angle it will be more of a ramp than a wall for ease of entry and exit of the water + when the animals enter the water the sand/soil washes off of them and lands in the cork/gravel and that is about where it stays for me. i gravel vac often, though in my opinion that should be done anyway to keep the water nice and fresh for your pets, and w/ tanks like this (in my experiance) frequent cleaning is a must just to deal w/ the water line that wants to form on the glass.

 

[CTU2fan]

For filtration I'd use a small sponge filter with a small powerhead (you don't want a ton of current). If you do the half land/half water setup you'll want to choose a newt that will use both sides, like a firebelly. There are probably others, I think some of the European newts are semi-aquatic; an eastern newt is pretty much aquatic unless in the eft stage, and the efts are pretty fully terrestrial.

You don't want the water terribly deep, I'd choose a 20L or standard 30 over a 29G personally. Remember a lot of the more common newts are happier with a cooler water temp than most tropical fish (again depends on what species you pick). Consider cooler water species like white clouds, and maybe a weather loach (I think these days the LFS call them yoyo loaches).

 

[devder1]

For filtration I'd use a small sponge filter with a small powerhead (you don't want a ton of current). If you do the half land/half water setup you'll want to choose a newt that will use both sides, like a firebelly. There are probably others, I think some of the European newts are semi-aquatic; an eastern newt is pretty much aquatic unless in the eft stage, and the efts are pretty fully terrestrial.

You don't want the water terribly deep, I'd choose a 20L or standard 30 over a 29G personally. Remember a lot of the more common newts are happier with a cooler water temp than most tropical fish (again depends on what species you pick). Consider cooler water species like white clouds, and maybe a weather loach (I think these days the LFS call them yoyo loaches).

i think im gonna use guppys and maybe a loach
ya ill probably just do firebellies unless i find a semi-aquatic one on line thats cooler
im gonna probably do a deep sandbed and some good filtration, maybe a sponge, or if i could find a good repfilter online

 

[devder1]

bump

 

[devder1]

I think im going to do 3 or 4 of Pachytriton Labiatus
I'm going to buy the tank soon as I find a good deal

 

[Noto]

Nix the loach. Weather (AKA dojo) loaches are too big for your tank. If you're definitely going with Pachytriton, then you need to rethink your whole tank. They are a completely aquatic species, and should not be kept with fish.

 

[devder1]

Nix the loach. Weather (AKA dojo) loaches are too big for your tank. If you're definitely going with Pachytriton, then you need to rethink your whole tank. They are a completely aquatic species, and should not be kept with fish.

Ok then fine
I'll just do firebellies
It seems nothing else will use both sides of the tank