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Thread: 1.5ft Vivarium for Fire-Bellied Newts

  1. #1
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    1.5ft Vivarium for Fire-Bellied Newts

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    Hi,


    Just managed to setup this simple vivarium for 4 Fire-Bellied Newts.

    The outcome of this vivarium is very much different from what I initially had in mind. The most difficult part is to keep the small river sand and aqual soil on the land part from dropping into the water. I choose not to put up a divider between the land and water so that I can change the design easily in the future.

    Here are some information for this vivarium:

    Tank Size: Length 1.5ft x Width 1ft x Height 1.5ft (custom ordered)
    SubStrate: Water - Fine river sand,
    Land - Gex Soil for Plant (Land), Perlite as base
    Lighting: 18W PL Light
    Filter: Eden 501
    Ferts: None
    flora: Spiky Moss, Java Fern, Crypt and one unknown plant.
    fauna: 4 Fire-Bellied Newts, 4 Goby


    Front View:




    Side View



    Water Feature: An emerge Spiky Moss Wall with water output from Eden 501 filter, combined with some used Ceramic Ring and wrap together using plastic mesh net. Hopefully this can work as a new type of drip down biogical filter.




    I will be looking out for more plants to add into the tank. Any advice and suggestion is most welcomed!

    Warmest Regards from Merviso aka Merv Soh
    [ my vivarium: 2012, 2010, 2009 & 2007]
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    i'm a dreamer... a dreamer living in the lost city of moonlight.....

  2. #2
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    very beautiful setup =) are you intending to put any fish into the water area?

  3. #3
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    Hi illumnae, thanks, I had 4 Goby inside that I saved from feeder pack. Think is the common type found in Singapore's water.

    Was thinking of adding a pair of smaller Killies but not sure what would be suitable to put inside!

    Warmest Regards from Merviso aka Merv Soh
    [ my vivarium: 2012, 2010, 2009 & 2007]
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    i'm a dreamer... a dreamer living in the lost city of moonlight.....

  4. #4
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    OMG! You are a master at this!!

    So nice! Anyway, do you have a lid on this to prevent escape?

  5. #5
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    Hi Don90, thanks

    I'm just learning to setup a vivarium and this is my second attempt. I have pick up most of the know how from this forum, especially from the fantastic example shown in the post of Wild Ginger, he is the true master!

    I only managed to put up the lid on the second night. One of my newts already had its first breakout just after 3 hours in the tank on the first day. He was already on the top of the tank looking around when I saw him, really make me worried for the next whole day when the lid is not in place yet. Actually, I'm still not very happy on my current DIY cover. Maybe I'll take a picture tonight and post it to gather some advice.

    I still need to add in more plants thou. If you take a look at Wild Ginger's Vivarium post, it is always so green and vibrant with all those interesting plants. I have yet to figure out what plants is suitable to add into my tank.

    Warmest Regards from Merviso aka Merv Soh
    [ my vivarium: 2012, 2010, 2009 & 2007]
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    i'm a dreamer... a dreamer living in the lost city of moonlight.....

  6. #6
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    nicee.... do keep us update bro
    Regards

    Melvin

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    Impressive… inspirational. Might want to try some cherry shrimp and some nerite snails?

  8. #8
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    Hi BuTleR, thanks! I will continue to update the development of this vivarium and hopefully something good will come out of it.

    Hi Rupert, thanks! Actually I'm the one being inspired so much that I wanted to try it out on my own. I actually have an old ramhorn snail in this tank; he had already survived a few of my tanks and I take this as his old folk home.

    I had also just put in 17 baby cherry shrimps that I had saved from the canister filter of my 2ft tank. Hope that they can survived the water condition as well as the 4 nasty goby! I did put in a bundle of pelia so that they can take cover better. Added also are 5 small clown killies that have been surviving well since last thursday. I will update with new picture once the new plants have stabilized.

    Warmest Regards from Merviso aka Merv Soh
    [ my vivarium: 2012, 2010, 2009 & 2007]
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    i'm a dreamer... a dreamer living in the lost city of moonlight.....

  9. #9
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    wow,looks very natural!

  10. #10
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    Hi Bros,


    As promised, here is the latest update of this vivarium.



    Development since last posted:

    - I have just added another 2 smaller newts into the community yesterday, making it a total of 6.
    - Removed the 4 Goby into another tank and added 8 Clown Killies in 2 batches. Left with 3 now.
    - Added more plants, moss and pelia into the tank.
    - More than 10 Cherry Shrimplets growing into semi adults. Guess the water condition can't be too bad.

    Any comments and suggestions are most welcomed!

    Warmest Regards from Merviso aka Merv Soh
    [ my vivarium: 2012, 2010, 2009 & 2007]
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    i'm a dreamer... a dreamer living in the lost city of moonlight.....

  11. #11
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    nice! really very impressive. Nothing planted on the wall?
    Alan
    A plant a day, keeps the doctor away
    http://mygreensenses.wordpress.com/

  12. #12
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    Hi yeoyl87, thanks !

    At the moment, the only terrestial plant on the wall is tied to the bamboo pole. Due to limited knowledge on terrestrial plants, I'm not really sure what is suitable on the foam wall..

    I do have a vertical drip-down spiky moss wall; however, it is growing real slow and only a few is sticky out of the net.

    It will be good if someone can recommend me some suitable plants that I can add into this vivarium. Thanks a lot!

    Warmest Regards from Merviso aka Merv Soh
    [ my vivarium: 2012, 2010, 2009 & 2007]
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    i'm a dreamer... a dreamer living in the lost city of moonlight.....

  13. #13
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    just the perfect thread for me, i am looking at doing up a FBT tank. by the way, how do u feed your newts in this tank?

    your eden 501 is behind the background? thanks

  14. #14
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    hi fuse, welcome to the club...

    Setting up a vivarium is really a very addictive hobby... I'm actually very tempted to setup another vivarium; especially after seeing those much bigger size Paddle Tail Newts, which is at least 3 times bigger than my biggest fire bellied, when I got the other 2 newts the other day.

    I fed the newts with just moulded meal worm and also tubiflex worm. A big headache is when they will sometime go hunger strike for more than a few days.

    Yes, my Eden is setup high behind the back of my tank. I actually find my current vertical Ceramic Ring Moss Wall quite useful as an additional filter and also increasing the oxygenation of the water and will work on it more on my next design..

    Warmest Regards from Merviso aka Merv Soh
    [ my vivarium: 2012, 2010, 2009 & 2007]
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    i'm a dreamer... a dreamer living in the lost city of moonlight.....

  15. #15
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    hi merviso! you are really tempting me to make my 1ft cube a vivarium.. does your vivarium have any algae issue? and where you get your back ground?

  16. #16
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    Hi Merviso!

    What an interesting setup you've got! Something different. Will it get smelly? I mean will it have some sort of those reptile smell? How you go about water change? Not much to change for this sort of tank huh?

    Will the newt jump out of tank? (notice you cover my glass/plastic)

    Interesting.....will consider if I have more time.

  17. #17
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    hahaha... EvolutionZ, how's your tanks coming along? Still remember I told you before that I'm planning to setup a vivarium when I got the newts from you, well, this is already the second version and it's sure a lot of fun to do it up... Background foam quite easy to get at C328 or Aquastar.

    One thing I feel is that for a vivarium tank, the height must be taller so that the plant can grow up vertically can not so restrictive also... Got to cover up the tank to preserve higher humidilty also... btw, surprisingly, their are no algae problem. I'm actually hopping that they will grow on the wood and rocks. There are however some moldy stuff on my bamboo pole...

    hi stillife, thanks, read more into the old post here and you will be as inspired as me to try it out...

    So far no smell for me... but I do open up the cover to air it every night to change some fresh air.

    The newts can and will climb out! They are great escape artist. The cover is also to preserve higher humidilty so that the plants and moss will not dry up... also important for the newts to make sure their skin don't dry up.
    Last edited by Merviso; 17th Jan 2008 at 23:36.

    Warmest Regards from Merviso aka Merv Soh
    [ my vivarium: 2012, 2010, 2009 & 2007]
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    i'm a dreamer... a dreamer living in the lost city of moonlight.....

  18. #18
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    arrrggghhhh... you are really tempting me.. i will pm you about something.. need some questions then i might build a Vivarium
    Last edited by Justikanz; 19th Feb 2008 at 14:07. Reason: Removing immediate quotation

  19. #19
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    hahaha... I have already replied you. Have fun!

    Warmest Regards from Merviso aka Merv Soh
    [ my vivarium: 2012, 2010, 2009 & 2007]
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    i'm a dreamer... a dreamer living in the lost city of moonlight.....

  20. #20
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    A little late, but those shrimps and fishes might become snacks for the Newts. My newt used to eat baby guppies, that is, when he is able to get close to one. He was very lazy and slow, but one by one the babies disappeared.

    The shrimps might seem like a tasty treat to the Newts too. Especially if the shrimp is freshly moulted. That said, nice layout to the tank. Now all you need are some plants to cover the side walls and you're set.
    Fish.. Simply Irresistable
    Back to Killies... slowly.

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