New newt questions

[pixiecraft]

I've been reading this forum for a while, but have never had a reason to post - so now I've got a question I hope someone can help me out with.

I just bought a couple of Emperor Newts and want the set up to be just right. We have pre-paid the newts and will be picking them up when we're ready setting up the tank... But now i'm second guessing everything I've been told. I was told at the store that we could set up the tank in about a day and be ready for the newts, and that some mixed rocks would be good for the dry side. But online I've been reading that we should have some moist earth and that the water side should be cycled as per a fish tank before introducing the newts as a sterile environment could be very dangerous.

So. Here are my questions. Should I lay a bed of dark earth with the rocks? And could I use water from my pre-established (and presumably healthy fishtank) to start off the environment? Or should I use some brine shrimp to begin the cycling of the water? And if so, does it have to cycle as long as a fishtank would have to, or would a few hours or a day be ok...

How long should I wait to introduce the newts to be assured that they will be safe? I know I should have had all these questions answered before purchasing, but there were only two left...

Thanks.

Jen

[Shouganai]

I'd suggest you post about this on the OARA mailing list. http://www.ottawaherps.com/oara/ you might find some herpers that have a bit better knowledge of caudata husbandry. I personally don't have much knowledge, but I would suggest that you take what the pet store people said with a grain of salt. I would think that having the tank cycled, or at least on its way to being cycled would be the best idea.

However, DON'T use water from an existing aquarium. As you may or may not know, newts have a very permeable skin, and pollutants in the water can be very harmful to them. So if the water has an excess of metals, or too much nitrogenous waste, newts are prone to dying a lot faster than fish will. If you want to cycle the tank faster, try taking some foam or other biological filter material from the filter on your existing tank, and put it in the newt tank's filter.

Also, look up care sheets for your species on google, and check out this great caudata website: http://www.caudata.org/ the caresheet for your specific species is here: http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Tylototriton/T_shanjing.shtml

Good luck with your newts! I must commend you for going with a hardy species such as the Mandarin/Emperor newt! Sadly, all too often people start out with those chinese firebelly newts, which are not very hardy species, and often show up in pet stores in poor shape, mostly because they are being kept in water that is too warm. Here's to years of enjoyment of your new herp pets!

[pixiecraft]

Thanks for that. I knew, after I posted the question, that the right answer was to just let the water cycle for a bit. And I was certain that using established tank water would be a bad idea.

Thanks for finding the care sheet. I had looked up several different maintenance sheets and am confident now that I understand what environment they will need.

Thanks for the reply.