Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum (and new to newt-keeping). Actually, I'm not a newt-keeper yet, but I'd like to get some.

My question concerns compatibility with tropical fish. I'm a long-time fish keeper, and I currently have a 30 gallon tank that has 3 fish in it (gold gourami, plecostomus, neon tetra). I'd like to reduce the water level, add some rocks above the water line and put in some newts and maybe some other non-fish creatures.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.
Paul

It's best not to mix animals. They can be dangerous to each other. It's best not to mix animals with fish sometimes. There are a few smaller fish that are ok. There was a post earlier whihc someone posted acceptable fish. But as a rule of thimb with newts/salamanders: Don't mix continents. If they don't nativly mix regions, don't mix them on your tank!

Example: don't mix a european animal with one from oregon.

Good luck and good choice on pets! Amphibians rule!

Tropical fish require warm water...and newts require cool water, so that won't work right there.

You can keep them with Zebra Danios, White Cloud Mountain Minnows and Ghost Shrimp if you must have things in the tank, but be sure to go to a good caudate website (like www.caudata.org/caudatecentral/) and read the caresheets, FAQs and articles that could pertain to your future pets. I would never recommend mixing more then one species of newt or salamander though.

My gut tells me to recommend rough skinned newts for the type of setup you would like to attempt, but you would have to change over the fish in the tank, remove the heater and buy a tight fitting lid (screen top works best) before doing that.
-----
Hope my opinions help,
Rob