Fishstery's Massive kaiseri newt paludarium!

Here's the start of my new paludarium I'm building for my 4 Iranian kaiser newts! I will be continuing this DIY build over the next week and am hoping to have it complete by the end of my Thanksgiving vacation from work. So far I have acquired almost everything I need except for my moss which will during the week. Tonight I will be posting more pics as I'm going to add the frosted background and backlight and will start building the structural parts with corrugated plastic and silicone.

This paludarium is inspired by a build done by asugreen11 on YouTube. It will be mostly dragonstone rockwork with a few trees and moss in the terrestrial portion with minimal submerged planting.

Here's some pics of what I have so far:
A 36x18x24 exo terra and a custom built stand. So far I have reinforced the bottom seams with extra silicone as exo terras technically aren't meant to hold a lot of water and are known for leaking. I have leak tested it for 24 hours and everything is good to go so today I am going to drain it and proceed to build. The water portion so far holds 13 gallons, after all the filtration is in I'd expect about 10-12 gallons total volume. I believe the entire tank dimension is either a 40 or 50 gal.

I originally bought elm bonsai for the terrestrial area but found out the hard way that elms are not good indoor bonsai. I had to change my plans and got some grewia starter trees on etsy which should do much much better with an indoor setup, not to mention the blooms on these trees are just stunning and should continue year round. It's not as much of the natural biotope look I was going for, but should be a stunning addition nonetheless. More pics to come so follow if you're interested!

 

I used to love keeping newts! I'm not familiar with your species, but I had 2 eight year-old fire belly newts (that died when they got out of their container during a move). I look forward to seeing this.

 

I used to love keeping newts! I'm not familiar with your species, but I had 2 eight year-old fire belly newts (that died when they got out of their container during a move). I look forward to seeing this.

They are the rarest newts in the world they only come from 4 streams in the entire world in the zagros mountains of iran. They used to be critically endangered but they were moved down on the list a few years ago. They are the subject of a lot of zoo captive breeding programs due to their rarity. Thanks to some dedicated hobbyists that have maintained the lineage from original imports in the mid 2000s, they are not as rare in the hobby than they used to be but are still extremely expensive ($80-140 a piece). They are definitely gems for any collection! Here's a picture of one of them, all have morphed and are sub adults now. I also keep danube crested newts, these guys are much smaller and shy but still a joy to keep.

 

Okay so I got a lot of work done tonight. I got the frosted background on that came with the satellite backlight kit however I have some mixed feelings about this kit already. I was super excited to try it since they just came out with it but it doesn't really look anything like the pictures. It's definitely not like the ADA backlight screens but of course it was about 5x cheaper so that's to be expected. I'll wait to tinker with it until the tank is fully setup and running. I may change it to good ol black when it's all said and done.

I got the entire structure cut out and siliconed together, I took a break for dinner and then to finish off the night I'm going to silicone it all into the tank. For me eyeballing everything, it all fits together very well. I wish I could push the whole thing back a few more inches to give the newts more swimming room but that would entail cutting apart and redoing the entire waterfall panel so im just going to keep it as is. It's still more leg room than their bare bottom 10 gal considering the paludarium is 3ft wide and I built a cave into the structure to add more usable area for them. I highly doubt they will use the land area which is just for aethetics but because I'm building a basin below the waterfall I'll be intrigued to know if they will climb up in there or not.

Tuesday I'll be running to the store to get all the dragon stone, then smashing 20 lbs down into smaller pieces to glue all over the structure. I'll take sand and glue it in the gaps, then I'll have to fill it again and test the water pump. Hopefully it's just right, not too strong not too weak, and then I can get the tank finished up by Wednesday. I'm going to take plant cuttings from my other tanks to do some finishing touches and let it run for a few days and then I can get the newts in by the weekend.

 

Definitely gonna be watching this! I’ve always wanted to try a paludarium, but it’s a bit intimidating (I’m also way to lazy to build a filter.)

 

Definitely gonna be watching this! I’ve always wanted to try a paludarium, but it’s a bit intimidating (I’m also way to lazy to build a filter.)

This one is a tad bit more complex than my last plaudarium build, I learned some things that I wanted to do better a second time around. This time I built a removable planter box that sits on top of the water pump column on the left, so when I need to service or clean the pump I just pull that box out and I can reach my hand in to the pump. Basically there will be nothing inside that column but the pump itself. Then the entire bottom (underneath the planted areas) behind the first black plastic structure wall will just be filled with crushed lava stone, topped with filter floss and then akadama soil where the trees will be planted. The water should be sucked in through the mesh in the first structure wall, travel through all the lava stone, and into the chamber on the left which will be plumbed to push the water through a tube to the right side chamber where it will exit as a big waterfall.

At least it *should* work that way.....

 

They are the rarest newts in the world they only come from 4 streams in the entire world in the zagros mountains of iran. They used to be critically endangered but they were moved down on the list a few years ago. They are the subject of a lot of zoo captive breeding programs due to their rarity. Thanks to some dedicated hobbyists that have maintained the lineage from original imports in the mid 2000s, they are not as rare in the hobby than they used to be but are still extremely expensive ($80-140 a piece). They are definitely gems for any collection! Here's a picture of one of them, all have morphed and are sub adults now. I also keep danube crested newts, these guys are much smaller and shy but still a joy to keep. View attachment 823805

Wow, really? Are you planning on breeding them, or just to keep them as pets?

 

Watching! Nice stand design.

 

Wow, really? Are you planning on breeding them, or just to keep them as pets?

I dont intend on breeding them, just keeping them as pets in this display tank. However if they breed on their own I would definitely rear them seeing as I'll have a spare 10 gallon after I move them into this build. Not to mention with the fact that I spent almost $500 on these cuties I could easily make that money back by raising one or two batches of babies.


Here's a bonus pic for the followers, somebody's mad because their feeding schedule has gotten cut back since they are getting older.

 

So 20lbs of dragon stone and 4 hours later....still not finished with the rock work as I ran out of stone LOL. I wasn't anticipating on this being the most difficult part but it is definitely grueling work, like playing rock tetris. I've huffed enough silicone over the past 2 days to knock out Mike Tyson.

Anyways it doesn't look entirely natural to me the way that I have the rocks stacked in there, but I still need to fill some of the gaps with silicone and pack sand on top. I'm hoping once I do that and plant it, it should look more natural than built.

 

Another update:
I went to the LFS again and got 15 more lbs of dragon stone. I painstakingly finished all the rock work and then tried my best to silicone damp sand into the waterfall runoff and some of the noticeable cracks in the rocks which I think definitely helped make the hardscape a bit more natural to the eye. Once I glue some Christmas moss and buce into the waterfall area it should definitely make it look less staged. I also took my time stuffing filter floss into almost every crevice I saw between all the stone in the submerged portion of the tank to ensure none of the newts get wedged in the rocks and damage their skin since I had to leave some pretty big gaps in between to allow water to flow through. All I have left to do is brush and vacuum the excess sand away, fill her up a bit to test the water pump and as long as the flow is right coming from the waterfall I can empty it back out and plant it the day after Thanksgiving!

 

Well there's a semi-expected delay in the build. I have everything I need to finish and plant the paludarium but I'm still getting a bit of a vinegar smell when I stick my head in the tank which leads me to believe the silicone is still curing. It's not surprising because I have some pretty thick globs of it and had to use a lot because of how much rock work and structural building I did.

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed by sunday/Monday it will be dry enough to finish. I just took so much time and effort to build this it would be a shame for me to get inpatient and ruin the entire thing by flooding it too soon.

In the meantime I unboxed the buce and monte carlo I bought to plant around the waterfall. This is my first time using monte carlo semi emersed so it will be an interesting experiment. I also decided the frosted film with backlight was a nice idea but didn't turn out how I'd hoped, so to kill some time I put black background on the back and sides of the tank which I think is better and will hide all the silicone and filtration media. Other than that I'm dead in the water, I can't even test the waterfall plumbing because I can't get the silicone wet *sigh*

 

Other than that I'm dead in the water, I can't even test the waterfall plumbing because I can't get the silicone wet *sigh*

Hi! I'm new to your thread, but I love where this tank is going so I'm here to stay.

Have you had a fan blowing on the tank? Should help the curing process speed up.

 

Hi! I'm new to your thread, but I love where this tank is going so I'm here to stay.

Have you had a fan blowing on the tank? Should help the curing process speed up.

Thank you!
Putting a fan on it would actually make it cure slower. Silicone caulk needs moisture to cure, so a humid environment would be ideal. Using a fan would make the air too dry.

 

Thank you!
Putting a fan on it would actually make it cure slower. Silicone caulk needs moisture to cure, so a humid environment would be ideal. Using a fan would make the air too dry.

Ahhh, that makes sense. Maybe a humidifier then!

 

Just found this thread! I’m obsessed with paludariums and amphibian keeping, so I'll definitely be following this thread.

 

Wow beautiful setup and beautiful newts! I’ve always wanted to keep newts (along with axolotls) ! They’re both so unique!

 

Welcome to my thread guys! for everyone that is interested *hopefully* final pics will be posted Monday so check back then to see if the silicone ever dries LOL. The smell has gone away significantly but I'm still getting a little spice when I stick my nose right up to the waterfall where the most recent silicone work was done. Hoping another 24-48 hours will do the trick, so far it's been about 72 hours. I'm planning on flooding on day 5 of curing for those who are curious on how long silicone takes when it's covered in various media.

Typically a normal 1/8th inch bead cures in 24 hours. However when you are globbing on rocks it's pertinent to be patient and give it adequate time to dry, and you cant go by the tube directions for cure time. My last paludarium background i slathered in silicone and pressed damp coco fiber into it. That took about a week to cure in my humid mid-summer garage, so most of the time anywhere from 3-10 days is safe to flood and add livestock depending on how it's applied.

 

So I got most of the paludarium finished....everything was running well and I was fiddling with the water pump settings when an absolute catastrophe happened...

The bottom panel of the waterfall blew out. I didn't pad it enough underneath with rocks or filter floss and the silicone gave out. Freaking sucks. So I had to remove some of the rocks out of the waterfall and try my best to resilicone the bottom back in which was a lot harder to do with it in the tank. I shoved as much filter floss and rocks underneath it as I could for support. I guess the water was too heavy.

I'm crying internally right now, it was literally just up and running for like a half hour. I'll have to wait again for the silicone to dry and see if it will work this time....not sure of any other quicker waterproof adhesives or tape I could use.

Here's a cheat pic of it *almost* done before this entire mess happened....although the water wasn't cleared up yet.

 

Sorry to hear about the catastrophe, but it really does look beautiful! Hopefully version 2.0 will hold this time!

 

Sorry to hear about the catastrophe, but it really does look beautiful! Hopefully version 2.0 will hold this time!

Thanks! Yeah I'm really hurting over this one. The worst part about it is I have two seeded sponge filters buried underneath everything. Obviously I can't run the water pump until the silicone dries, and I can't add my newts for a few days after that, so I'm hoping ontop of all of this I don't lose my cycle. I'll probably buy a few feeder fish and plop them in as guinea pigs to ensure all the silicone was fully cured and nothing bad is in the water before I even consider putting my newts in. If the feeders do alright they can be a live snack for my larger newts.

 

Hi! Wow! That's a lot of dedication! It looks stunning so far! Hopefully the feeder "guinea pigs" make it. Wow. I'm speechless. Glad I found this thread.

 

Hi! Wow! That's a lot of dedication! It looks stunning so far! Hopefully the feeder "guinea pigs" make it. Wow. I'm speechless. Glad I found this thread.

Thanks! I haven't posted another update yet since I've been waiting for the silicone to dry again but since I'm already here replying here it is:

The silicone finally dried but my boyfriend gave me a great idea to double up and spray some expanding pond foam I had laying around from the last build on the waterfall chamber seals to reinforce. This stuff is CRAZY sticky. Especially on corrugated plastic. I figured when it expands it will fill any possible gaps from the silicone to prevent leaks and or subsequent blowing out as well as act like a secondary glue to hold it together since silicone peels off of the plastic rather easily with a little pulling.

I have filter floss coming tomorrow and have to run to the LFS to get my newts live blackworms anyways, so my plan is tomorrow is pick up a cheap feeder goldie, stuff some more filter floss under the waterfall to support the weight of the bottom waterfall panel, do a 100% WC since that water has been sitting stagnant for the last 3-4 days, start her up and hope for the best. I'll monitor the fish for signs of any toxicity in the water and this will also be a good way to test if those sponge filters are still cycled after having no moving water or ammonia source for a few days. If all goes well over a weeks time I will put the newts in and finish planting more pictures in a few days! I'll be so glad to have this done.

 

For your entertainment here's a short video of the paludarium running before tonight's fiasco went down *facepalm* sorry if youtube botched my camera quality

I ran it for about an hour or so and everything was great until I noticed the waterfall slowing down to a gentle trickle. Not a good sign. I figured once the water flow starts pouring through there's most likely a leak here or there which isn't a huge issue as long as the leak isn't so big that the pump can't fill the reservoir faster than the water leaks out but just like last time I watched the leak expand bigger and bigger. The good-ish news is that the bottom panel didn't blow out again (yet). Removed some moss from around the waterfall and blasted probably a bit too much expanding foam where the leak was but I put foam on the outside this time. Looks like another 24 hours I'll have to wait to test it again if this doesn't work my last ditch effort is to buy some pond liner and put it in the reservoir in one piece to act like a "cup" and foam in the tops and around the tubing. That should solve any leak problems. To be honest I should have just done that from the get go but building DIY paludariums is always an ongoing learning experience.

Edit: I found a permanent fix for the leak issue. If I rely on foam or silicone to seal the water I will always have to worry about the seams failing at any point. During my search for some old school pond liner on Amazon I found paintable pond epoxy called "pond shield" which is similar to liquid rubber. One thick coat of it will seal the entire reservoir over making it seamless and water proof. It even comes in tan which is great because regular pond liner would require me to remove some of the decorative stone leaving black exposed and making the waterfall look less natural. It seems like this stuff dries and cures extremely fast as well so I can apply it and run water in the same 24 hours. It was 50 bucks which is pretty expensive to paint such a small area, but worth it for peace of mind and long term durability of the build. More updates soon.

 

Another update, I tried cutting out some of the pond foam to paint the pond shield on but dang is it really stuck on the plastic. The foam itself is super easy to cut but because of its placement and that I need to be gentle and not push on the structure I decided to leave that idea as a last ditch effort. So I plugged in the waterfall. It has been running for about an hour so far, and while there definitely still is an active leak it seems the extra foam sealed it up enough that the waterfall can fill faster than it drains so it's been running just fine. I'll keep an eye on it all day and if the leaks don't grow again I will be continuing on with the build! Worst case scenario it blows another leak I can unplug it dry it out and work on painting it with pond shield as I'll have everything I need on hand for it in an emergency.

If the waterfall holds up all day I will be putting fish in there tonight to test the water for silicone. I decided against feeder fish due to worry of transmitting ich or disease to my newts. Unfortunately live test subjects will have to come from my personal tanks to ensure no contamination of bacteria or parasites. So I will be using 4 of my killifish that I bred some years ago since I plan on tearing their tank down once they pass on anyways. I doubt there is anything harmful in the water but again I'd rather risk my fish than my newts. I'll keep my killies in there for a week and do daily testing for ammonia and if everything is still cycled and it looks good to go I can move my newts in next weekend. Fingers crossed the waterfall holds up this time!

 

Those are quite possibly the CUTEST newts I’ve ever seen. Your build is stunning too, I really love the waterfall . They are going to be so happy in there. Fingers crossed the new fix holds for you !!

 

Those are quite possibly the CUTEST newts I’ve ever seen. Your build is stunning too, I really love the waterfall . They are going to be so happy in there. Fingers crossed the new fix holds for you !!

Thank you! Going on 2 hours running now and it's still going strong. I really hope it works out with no more fixing, I'm really anxious to get this build done with since I planned on having it done 2 weeks ago. And I agree, these are seriously the cutest newt species hands down. I think it's their face and eyes, they are a bit different looking that other species, almost cartoon like. I will photo bomb the Dickens out of this thread once they are in so keep checking in! Tonight there will be more planting done as well so pictures later this evening

 

They really do have character ! I had a fire bellied newt years ago and he was ace . I can see why you love them so much.

That’s fantastic news ! The plants are looking great too, I agree with you that the blooms are stunning. Can’t wait for the photo bombs

 

Okay finally some positive updates! I dont normally name my scapes but im calling this one the "Mountain Grotto"
Here's a finished video and some pics, I threw my mist maker in there for some visual effects

The killies are in and I finished planting the final touches, some monte carlo tissue cultures along the banks of the waterfall and some Christmas moss and hydrocotyle tripartita 'japan' regular and mini I cultivated from my 12 gallon long. So far the flow from the waterfall has been consistent with it running 24/7 since about 11am so everything looks like it's working out. I'll monitor the fish and water over the next week and if nothing else goes down by then I will see you guys with another update when the newts move in on Saturday!

 

Update: The killifish are out and I moved the newts in last night. The setup is doing well, although the mood moss is getting brown and I may need to find a different species of terrestrial moss to replace it with. The newts unfortunately still managed to find nooks and crannies in the rocks so they have squeezed themselves in between the rocks and the first retaining wall, so I don't expect to see much of them at this point since they typically hide all day and only come out at night. I removed a few rocks to open up some crevices so they don't damage their skin or get stuck trying to squeeze through tighter gaps. As long as they can't get behind the first wall and into the filtration area it should be fine. I'm hoping as time goes on and they get settled in they won't hide as much. So far I've only seen 2 out of 4. It will be hard ti monitor their health with them hidden where i cant reach them though. More pictures once they get comfortable!

 

Quick update:

Ammonia nitrite and nitrate are still all 0, so it's hard to tell if the bacteria on the sponge filters were able to spring back after a week of sitting in non moving water. I'd assume after a week of the killies and 2 days with the newts I would be seeing ammonia by now but the tank is extremely understocked in terms of bioload so I'll just have to keep monitoring it. I'm also running purigen and phosguard at the moment so I'm not sure if that has something to do with it. I normally don't use phosguard but since there's only ancharis in the submerged portion I figured I'd play it safe since I used so much silicone doing the build.

I've still only seen 2 of the 4 newts and I'm getting worried. I'm 80% sure it's the same two I've already seen, their skin patterns are unique to each newt but still very similar so I can usually tell them apart. They are still super skittish (even more so than usual) and definitely haven't settled in yet so I'm trying my best to be patient and not poke around in there a lot. My anxiety just keeps trying to tell me the other two are stuck or crushed between the rock work! But then again newts are like mice, they can squeeze and shimmy into the smallest cracks. If I don't see them by the weekend I will pull up all the moss to see if they are hiding in the terrestrial area and if I still can't find them I'll consider tearing some of the rocks off the grotto to track them down.

I did put their feeding dish out and stocked it with blackworms, the 2 Ive seen have been in an out of the food dish at night so its positive that they are comfortable enough to eat.

Try to be patient with me in regards to pictures, I'm trying to give them some space to settle in to their new home

 

Wow! Great tank! I'm curious about the water part: are you going to add plants and something the newts can climb up if they fall in?

The whole thing is really cool.

 

Wow! Great tank! I'm curious about the water part: are you going to add plants and something the newts can climb up if they fall in?

The whole thing is really cool.

Thank you! There is ancharis already and a few pieces of buce but I don't plan to plant anymore in the submerged area. The newts are fully aquatic by choice and I never see them outside of the water. The closest they get is sitting right below the water surface although they may change pace since this setup provides them with the choice of completely dry, damp, trickle areas, shallow water basin, and then deep water. I don't need to worry about them being able to get in and out as they please because newts are excellent climbers and the rockwork gives them plenty to get footing on. You need to have a tight fitting lid with any species of newt or salamander because they can even climb glass.

Since I'm already replying to the thread a quick update: I pulled up the moss and tried to pull the rocks off the grotto but apparently my silicone work is too good because I can't gently get them off. I'm too nervous I will pull the structure wall loose and potentially collapse it so I can't search any further for the other 2 newts. I checked around with a flashlight and even checked inside the waterfall column on the off chance they scaled the entire waterfall upstream but I can't see them. However I can only find one newt right now so I know there's hiding spots I can't see or feel. I know they have to be in there somewhere so at this point I just have to wait and see if they will show themselves in time. They are definitely feeding because their worm dish was empty today and I find it hard to believe 2 of them would eat that much. Ammonia is still 0 so that's a plus! No more poking around for me....although I know I already said that lol!

It's hard not to be worried though, since they are so expensive and also just neat to have. There were a few small stones I got loose and I left them with large gaps between them for easier access behind the rocks since it seems like they enjoy hiding in there. I'll just have to sneak a peek in there super late at night for now until I can get a sighting of all 4. I took pictures of the ones I saw so I can for sure tell them apart.

Edit: funny I posted about this because I walked past the tank and found 3! Comparing my pictures two of them I have already seen, so that just leaves one newt left to find

 

Thank you! There is ancharis already and a few pieces of buce but I don't plan to plant anymore in the submerged area. The newts are fully aquatic by choice and I never see them outside of the water. The closest they get is sitting right below the water surface although they may change pace since this setup provides them with the choice of completely dry, damp, trickle areas, shallow water basin, and then deep water. I don't need to worry about them being able to get in and out as they please because newts are excellent climbers and the rockwork gives them plenty to get footing on. You need to have a tight fitting lid with any species of newt or salamander because they can even climb glass.

Dumb on my part. I thought they were terrestrial salamanders (even though it clearly says newt). I had a marbled salamander drown once, even though most can swim.

I remember that my fire belly newts were excellent at climbing up the glass too. Do these newts exude toxins like some other newts?

 

Dumb on my part. I thought they were terrestrial salamanders (even though it clearly says newt). I had a marbled salamander drown once, even though most can swim.

I remember that my fire belly newts were excellent at climbing up the glass too. Do these newts exude toxins like some other newts?

I can't say for sure, information on them is pretty sparse and repetitive. Looking at their skin coloring though I would definitely assume they do, as cute as they are their skin pattern screams warning haha! I never touch my newts with my hands except for the two times I had to move them to a tank but it's pretty much good practice to wash hands well and don't touch your eyes or mouth after handling newts because of the potential toxins.

 

Just a quick update at 3am, woke up to get a drink and finally got a confirmed sighting of all 4! They were all out and about at the same time so it looks like they are getting comfortable. I have yet to see them out during the light cycle but they have always been on the more nocturnal side so I'm not surprised.

 

Since you guys have been so great with following this thread I managed to snake some late night pics of the noodles for you. It would be nice to get some pictures of them with the lights on and the entire paludarium in view but currently that will not happen since they are being little vampires and only ascend from the rocks at night when the lights go off.

Here's the little noodles in their new setup, crowded around their food dish naturally

 

Since you guys have been so great with following this thread I managed to snake some late night pics of the noodles for you. It would be nice to get some pictures of them with the lights on and the entire paludarium in view but currently that will not happen since they are being little vampires and only ascend from the rocks at night when the lights go off.

Here's the little noodles in their new setup, crowded around their food dish naturally

View attachment 827658View attachment 827659

O...M...G! They are SO cute
I’d become nocturnal just so I could watch these babies come out and play at night.

 

O...M...G! They are SO cute
I’d become nocturnal just so I could watch these babies come out and play at night.

I wish I could! They all dart away the moment I turn my flashlight or living room light on haha! They always have been quite skittish. It took me about 3 months to get them to feed off tweezers and it only happened once or twice. I gave up and I just fill up their feeding dish with bloodworms 3 times a week anymore. I've seen videos of them being more friendly with people, mine are still young and considering they can live to be up to 20 years old in captivity we have plenty of time to establish a bond

 

Okay noodles is now the accepted term for these adorable little guys !!! I’m so glad they are settling, even if it is only to come out at night !