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mu boyfriend has fallen in love with fire bellied newts and wants to start keeping them.

i was wondering if it was possible to keep them with our weather loach or would i have to get a new tank to keep them seperate


cheers
lou

Welcome to FP

I'm not sure if you can keep a newt and loach together, but my first instinct is to tell you no. I'm thinking the loach needs to be in the water, while the newt just needs access to the water. Of course my thoughts could just be all wrong. I'm also thinking that other parts of their up keep will have differences.

I would go ahead and get another 10 gallon tank (they usually are fairly cheap) and set the newt up this way.

best of luck,
hml

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

fires usually do best in a tank set up solely for there lifestyle
but they can n do survive happily in a tank
i have 1 in my community tank with tetras n khulie loaches
my peacock eels leave him alone to
i added floating plants n a piece of drift wood for him to get up n out of the water from time to time
they dont like water 65 degrees n below

I wouldnt do it, and I know nothing of newts.
The weather/ dojo loach is a cold water fish, and is better suited to a large aquarium or even better than that a POND.
There are 2 variates, the asian whicch is the most common, and it can reach 18 in in the wild. The european reaches ABOUT 6 inches and is more rare. They are VERY Active, Very social, playful and hilarious fish, and happen to be my favorite, Which is why Im digging a 750-1,000 gal pond.
I started with one, on an impulse purchase, 1 year ago this month. He was not quite 2 inches, I was told they stay small,( no they dont) and are fine by themselves ( wrong again). I took one home and put him in a 10 gal tank- and it wasnt near enough room fo him, so he then went into a 29 gal long, while i did some research. I then bought a 55 gal tank Just for him, and had to special order him a buddy. They were 2' and 3 1/2 In when they went into the 55, last fall. They are now 6 in, give or take, and the 55 doesnt give them enough swimming room. They are only as big around as my thumb, but can destroy the aquascaping in the 55 overnight, and have worn out the danios, if that says anything to their activity level.They dig and burough in the substrate, and prefer sand and mud. They arent purpousfully (sp) destructive, they are just playing and scaveenging and happen to rearrange the 'scape in the process.
They need a shoal of friends, but there isnt enough room in a 55 to house 2, yet 4-6 of them.( biofilter wise, yes, space wise-no)
They also shouldnt be house with anything that isnt going to be able to keep up with, or atleast tolerate their antics, they want to play, and PLAY NOW, and most of the day and night.
I feel in my limited experience ,Ideal tankmates would be goldies, danios,some barbs, and other hyper friendly peaceful fish that need LOTS of room, and can handle temps in the mid 60's to low 70's.They also are a long lived fish.

If they were given access to land, it could be done. UNFORTUNATELY, firebellies need heated water. It's too bad, because newts (and all other amphibians and reptiles) are a blast to own. I had one for quite a while, she was a biggie.