FINALLY got something for in my tank!

[Bettacreek]

I set up the 10g tank to put plants in it. It's been sitting there lonely and dismal, due to a lack of fish in it. I went net-dipping today, looking to put about five minnows in the tank. I ended up coming home with a few neat snails, three eastern newts and several tadpoles. Yippee! Now, my only problem is, I was not planning on newts. I have to figure out wth I am going to feed them now... I've ordered confused flour beetles, but I have to get to work on getting food for these guys. They're already skimming around snatching up whatever bugs I accidentally brought home. Shame that I don't have ANY cultures now.

 

[halo]

Will they eat mealworms?

 

[Bettacreek]

Yes, unfortunately, I need tiny mealworms. I do not have the cash to order them online, and the local ones are all much too large.

 

[dntd]

They can also eat: tubifex worms, earthworms, crickets, small feeder fish, slugs, spiders, and other small invertebrates,redworms, mosquito larva ), brine shrimp and dog food rolled into tiny bite-sized pieces. Net out any uneaten food to avoid fouling the water.


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[Bettacreek]

Unfortunately, these guys are wild caught. They are only going after movement. No petstores here carry small enough crickets, mealworms or feeder fish for these guys. Everything else can either be cultured or bought, but is seasonal if you want live, or you have to pay (again, no money).

I'm going to have to hurry up and get some cultures going again. I may try to get a nice sized pregnant mollie to help supplement the flour beetles until I can get my other cultures in and breeding. The brine shrimp is an easy one, considering that I have probably 20lbs of eggs, but they take a bit to raise to a big enough size. Guess that means that I need to get off of my butt and get some foods going!

 

[Birch Run Farm]

First, congrats on the new inhabitants!

Second, you should be able to train them to take bits of cooked meat. I've even gotten toads to quickly learn meat was yummy from a pair of forceps. I'd avoid any size mealworms, they cause the demise of many herps by plugging their digestive system up. It creates an ugly painful death. Mealworms live underground in nature and newts would not get them in the wild. The adult beetles are fine though.

Those newts should also love earthworms, go to a fishing store, they will sell wax worms, maggots and worms. I still would train them to take cooked meat bits. I feed that to all of my reptiles and my aquarium fish also get real meat too.

 

[Bettacreek]

Thanks! I know just how to attempt to train them now. They have solved the immediate issue on their own, but for long term, this just isn't going to work, lol. All of the really cool snails that I had collected are now really cool shells, lol. These newts are ravenous! I put some cooked peas in for the tads and the newts immediately set to work devouring the pea innards. They also keep checking the snail shells, so I think I'm going to put pieces of food in the snail shells to get them to eat.

 

[gritsar]

You're lucky. I finally took down my 29 gal. tank because once all my fish started getting old and dying off there wasn't a store within an hour's drive to replace them at.
My two survivors are cory cats and they are now living in a small tank. They are very unhappy, but I didn't have the heart to flush them when we took the big tank down.

 

[Bettacreek]

These guys were free, I just went out and collected them. Check with your local game commission to see what your laws are and to see what all can be collected, grab a net, then get out there and see what you can find. It's actually a lot of fun, plus you can fill your tank with neat local critters for free.
I originally went out just to get something in the tank. I didn't really care what I caught, as long as it was something. We just cannot afford the extra expense for the fish that I want, and I refuse to spend money on something else. Now, I actually really like these guys, and I find myself (along with the boyfriend and his brother, lol) just staring at the tank, lol.
We still will be filling up the 72g tank and maybe the 65g, but that will slowly come as we can afford it.

 

[usschicago1]

Picss!