Newbie question

I just got an axie yesterday afternoon, actually the only one to be found in lubbock tx. I knew nothing about 'cycling the tank' . I used Reverse Osmosis water because our water here is just nasty. I don't know how to tell if he is acting right he is about 8 inches long, he would not eat frozen/thawed bloodworms last night. I am putting ice bags in the water to maintain at 72 degrees F. (yes i am american) I took measurement this am and the nitrAtrate is 2 ppm and the NitrIte is 1.0 ppm. oh the tank is a 10 gallon.

The pet store gave us turtle food (floating) but that did not seem right after reading this site so we went and got him some frozen bloodworms, frozen daphia and frozen beef hearts from Petsmart. I would like to find some earthworms but as it does not really rain here i called around and no one has any.

can anyone give any advice???

Thank you

Cycling info can be found here: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml Other water info can be found here: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/waterquality.shtml and here: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Spring_water.shtml

With RO water, you're going to want to add the minerals that you're removing. This can be done using regular aquarium salt.

Axolotls usually don't eat right away, stress of moving and all. Call bait shops for earthworms. They're usually better at supplying than pet shops. I get mine from Walmart.

72F is a good temperature.

Turtle food is NOT a good food.

Have you read www.axolotl.org yet? This will get you started.

thank you so much for the information. I found redworms at the petshop i got him (he is a him saw that today) we named him Hagrid. My sister said that at about 11pm that he was VERY active, so I was less worried after she got up. We got the temp to hold steady at btw 72 and 74. we will get the salt tomorrow.


My sister wants to know if that is your ball python or did you just find the pic somewhere.

thanks again

Axolotls are nocturnal, so they'll be more active at night.

I'm not sure how much salt you should add. I have soft water, so I usually add one or two table spoons per 5 gallons. I'm sure you can find more information on www.caudata.org/cc Caudate Culture, or if you google isotonic salt solutions.

That's one of my ball pythons. She curls up under her water dish and makes a ring. She's defective. Never once have I seen her ball up