Hi, I'm new, advice appreciated.

[Gordy]

Hello everyone,

I have a 4 month old axolotl. His/her name is Speckled Jim because he's speckled.

I've been hand feeding it medium sized house flies for the last few days instead of the usual frozen bloodworms. Is this a bad thing? Does it have trouble digesting them? Can they be used as a stable diet for the axolotl?

I keep him in a 60cm long tank at the moment in my bedroom. I was told that they prefer darkness so I usually keep my curtains shut. I keep him in about 15-17cm of water at the moment. I'm selling the filter I purchased with the tank because I think it's causing too much water flow and it doesn't have any power settings. It is an Elite Stingray filter that is designed for 57 litres. Since my tank is only filled 15-17cm up I've decided to get one a quarter the size.

My tank is half filled with largish rocks and the other half bare. I was thinking about filling up the other half with sand or large gravel. Is a pump necessary for putting oxygen in the water? At the moment I've been doing 70% changes every 3 days with an oxygen shell in there. The oxygen shells are designed for lousy goldfish so I'm a bit concerned about it being in there. Would throwing in a couple of handfuls of oxy weed or a few water plants suffice? Or do I need to get a pump?

Thanks

[Jennewt]

I think house flies are good nutritionally, and could be used as a staple. The only problem I can think of is that they tend to spend a lot of time feeding on poop, so they aren't the cleanest critters.

Beware of gravel. Axolotls can swallow it, with unfortunate results. I'd recommend a thin layer of either fine sand or pebbles that are much too big to ever be swallowed. Having a bare bottom on the tank is fine too, and certainly easier to clean.

Whether or not you need a pump depends on the water temp, the type of lid on the tank, and the type of filter you have.