Taking adult axie home for vacation?

Hi all,

I'm going to my parents' house for about a month soon, due to Christmas break. I am most definitely bringing my 3 week old larvae home with me, but I realize I need to bring my adult female as well. Unfortunately it's not feasible for me to bring home the 30 gallon tank. I'm worried about the cycle of this main tank while I'm gone. So, I have some options here (as I see them):

1. Bring adult 'lotl home and keep her in a tub with 90% water changes every day. Keep HOB filter running on main tank that will be empty for a month (except for sand and decorations). Problem: cycle potentially crashing in main tank without ammonia source.

2. Bring adult 'lotl home and keep her in either a very large tub or an empty 10 gallon tank with the AquaClear 50 HOB filter running in the tub or the tank. I would keep the filter media in tank water as I traveled to my parents' house to keep bacteria alive. Problem: filter being WAY too powerful for small tank/tub size.

Suggestions? It's really not feasible for me to leave my adult female here and have my roommates feed her since they will also be gone most of the time.



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Would it be possible to buy some pure ammonia (the same stuff that people use for cycling) and ask someone to add that occasionally to the tank while you're gone?

I wouldn't even try to put the filter in a smaller tank, the strong current would just stress the axie. The easiest way to keep the adult female would be to get two big tubs for her and just switch her daily to a new tub and clean and change the water in the other one so it's ready for her to go into the next day.

Okay this might be a little unreasonable but what if you set up two tubs, with the axie in one and then just put the dirty water in the other tub with the filter? and maybe even the dirty water from the three week olds?

keiko said:

Would it be possible to buy some pure ammonia (the same stuff that people use for cycling) and ask someone to add that occasionally to the tank while you're gone?

I wouldn't even try to put the filter in a smaller tank, the strong current would just stress the axie. The easiest way to keep the adult female would be to get two big tubs for her and just switch her daily to a new tub and clean and change the water in the other one so it's ready for her to go into the next day.

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I do have some pure ammonia (left over from when I fishless-cycled the main tank), and I think that is probably be the best thing to do. Great suggestion! How would I figure out how much ammonia to add occasionally?

I also just bought two 66 quart Sterilite storage bins and will do what you suggested for my adult female! :happy:

giventofly said:

I do have some pure ammonia (left over from when I fishless-cycled the main tank), and I think that is probably be the best thing to do. Great suggestion! How would I figure out how much ammonia to add occasionally?

I also just bought two 66 quart Sterilite storage bins and will do what you suggested for my adult female! :happy:

Click to expand...

During cycling it's usually recommended to add 4 ppm ammonia so around that should be fine. A little more or less doesn't matter. The main thing is that the bacteria at least gets something every now and then. Ofcourse it's good to keep an eye on the water parameters more closely for a little while after you get back to make sure the cycle is still strong enough. And you will have to do a huge water change once you're back to get rid of all the nitrates. If you have live plants, they'll love the high nitrates while you're away.