MoniWonton
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- Feb 27, 2016
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Hey everyone! My name is Monica and I'm the proud new mom of two juvenile axolotls! Rocket is a leucisitc and Flex my black melanoid. I received my axies from Axolotl-Factory a little over a month ago, and finally after weeks of being a guest stalker (and reading the page in the Chinese format 
) Idecided to become a Caudata member. This thread has been an unbelievably helpful resource for me as I stumbled through multiple mishaps in the first could weeks. Here's a few newbie mistakes I made before I found this heaven sent site:
1.First, before I received my axies, I set up my 26 gallon tank with coarse plant substrate, then discovered the danger and quickly drained it and switched to sand... Which I didn't rinse throughly enough and shredded my first carbon filter. Drained again, pulled out sand, rinsed again and put it all back. Continued to cycle the tank before realizing that the hefty three inches of sand in my tank was a hazard for gas pockets... So I drained the tank once again and took out about 75% of the sand. Filled again... Continued...
2. A week later received my axies in the mail and plopped them in the tank, shipment water and all. Instantly gave them ammonia burn and noticed their beautiful gills start to deteriorate within hours. Panicked... Pulled them out and placed my poor axies in the fridge for a week while I desperately tried to fix my tank parameters. At this time is discovered API master kit and proceeded to do daily water changes and test. Dosed with Stability and Prime until the parameters went down.
3. Meanwhile, I became an avid Caudata reader and searched every question possible as I played the waiting game with my tank and my little fridged axies.
4. Placed the kids in the tank finally and watched them thrive! Healthy appetite for live black worms. Gills fully regenerated. And, in only a couple weeks time, they have doubled in size!! My tank is almost fully cycled, ammonia 0 ppm, nitrite 2 ppm, nitrate 20 ppm. Still doing 20% water changes every other day until the parameters are perfect.
In summary, Hola to all and THANK YOU Caudata.org for guiding me through my mistakes and mishaps! Can't wait to watch these babies grow up! The pic attached shows Rocket and Flex before (bottom pic, day 1 out of the fridge) and after (top pic, today!)
) Idecided to become a Caudata member. This thread has been an unbelievably helpful resource for me as I stumbled through multiple mishaps in the first could weeks. Here's a few newbie mistakes I made before I found this heaven sent site:1.First, before I received my axies, I set up my 26 gallon tank with coarse plant substrate, then discovered the danger and quickly drained it and switched to sand... Which I didn't rinse throughly enough and shredded my first carbon filter. Drained again, pulled out sand, rinsed again and put it all back. Continued to cycle the tank before realizing that the hefty three inches of sand in my tank was a hazard for gas pockets... So I drained the tank once again and took out about 75% of the sand. Filled again... Continued...
2. A week later received my axies in the mail and plopped them in the tank, shipment water and all. Instantly gave them ammonia burn and noticed their beautiful gills start to deteriorate within hours. Panicked... Pulled them out and placed my poor axies in the fridge for a week while I desperately tried to fix my tank parameters. At this time is discovered API master kit and proceeded to do daily water changes and test. Dosed with Stability and Prime until the parameters went down.
3. Meanwhile, I became an avid Caudata reader and searched every question possible as I played the waiting game with my tank and my little fridged axies.
4. Placed the kids in the tank finally and watched them thrive! Healthy appetite for live black worms. Gills fully regenerated. And, in only a couple weeks time, they have doubled in size!! My tank is almost fully cycled, ammonia 0 ppm, nitrite 2 ppm, nitrate 20 ppm. Still doing 20% water changes every other day until the parameters are perfect.
In summary, Hola to all and THANK YOU Caudata.org for guiding me through my mistakes and mishaps! Can't wait to watch these babies grow up! The pic attached shows Rocket and Flex before (bottom pic, day 1 out of the fridge) and after (top pic, today!)
