New Axxie Owner

Hi there! I'm actually using my Axxie's name as my username, so her name is Framboos.

I actually rescued an axxie from a petstore (he'd lost all his limbs to his tank mates and they were going to "remove" him from the stock but I said I'd take him), but unfortunately, being the newb I was he didn't last very long (small incident involving the cannister filter, and priming and well... Smush).

But by that point I'd already ordered 2 more to keep him company (I have a 20 gallon tank which used to hold fish until they got dropsy, I cleaned it thoroughly before introducing my axxies and I do intend to upsize once they're larger). The company ran out of melanoids but they refunded that and still sent me the albino I asked for, and that became Framboos (her name is dutch for raspberry according to google translate. Why? Cuz her gills are the same pink-red colour as a raspberry).

I'm still fairly new at this whole business, but I think I'll learn pretty quick.

Hi there and welcome to the forum. :happy:
I don't know how much you have researched about axolotls, but these links may be helpful.
Caudata Culture Axolotl Articles
Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander
Silly Axolotls
I have only been keeping axolotls since March, but there are a lot of very experienced keepers on this forum, so if you have any questions please post them.
Best of luck and please keep us posted on your progress.

I actually did a decent amount of reading when I got Snakebite (the rescue that didn't make it). But I did find quite a bit of Person A says this, Person B says that and they didn't agree on things. So I found a middle road or went with what I saw most often.

Right now my baby's in a 20 gallon with wood and some live plants (I intend to get more plants) and I set the wood up so it's like little caves of a sort. Chiller's running to 60 but it'll turn off and the water can get up to 63 sometimes. I'm hoping I have my waterflow reduced enough, but I do think I stressed her out earlier trying to show her the floating log hide that I got her. That or I have the light on too much. Her tail tip curled, so I turned the lights off after I noticed and am just gonna leave her alone. (Could also be the water change I did, I'm used to fish so I just did it with her in there and water was pouring everywhere... I'll need to get a tub to put her in in the future).

I tend to leave mine in the tank when I do water changes. Both tanks are 200L (approx 50gal), one tank has 3 mature males and the other has 3 juveniles. I think moving 6 axolotls might be a bit much for me every water change.
As you've already done the research, and you also kept fish, so understand the nitrogen cycle, you sound pretty well prepared. A lot of information doesn't match up, so I think most people tend to go with a middle ground, or find what works best for them and their axolotls.
Please keep us updated on your progress, and it would be great to see some pictures of Framboos. :happy: