Need a fast reply! do you need an aerator or filter for an axolotl??. just for a few days??

hey im in a huge rush. and i just cleaned out my tank but its gone all cloudy. i dont wanty to put my axolotl in right away. can i just leave it in a bucket without an aerator or filter over night???

(Message edited by shane_88 on June 04, 2005)

Well you can but if you have like a turkey baster or something make sure you aerate it with that before and right when you get up. he should be fine if that is your only option. But why is your other tank all cloudy? Is the ammonia super high or something? But don't put your axie in the tank.

You don't need to aerate the water. If the axolotl cannot absorb enough air from the surrounding water, they'll gulp it from the surface.

If you cleaned the tank top to bottom, you have essentially started over with a new tank, and need to cycle it again. This would account for the cloudiness.

yeah i didnt do a fully clean the tank but i think that i might have done a bit too much. thank you heaps for replying i didnt know what to do. i didnt want to put her back into the tank and i had to go out to dinner and only just got back 7 hours later lol. i didnt know if it would be ok to leave her overnight in an unaerated or filtered container. the water is alot clearer. so hopefully i didnt fully ruin "the cycle" lol. but ill have to check out the amonia levels tomorrow before i put her in.

thank you again.

well iu can see little bits of everything floating around in my tank so i guess it isnt totally cycled. argh thats annoying. just a few more questions. i know cycling can talk up to 30 days but whats the minium recomended time for the tank to cycle? and how long can i keep my axolotl in a container without a filter or an aerator. if i change the water every day?

why does it take so long??. argh. lol im angry at myself now wanting to clean the tank now its going to take another couple of week for it to properly cycle.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... heaps and heaps of tiny little white swimming things!!! they are tiny really really tiny i just thought they were spects of things :S... but realised they were swimming! what do i do?? should i do a full cleanout of the tank??. i guess i might as well ive ruined the cycle anyway. ahh >_< everything is going wrong. i just dont want to keep my axolotl in a bucket for too long.
does anyone know what they could be. they are way to tiny to get a photo. they are like ah i found two different types. one microscopic wqhite one... and a mickey mouse face shaped brown ones thats a bit bigger... where did they come from?. the only thing that i put into the tank that wasnt there before were some stones from the beach?. they couldnt have com from there could they?.

argh the little white algae things are back. im going to do a full clean of my tank the sand too. >_<
and i have to work tomorrow so i wont have time!!. argh does anyone know how to get rid of little bugs? and where they come from??? should i chuck out my plants and buy new ones?

(Message edited by shane_88 on June 04, 2005)

Shane, chill out. Stop and take a breather. Bugs are normal. All tanks have them. Mine has them, Cynthia's has them, everyone has bugs. They just show up. It's completely normal and HEALTHY to have bugs. If you go look at a pond, the water's not crystal clear, its full of bugs and algae and lots of things.

If you didn't clean the tank totally, your cycle should be fine. Did you replace the filter media? If the cloudiness has gone away, it could have just been stirred up dirt, airbubbles in the water, or just general cloudiness.

The 'mickey mouse faced' brown ones are probably planaria. These thrive on waste in the tank, uneaten food or axie poo. Make sure you vacuum the substrate on a regular basis.

Your axolotl can live in a bucket indefinately, as long as you change most of the water on a daily basis. It'll be fine. Indiana Axolotl colony are all housed in fish bowls.

Don't chuck your plants. Plants are good. We like plants. Plants don't 'cause' bugs.

Shane it sounds like you over cleaned and brought on the rath of the tiny white worms.

There are some things I have noticed over the years that bring about an increase of the little white worms, nematodes, planaria, *other little creature names here*: Over cleaning (especially a new tank), over feeding, under cleaning an established tank, and about 40 to 90 days into a new tank set up they just seem to bloom no matter what you are doing.

Aquariums contain lots of little creatures we usually don't notice because they are so small.

When you find a new "thing" in your tank don't panic and clean the tank into needing to cycle again. Research the perceived problem and act accordingly. Most of the creatures we notice living in our aquariums are harmless to the axolotls.

As Joan said your axolotl is fine in the bucket. Just don't let it over heat. Smaller containers of water get warmer faster.

What kind of filter do you have on the tank?

Thank you so much. i think i was panicking a bit too much. hehe. i havent had fish or axolotls before so whenever something isnt right with the tank i start getting paranoid. thank you for your help. i dont know what kind of filter i have. an internal one, but i broke it yesterday. it still works its seems ok but i think i need to get a new one. any ideas?

Thank you again

It depends on the size of your tank. With axolotls, I prefer the overhang filter with water fall being baffled some how (I've seen some creative ones on here, do a search for them). I really like the Penguin ones. I have internal filters in my other tanks tho, and really love the Duetto ones. Easy to clean, easy to find replacement filter media, and 360degree rotating output.

Shane how big is your tank? For larger tanks I like the external fluval filters. For smaller tanks I still like the old school corner filters that run off of an air pump and you add carbon and filter floss. I have one of the "new" style internal filters made by fluval and I hate it