Pics of my new axie - his first day at "home"

Hi Guys

Here are the first pics of my new axie (no name as of yet). They had what looked like one male and one female in the shop - but now that I have him home I'm not sure which one i got - lol ! It's a lot easier to tell when you have two of them side by side ! I think it may be a "he" though.

Can someone just tell me if my gravel looks ok ? It's mixed with sand. In the shop I got him they had big pieces of gravel in the tank and the other axie that was for sale had obviously eaten some of it (he had square corner pieces jutting out of his side :-( ). If it's not ok I will change it straight away ...

I did something pretty stupid though - I thought I was cycling the tank but forgot to put some fish food or something in to start off the cycling - I asked about my readings being fine in the shop but the water being a little cloudy at certain times of the day, and the guy explained that I hadn't "fed" the bottled bacteria I had put in - d'oh ! Anyway it means I am now having to cycle with him in the tank - but I'm doing 30% water changes daily and checking the ammonia etc twice a day - is this ok ?

He seems fine at the minute but i will watch out for ammonia spikes. When I got him they had just put some daphnia in the tank and he was right in the middle of "dinner". Anyway they shop is literally one minute from my house so I guess he wasn't too stresses about the journey. He was eating within 10 minutes of being at "home". He did spend a while hiding in a timy hole in the tree decoration thing - but now he walks around like he owns the place ! lol !

oh cute! they are oh so cool when theyre little! when theyre that little you wont be able to tell their sex (they are little right? you can normally tell because they are more see thru)

about the gravel, well im not sure to be honest, at that size it might be a bit harder to pass than sand but as they get older i dont think it will be a problem. i see a thick mound of sand in the back? if so be careful as sand compacts easily and it can get anerobic very quickly (it will go black) and it can let out some nasty stuff, just a heads up, might wana read some more about that if your concerned your tank looks super dooper cool though! i like the rock cave and all the different slopes youve created. i say well done!

i think your water changes are fine, dont worry about checking ph daily, doesnt normally fluctuate too much but if you could get your kh tested (just go to the shop, no need to purchase one if your waters hard enough) itd be cool, just to see what it is. a low kh can mean ph swings as theres nothing to buffer your water.

well done and i hope you enjoy yout new babies!!!

Thanks Sharn - yeah he is till a little bit see through ! So what do I do about the sand ? Do I just change it regularly or something ? Is there a way to stop it compacting ? Yuck - just looked up that word. Maybe i will take it out ... what do other guys do who have sand ? It's kinda mixed together with the gravel - is that good or bad ? How do I tell if it's getting aneroebic ? From the ammonia ?

it will go black when it gets anerobic. i have sand in my tanks but its a thin layer of around 1cm so they axies stir it up regularly lol. i think you should just thin it out, im not sure if you could just poke holes in it with something every week or so to get some fresh water in there or not. you dont change it regularly, never change substrate unless you wana change the type or something goes wrong with it. it sucks to have to level it all out cause it does look really really cool, hopefully others will be albe to point out other alternatives. OH *brainwave*, maybe getting a large rock and sticking that where you want to have the mound would work, pile the sand over the top? but then you might have to move it every now and then so the sand underneath can get moved around?? hmmm, i dont know lol

Thanks Sharn - to be honest the slopes are pure co-incidence ! I messed around with the bridge yesterday - I took it out as he kept hiding in it and I wanted to see him - then after I got a good look at him I put it back in. The slopes I think just came from me moving things around - ha ha !

I will just make sure to move it around regularly. It's probably only about a 1.5-2cm at the deepest and is mixed with gravel which hopefully should allow some air in anyway. I'll be sure to move it about regularly though and will probably take some of it out - thanks Sharn

When we pick up the poo/uneaten food with turkey baster, we tend to run the baster thru the sand as well, to stir it up a wee bit. Seems to work.

I saw one of those turkey baster things today. looked too small to do much but will have a look around ...

Get one of the big turkey basters, they are REAALLY good.
Very nice axie K!!! So cute! Im jealous!! Everytime i see a new axie, i want more and more and more.

Beautiful set up, even if it were coincidence!!!

Thanks

I have since changed the set up - he seems a little shy so I have changed the back right hand side to be a little log for him to hide under and taken out the big one in the middle.

He has developed 2 strange lumps that I am worried about though and was sick last night :-(. I have posted in the sick section to see if anyone can advise ...

There is another really cute leucistic in another pet shop i am thinking of getting - he has had his front right arm bitten off but has the cutest face - and I think it's a girl and that this one is a boy ;-). I want either that one or a golden - but i can't find golden's anywhere .... I will have to wait to make sure this little guy is ok first though ....

oh, it looked thicker than 1-2cm, if its that thick just give it a stir around or run your fingers thru it often when you do your water changes

I have took some more of it out just in case

Very nice tank, and such a cute little axie you have!

Thanks Luke

I will be getting a little "friend" for him soon - have had to take him out of the tank for now though as realised I hadn't cycled it properly !