Hey! New to axolotls

So, I've been reading up on the parent website and decided hey, these are super cute and sound reasonable to care for. I've got fish so water chemistry and mechanics on equiptment are somewhat familiar, this is going to be fun. Then came the searching, and luckily the local pet store can special order them, so I placed an order for an albino and now just waiting remains.

So, a checklist I'd like some approval on:
20 gallon tank
Penguin 660 sponge filter w/adjustable flows
Live blood/tubifex worms and nightcrawlers
Dried shrimp pellets
Medium rounded river rocks/stones
Live plants
Swahala driftwood to hide under

Anything I might have forgotten?

Anyway, a little about me, I'm Tam and like many here I fell head over heels for this cute little amphibian. I've been caring for fish the past 3 years, mainly coldwater Goldfish and tropical bettas, but these are no easy task. Currently I have 3 Black Moors in a 55 gallon, a female betta community and various divided male tanks. A few of my bettas have spawned, and I used to raise/breed them but no longer as school and work have forced all the needed time out of my scheduel, now they live a very laid back life. I enjoy aquatic pets more than mamals strangely as they are so dinamic and facinating. I hope to learn loads more while at this site as well as meet people who share a love for animals.

Hi Tam,

Welcome to the site.

Everything on your list sounds good.

Just make sure that there is no chance your axie can swallow any of the substrate you put in there.

Also, I can't remember why, but Tubifex aren't great as food. Live/frozen bloodworm and nightcrawlers are great though espicially as a staple.

My axie wont touch dried shrimp pellets, but other's do.

Good luck

yep, gravel may be swallowed. sand is much better if you can get it, make sure you dont get it from a beach/river etc as it will contain lots of nasties. your pet shop should have some or be able to point you in the right direction. welcome!!

Awesome, thanks guys. No tubifex then, that'll only be for the bettas. I'll look for sand, check with the store if they have any, they might only have marine sand, can this be rinsed and used or should I find a freshwater substrate sand?

Hi Tam and welcome to the forum!!

Perhaps a thermometer to keep tabs on the temp? Tho I suppose thats a given lols

I've heard that tubifex worms are too fatty to be fed as a staple.

Concerning substrate, if you can find river rocks that are small enough to use a syphon with and yet too large for your axie to swallow, thats awesome. Most of the peeps on this forum are partial to sand.

Also, where abouts in California do you live?

Good luck with your coming arrival! Axies are such wonderful little creatures

Hi Tamatha, welcome! yes, where in california do you live? I live in Sacramento. I had a hard time Getting Axies at first, but now I have 5 lol. Good luck with your little guy, if you have trouble getting your little Albino, try this link: http://www.wardsci.com/Product.asp_Q_pn_E_878252

Ward's is a wonderful company! Just recently in I would say the last month and a half or so I ordered two baby Axies from them. They were a two day delivery, sent them in perfect condition and they are the Indiana Axolotl colony's babies they had to sell to Ward's on account they were moving to another state

I ordered the first one through the website. The second one I placed a call. The staff are very friendly and they sent me exactly what I wanted

When you get your little Axie, post pictures, we here at the forum love to see new Axie faces ^___^

Awesome, Wards sounds great, thanks for the link! Maybe if I can handel two I'll go through them? Aimee, no thank you, I appreciate the reminder, small things are often the most overlooked. The store carries marine sand, so I guess I'll wait for an answer about washing for use, or special order some sand.

I'm in the Bay Area, San Mateo, about 15 minutes south of San Francisco. Great to see lots of locals!

I would go with Ward's
I wish I could post some quality photo's of my little guys but i don't have that great of a camera. They ship the Axolotls in big plastic bags filled with water and a little bit of Anacharis cuts floating in the water to provide oxygen.

I also found some snails in with them lol. The containers were packed firmly into a ton of packing peanuts in a big box, about the size of a standard office cardboard box.

It was a two days travel, the boxes arrived hot from the weather, but the contents were nice and cool

You can either call or go through their website.

I think they will still have babies from the colony.

The colors i know they have are gold albino, white with black eyes, and wild type. I think these are the only three colors they have, but I could be mistaken.

I have a gold and a white with black eyes from them.

Good luck ^___^

i think marine sand has a high ph. coral sand or something, i dont keep salties so im not too sure what its called. if you LFS doesnt have any maybe you could try some childs play sand, the stuff they use in sand pits. but make sure you wash it throughly till the water runs clear, or almost. remember it will take a few days for it to all settle and your water to go clear again

No one has pointed out yet that the filter you have listed is a powerhead filter, and is probably far too powerful for the tank you want. Axolotls are stressed by current. I suggest an overhang, or a small baffled internal filter.

Like Sharn said, childs play sand works great. I use pool filter sand, and if you rinse it very well, it'll clear up in a day or two, and will look fabulous.

lol Joan fills in the gaps for us

Thanks Joan, I've got a Penguin Mini Bio-wheel 100 laying around. I know goldfish tanks should have a GPH (gallons per hour) of about roughly 15-10x do axolotls require a higher turn over rate, if so I'd run out and get a 170.

I ran a 170 on a 40gal long for years. Good filters. Never had a prob with it. I think you'll be fine using the 100 on a 20gal tank. Just remember to baffle the output. You could use some rigid pipe to create a spraybar, or stack a plate on top of a wine glass and fill with rocks. There's lots of ways to do it.