New baby and i think im doing it wrong!!

Hi, Im Mel and this is my first post. I decided to get an axolotl so i consulted my local pet store. I got a 50cm tank, undergravel filter and river stones as a substrate. I treated the water for nasties and did the ph thing, plus introduced good bacteria. After the set up had been running for a week (on the advice of the pet store) i introduced a 15cm golden axolotl. The water immediately went cloudy and got worse every hour! I went back to the pet store today and they told me to replace the river stones with coarse sand and do a full water change. I tried to get the temp and ph the same as the old water, and introduced another lot of good bacteria after the substrate change. Now Otto is back in the tank and has not moved all day! I am worried i have hurt him, should i just leave him alone and see what happens? Also, the water temp is sitting at 24 degrees and i can't get it down (i have had the a/c running all day), i am in Australia. I am really freaking that i will kill this poor guy! Any advice? Mel...

Welcome to the forums! Have you looked at the Axolotl page? http://www.caudata.org/axolotl It should give you some helpful tips.

He's probably a bit stressed from the tank changes and the heat (I know how hard it can be to control the water temps during the hot months). Several tips I have seen on the forums about keeping the water cooler: 1. Put a water bottle or two into the freezer and when it's frozen, put it in the tank, that will help lower the temps. 2. Having a fan blow over the tank may also help if you can't get the room any cooler with the air conditioner.

I hope this helps! Good luck with your little guy - keep us updated.

i dont find the fan helps but i dont think new zealand gets as hot as australia, try put the tank in the coolest part of the house. the water probably went cloudy from dirty stones, i think 50cm is a alright size for one 15cm axie but when he grows you might want to get a bigger tank or be like me and keep getting more and NEED bigger tanks. 24 is too hot for them, maybe hes just stressed from the temperature, if your rich enough maybe you could get a chiller for it, or make one of your own, someone else on heres doing that at the moment. your not using the under gravel filter with the sand aye? well im pretty sure you no it wont work. any more questions just ask!

Thanks guys! I am using the undergravel filter with coarse sand that is just larger than the slots on the filter, the pet store said it was still safe for axies. I will try the frozen bottles, we only have a few more hot weeks left before winter kicks in, but i have got the temp down to 23 now with the air conditioner so its looking up. He ate a piece of lean steak and has been moving around so i hope he is not too stressed, i love him already! Also Otto has black toes, he came from the pet store like that but i dont think it is part of his normal colouring. Should i worry?? Mel...

No, you shouldn't worry about the black toes. It means sexual maturity.

they say it does, i have a 10cm axie that has black toes and im sure hes not old enough to breed, (well i HOPE not) hehe, its a buildup of some chemical that generally shows maturity. wow that much be a super fine filter or huge sand! wish i had one that i could use with sand. careful with too much mammal meat though, they find it hard to digest properly or something, i give mine bacon (they cant resist it) or steak like once or twice a month

Mellissa - Welcome to the forum

I would recommend earth worms and if you can find some soft salmon pellets or reptile sticks as food and no or very infrequent meals of mammal meat(as in once a month or less.)

Your tank has not cycled and this is where a lot of problems begin. Tank cycling takes 30 to 60 days.

You will need to move your axolotl to another container while your tank cycles. One of the problems of moving it to another container is that you may have to change the water daily. When mine were in this phase I was sometimes having to change the water twice a day because of messy poo.

Remember a smaller container will warm up faster so keep an eye on that. You could use a larger plastic tub or what have you. Just remember you will need to change the water often.

Leah wrote an informative post on tank cycling here:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/793/30395.html#POST45783

it has a posted date of: Posted on Thursday, 03 February, 2005 - 11:57:

You may also want to "Google" more information about tank cycling, and skim the forum on it as well.

You are going to need a test kit so you can test for ammonia and nitrite.

There is good information about basic care at:
http://www.axolotl.org

and of course there is this forum.

Good luck with your new axolotl

Thankyou all. Otto has moved into a large plastic tub to await the tank cycling, and no more beef for him! He is not interested in the pellets though. I have had good success with the frozen bottles and am maintaining a water temp of 19-21, still not perfect but much better. He is moving around heaps more now and swimming to the surface to 'gulp'. I will keep you posted, Mel...

That is good news Mellissa, I hope everything goes smoothly while he is waiting for his tank to cycle

Well, i have made a few changes. Firstly i went back to my pet store to enquire why they thought a week was long enough to cycle my tank and to buy ammonia and nitrite test kits. The manager promised me that if i used the live bacteria starter that one week was enough to establish a cycle, and that if i used the kits and they showed any trace of ammonia and nitrite i could have them for free(my tank has been running for 10 days now).I came home and did the tests and she was right, zero for both! I was so happy . I also mentioned the heat issue, and she said to move the tank to as close to the middle of the house as possible, which i did (after removing most of the water)and now i have the temp at 20 with no ice bottles! Can you tell i am really happy right now? Anyway, i have posted some pics of Otto in the gallery section. Thankyou everyone, Mel...

(Message edited by melloveslouis on March 02, 2005)

Welcome to axie help Melissa good luck with Ottto.

I managed a pet store for years and most of the so called "live bacteria cultures" are nothing but a waste of money. Nitrosomanas and nitrobacter bacteria need two things, a flow of water past them to provide oxygen and a food source. The food source is the ammonia that your axolotl produces which one form of bacteria consumes and in the process creates nitrites which are also toxic. The other form of bacteria converts the nitrites into nitrates which are much less toxic but need to be removed through water changes. If there is no ammonia being introduced into the tank the bacteria starve to death and the capacity for the bacteria that are left to handle a "bio-load" is greatly reduced.
You need to keep your axolotl in the tank to produce ammonia to feed the bacteria. The Axolotl also has the bacteria on it's skin so just introducing the Axolotl into the environment starts the Nitrogen cycle. Now that you have both a ammonia and nitrite test kit you can scientifically determine whether or not your tank is cycled. First your ammonia level will go way up (do regular water changes so it doesn't kill your axolotl). After a week or two you will see the ammonia level start to drop and the nitrite level will rise. This is because the bacteria that convert the nitrite into nitrate are inhibited by the ammonia and can only start to thrive when the ammonia level goes down. When you see the Nitrite level go to zero you'll know that your tank is safe. Do water changes often.
You can actually cycle your tank without putting a fish or Axolotl into the tank by taking a culture such as rocks or filter material from an established tank and putting it into the new tank and then adding pure ammonia to 5 parts per million usually about six drops per 10 gallons for the first dose. Use your ammonia test kit and watch for the ammonia level to drop and watch the nitrite level skyrocket. Keep adding ammonia half doses until you see the Nitrite level drop to zero. Do a half tank water change and your tank is completely and safely cycled without endangering your animals. It'll also take only half the time and be able to fully stock your tank with Axolotls, fish, or whatever.
Understanding the nitrogen cycle is probably the most important thing to being successful in keeping aquatic animals.
I wouldn't think you would want to use undergravel filters with Axolotls because of all the waste that'll get sucked under the filter plate. I would think that a sponge filter would work much better.