Hi all!

Just popped in to say Hi and to introduce myself.

I have been keeping fish for a while now and am successfully rearing many fry, but I came across my first axolotls just last week, in our LFS and fell in love with them!

We had to have some, but the first challenge we came up against was temperature. Having 20 tanks in my living room, all tropical, the temperature in the room is high all the time, settling at around 22C most of the time. Finding somewhere for a cold-water tank proved to be a bit of a challenge!

However, after moving around a little, I found a corner where I could keep the water temperature between 18-20C, so that's where they now live.

The tank itself is a 2' fish tank that was my QT. It was already cycled, as we always kept it ready for anything, so after a large water change, and removal of the heater, it worked out well. It has a UGF and course gravel, which may need to be changed if it proves to be a problem, but so far, everything is fine.

Jose and Margarita moved in at the beginning of last week and have now settled in. They are small, according to the info here, although I was told that they had already had one spawn before I bought them. Jose is around 7" and Margarita just on 6". This could be due to their previous keeper not giving them enough room to grow, or maybe they are just that way, I'm not sure. Pictures are below. (Margarita is re-growing her back leg at the moment, I don't think it was Jose that removed it, but when I got them from the LFS there were 6 in the 2' tank together, which seemed to be slightly overcrowded!)

Any info on these would be helpful, as this is a field that I know little about. They are fed mainly earthworms, with some sinking pellets occasionally. They feed from the hand, which is great fun! water changes are twice weekly at the moment, at the rate of 25% per change. Water parameters are fine with A&Ni at 0, Nitrates at <10. pH around here is a stable 7.1.

I am hoping that they will breed for us, but I am unsure as to just how much they should be eating, and how often, so I guess this will be through trial and error!

For those who would like a closer look, I have them on my webcam using yahoo messenger for all to view. My ID is tetratim. there is also a video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xIYU8v_Hok (Sorry about the poor quality)

I hope that I can get to know you all better in the coming months and that I can also pick your brains some when we have problems!

Welcome to the site.

As you may be finding there is plenty to read up on...I still do my daily wander ( ok it may be more!!!) through the axolotl forum and I am still learning all the time, please do not hesitate to post any questions/observations etc . I agree your axolotl are still small, but with the diet you are feeding may well grow...my juveniles grow literally before my eyes!...these are nearing 5 inches and where laid early August, my male is over a year old and is still growing, he is currently 32 cm. Please have a look at what people use as a substrate for axolotl as an undergravel filter and gravel are known to cause problems for axolotl. The pictures of your axolotl are lovely, I look forward to seeing more of them!!

Thanks for the warm welcome. I am a little concerned about the sizes, especially since I have been assured that this is a breeding pair and that they have already sporned. They are definitely a pair though, the male being the larger of the two.

The substrate does at the moment not cause them any problems, they just spit it out if they pick any up, and as they are hand fed, they are not picking much up either, but I am ok about scrapping the filter system and gravel if necessary in favour of the bare-bottom approach with an air filter, rather than a powerhead. I have some box filters from the tropicals that would do well in this situation.

The tank size will also be changed if they do grow any more, and I have several tanks that would accommodate them should they become too big for this one. It is a first-stop tank, just while I make a more permanent arrangement for them. They may well end up in the fish house, if I can make a cool corner for them in there, or maybe they will go into the extension, when that is built early next year.

I really want to breed these beauties, and get some more of different colour variations as well, so I am leaning towards the extension to house them in eventually, where I can reduce the ambient temperature to suit. The fish house is a constant 28C, so is far too warm for them at the moment, and as the 1600 gallons of water is not heated, the room temperature needs to be kept high, to protect the fry that are growing in there. (I have angels, guppies, mollies, swordtails, gouramis, dwarf gouramis, bettas and other fry in there.)

But there are cooler areas, especially at low level, around the sumps, where the temperature never gets above 23C and is normally lower. With the concrete floor, it stays quite cool down there and the light levels are much lower too. I also have space under the racks for alternative tanks, since all the others are above sump level, so it may well be a good spot for breeding tanks of that nature. I need to monitor the temperatures to be sure though.

I am hoping that they will be able to stay where they are for now, as they are obviously happy. The only reasons for moving them would be consideration for size or sporning, when they would have to be moved from the tank anyway. I am planning towards this at the moment, and by the time they do sporn, there will be ample space made available for them somewhere suitable.

I am reading all I can as fast as possible to get the setup right for them, as I would hate to lose them now they are in our care. We are also starting to specialise in rarer species, and these fit into that remit very well, so it's worth the effort to get it right.

I hope that we will be able to compare notes as time goes by and that we will be successful in helping to protect and perpetuate this very unique breed!