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DantezGirl

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DantezGirl
well in the pet store today i was browseing as you do and found in the bunny rat gunniea pig product section a plastic cave designed for the above so is big enough for a axie or two in my case i boil it for a while not to hot to melt but really warm all it needs is java moss to cover for appearances and midnight loves her dark cave she hasnt come out of it yet it had holes in it but still floated so have a rock on top to hold it down
 
Sounds like a good idea, mine have a plastic plant pot in :) i am thinking of getting some java moss for the tank.
 
hi

does any1 no if java moss will stick to plasstic and does it need much light?
 
Java moss will stick to most anything though it would be easier if you abraded the surface with some coarse sandpaper. It likes light but is quite tolerant of low light conditions. As long as you provide some sort of supplemental light it should be fine.
 
Do you know what material this cave is made of? Not every kind of plastic is suitable for underwater-use since some materials emit chemicals toxic to amphibia.
If it floats, it is not made for an aquarium...so you should check this out.

..and please, use some punctuation now and then, it's quite hard to understand if you put all your information into one "sentence", especially for non-natives like me ;)
 
You can also tie the java moss/fern on with fishline or string that will eventually decompose.
 
thanks well i asked the fish guy and he said as long as i boil it they should be OK but not sure what plastic it is made of they seem fine so far
but you're right should have checked the materials used

I'm not sure if it is a good idea to put java on it as ill have to remove add it every time i do water change do plants dirty the water?
here is a pic of the cave

 
Plants, as long as they're not dying and decaying, technically 'clean' the water by removing excess nitrates.

I'm not sure why would have to remove it every time you do a water change. I usually kind of shift things around once in a while, but rarely remove anything when doing a water change. And even if you did remove it, why would this be a problem?
 
im a clean freak lol i like to get into every little bit so i remove everything to clean up the bottom its just my thing i do

i just thaught that plants would make the tank muddy? have bits of dirt floating around? that sort of thing do they do that at all? if not may look into getting some live plants

if i tie the moss on maybe it wont fall of ill think about it PS: do japanese fire bellys fight? my two sometime bite each other
 
Phoenixtear said:
Do you know what material this cave is made of? Not every kind of plastic is suitable for underwater-use since some materials emit chemicals toxic to amphibia.
If it floats, it is not made for an aquarium...so you should check this out.

..and please, use some punctuation now and then, it's quite hard to understand if you put all your information into one "sentence", especially for non-natives like me ;)
Click to expand...

I'd have to agree with Daniel, here. I think it is wise to be a little wary of using plastics in aquaria. Many plastics contain plasticizers or unpolymerized materials that can leach into the water. This may have zero effect on your tank inhabitants but it may prove problematic. Bisphenol A, a compound used in making polycarbonates like Lexan is an estrogen mimicking compound and may be bad for anyone trying to breed their animals. I couldn't say for sure but I think boiling plastic would be far more detrimental than beneficial. It could allow more chemicals to leach or ruin structural integrity.

Please use proper punctuation and refrain from using text speak like "any1." We are an international forum and for the sake of all our guests it is important to communicate clearly.
 
OK thanks will try to remember to check any products not designed for aquariums and ill try and get my punctuation right
 
How do you plan to 'check' plastics? There's no way to detect plasticizers without fancy equipment.
 
dont they state what they use on products? i pulled a few stickers of it but didnt bother to read it i just thaught they would state what they use
 
Plastic products in this country don't give any information on them about what's in them when purchased. Plants are great as long as you can keep them alive and that is a light issue and depends on what type of plants you're talking about. They'll utilise some nitrate in your tank and make use of some axie poo too. Java fern is OK in low light; I've some in my tank now for a few months that is coping with my "very little light over summer" rule. Bits of plants floating around the tank are unlikely unless they start to die, or get uprooted and damaged by your axies. They need to be secured so this doesn't happen too much. A number of people on this forum use floating plants, which i've yet to find, but I'm sure axies would love them. It's a personal thing, and they're obviously more work than plastic ones and maybe not as "neat" at times, but I like the more natural look, so have persisted despite some failures due to not enough light.
 
cool thanks i have been looking at a plant recently ill find out the name and see if it any good in the tank without much light

does any one know when i can tell if the babies will be leusistic like there dad? or wild like there mum they were layd on the 7th-8th of this month and i have 15 hatchlings at the moment first lot hatched last week thanks
 
Nope will still be a few weeks before you know their colour type - patience is needed.

As for plastic petshop hides - I'd also considered going down this route but was very wary about using them (and they don't mention even on the stickers what they're compiled of).

The best stuff I've found is the white or black pvc pipes. We covered ours with stones/river rocks using the aquarium safe silicone sealant. Some have attached the java moss to theirs and makes a great looking cave once it establishes - they just trim it every so often - no problems with fouling the tank.
 
cool ill see about getting some java to cover the cave i reckon it will look pretty cool when finished and hopefully there will be no bad side effects

how long before i know if it was a really bad idea and has infected them or the tank? just to make sure

the babies are quite cute tiny mini Me's have them in really shallow water and they seem to be feeding ten times better now daphnia were hovering near the top of container before
 
wow

has any one had any experiance with these for axolotl caves? never seen them in the flesh our petstore doesnt have them so wouldn't know how big they are they are designed for turtles and lizards so are safe in the water

 
We have them in our petshop! They vary in size and are fine. Ask them how big the dimensions of the entrance/hole part is (height/width/etc) and then gauge whether it will fit one of your adult axolotls through it! The ones that would fit our axolotls were in the $40+ region (so I stuck with the cheap and cheerful pvc pipe and some pieces of schist rock).
 
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Lisa, floating real plants in pet magic at the end of armadale road at the freeway, not sure of the suburb name.... i got a big bag of about 7 plants for$2.50... I askied if i could buy some the plants that were floating in the top of their highest tank and they were very agreeable....

I have a huge almost Y plumbing piece in my tank, both axies hide in their together, its large enough to have some of their favourite rocks in there with them.
 
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