Another victim of the heat wave

Hi all....

Posting for the first time in a long time to share some bad news..... MY axie Pedro died today . His tank seemed to be getting hotter and hotter over the last couple of days and i did everything i could think of. i put ice in his tank and did frequent water changes to slightly lower the temp but came home from work today and he was gone.

I figured at least here people could understand.... i feel kinda silly crying so much, but he was a beautiful pet. I've had him for 3 years... my kids in my class (he was orginally brought as a class pet) love him and i dont know how to tell them....

Anyhoo.... RIP Pedders... xoxoxoxo

Hi Katis,

It is completely natural to grief over a beloved pet. I can sense you have done a great deal for your axie and ultimately you have done what you can to provide it the best life. Alas, life is the cycle of birth and death. Although difficult, i am sure the kids would also learn from this.

Unfortunately summer in australia can get unforgively hot, the bane of axolotls everywhere. At least you have gathered information from here on ways to cool the tank down so Pedro's passing has not been futile.

Condolences

Thanks so much Ray.... Really appreciate it.

Australian Summers are awful for us, not to mention our pets... i know when i get another axie (and i definately will - maybe after summer is over.) i will use everything i have learned from this horrible experience.

I know the kids will understand, probably an important lesson for them too.... they will be upset naturally.

Anyhoo... thanks again..

Kate

Hi Kate,

Sorry to hear about your loss, I have been watching your weather from across the ditch. I don't envy all you aussies trying to keep tanks cool in 40C.

Hi Kate,
I feel for you, Im here in Melb and we have had straight days of 40 degree's plus. Im even getting up in the middle of the night to check on my guys.

I have evaporative cooling and Im lucky that one of the vents is right under thier tank so that has been able to be keep the temp down. We also do the ice bottles and syphon water from the tank put it into the fridge and syphon it back in once its cool which seems to be helping too.

Also I am putting a wet towel around the tank and with the fan from the air con its blowing against it and really keeping the glass of the tank cool.

I was wondering if others have found this to be helpful in the heat too? We just keep the towel wet, have it wrapped around the tank and the fan from the air con blowing on it. Ok so I cant exactly see the guys or talk to them but I figure why its so hot its at least a way to keep them cool.

Fiona.

Hi Fiona,

I think that is a great tip. The wet towel will increase evaporative cooling yet also serve as a form of insulation against heat loss. Logically, i would think it would be useful. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Cheers

Darkmaverick said:

Hi Fiona,

I think that is a great tip. The wet towel will increase evaporative cooling yet also serve as a form of insulation against heat loss. Logically, i would think it would be useful. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Cheers

Click to expand...

Have you tried using desk fans? My boyfriend and I bought a few of the small ones from Big W and at present just have them pointing down into the tank from a distance as their heads don't bend down too far. That said, we've noticed they latch onto their base using a simple screw so they could quite easily be rigged up to a pole or something and positioned actually above the water. I'll let you know how that goes.

Otherwise you might need to invest in a cooler. I read somewhere on this forum that someone had found one in Sydney that did a 140L tank for about $300. I'm going to have a look in Melbourne and see what I can find, because so far on the net they're about $1500!

Hi PHDaxies,

Yes im a big advocate of using marine chillers. Both my tanks are currently on a chiller system. Fans also enhance evaporative cooling. Here is a list of the common methods used for cooling a tank down.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cooling.shtml

I was referring to the post by Fiona about an innovative way to cool the tank, and felt that i should acknowledge her creativity and sharing her ideas.

Cheers.

Hey sorry to hear about your axie i understand how up set you must be! =[

its a different sorry over here in england its siberian winds here its the coldest its been for goodness knows how long i'm just glad that my room (here i keep my axie) seems to be the harmest room in the house haha

sorry about your axie once again

Katis: so sorry. I'll add your idea to the tank cooling page linked above.

T-man: As long as they don't freeze, axolotls won't mind the siberian chill. Mine spend the winter in water that is 9-10C and love it. You would actually do well to move them to a colder room.

well maybe i'll just turn my heater of in the tank haha

thanks

Thanks to everyone for their support and fantastic ideas about keeping tanks cool. i know they will definately come in handy once i get my new axie.

BTW my students were obviously upset about Pedro but we had a good chat about it and as was said, it was a lesson in the circle of life.

Pedro dying has not put me off owning Axies, if anything he has made me love them more. I'm looking forward to having the chance to get to know another of these beautiful creatures.

:happy: Kate

Kate, I wish you the very best and I'm so sorry about Pedro.

When another lovely axie ensnares you, and wraps you around one of his or her little fingers - we all hope to see photos!

So sorry again for your loss.

Jacq.

PHDaxies said:

Have you tried using desk fans? My boyfriend and I bought a few of the small ones from Big W and at present just have them pointing down into the tank from a distance as their heads don't bend down too far. That said, we've noticed they latch onto their base using a simple screw so they could quite easily be rigged up to a pole or something and positioned actually above the water. I'll let you know how that goes.

Otherwise you might need to invest in a cooler. I read somewhere on this forum that someone had found one in Sydney that did a 140L tank for about $300. I'm going to have a look in Melbourne and see what I can find, because so far on the net they're about $1500!

Click to expand...

if you want a water cooler check on ebay for thermostat 350w $50 also comes with a bio filter to stick it inside theres no cold or warm spots ive ordered them and are wating for them too arrive as i had much the ssame problem for my 4 little axies.

PHDaxies im having trouble finding a few more axies and you said you get yours from a market which market is it? i want a few more as i have a large 200L tank for them know

another good idea to keep a large tank cool is to get 2L coke bottles and fill them 2/3 with warm water and the 1/3 with rock salt dissolve the salt wait for the bottles to cool them put them in the freezer. they will go like a slushie but wait for them to go rock hard...it takes ages. but once hard 1 bottle can cool down my 4ft 1-2c in about an hour or so.

i have read your posts and my girlfriend and i are really into axies and dont mind the odd rave hear and there too and don mnd bubble especially on new years eve! any ways we have 4 axies theyere names are winfred, annabelle, charlie and maggie. i have had winfred the longest about 12 months and he is my favourite and the biggest 24cm. he is a golden ablino annabele is luecistic, maggie is bright gold and charluie is black with olive and gold spots on her body and tail. please let me know which market this is you get yours from because im having trouble getting more.

How dreadful.

Whilst pursuing my hobby of building very fast and very hot PCs I have come to highly rate the 'bong' system of cooling coolant water.-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bong_cooler

You can find all the relevant information online, but to give you a quick summary the system uses the evaporation of water to take energy, thus heat from the water.
A pump takes the water to the top of a long section of drain pipe (perhaps 5 feet), where it goes through a shower head to turn it into droplets, as the water descends it passes one or two PC fans which further increases the amount of water turned into vapour, then the water at the bottom returns to the system.

This method can remove loads of heat from the water, but the downside is that the system needs topping up a lot to replace the water lost through evaporation, and it is somewhat complicated.

I wouldn't recommend this to aquarists in normal temperature countries, but as you live in Oz I thought you may like to consider an extreme solution.
Of course you would need less cooling than someone with a chip running at 90'c but if you make you tube shorter, you might have a system that saves your animals and has very small set up and running costs.


bye mate
karl

Sorry to hear about your loss but did you not consider buying a Water cooler, knowing you live in one of the hottest countries in the world with a pet which cant stand anything over 25 degree's?

I'm a 17 year old college student who's managed to purchase one, you have no excuse.

Sorry if you think im a bit harsh but its the truth and in a way, You tortured the poor axolotl, made him suffer for hours in that god awful water temperature.

Actually I agree with depleted now I think about it.

Why did you not just buy a chiller? It's only costs money.