I Have a Filter Question?

Hey, I just got my first axolotl yesterday and I already love him. I am eager to give him the best home i can and it is almost making my paranoid. I have a rather small tank I think and it is a bit of an odd size (50cmx28cmx28cm). Those dimensions are only rough. Now my concern is the filter i was told to purchase. I have a HL-BT400 Internal Filter. The guy at the shop told me this should work fine but I understand that axies hate strong water flow. The output from this filter is not adjustable and it has a flow rate of 380L/H. Is this too strong for my axolotl? (keeping in mind my tank is only 50cm long). I cannot tell if my axolotl is happy or not because i am kind of new to this all. I am worried that the tip of his tail is curled and apparently that is a sign of stress from excessive water flow. Please let me know if i should change the filter.

Also, considering that filters are not essential when keeping an axolotl would i be able to switch mine off every night. The noise it makes is keeping my parents awake. Maybe if i do that i will just have to change his water more frequently.

Re: Is the filter too strong?

Hi

Does the filter have a flow control??
If so, try and turn it down.
Or, if you can make a spray bar.

A peice of hose with holes in it that is attached to the out-> of your filter...
Google DIY aquarium spraybar.
(Great lil project )
If not, i would suggest taking it back, and ask for a store credit.
I prefer canister filters myself, maybe possibly something you could look into.
But before you do that, I would suggest that you maybe get a bigger tank before getting a canister filter.

Hope some of that helps

Aaron

I had to google this filter to see what it looks like. Does yours have a spray bar, as shown here:
http://www.hailea.com/e-hailea/product1/HL-BT400.htm
If it has the spray bar, you can position the spray bar to shoot the water upward, or position it above the water level shooting toward the glass.

What kind of noise does it make? This kind of filter should be nearly silent!

One other point: what is the water temperature? A filter of 7 Watts in a small tank can heat up the water significantly.

I am going to move this post the the Axolotl section of the forum.

Hey, sorry that i posted this in the wrong section. Wont happen again.

I went to the shop just then and changed the filter to a HL-BT200 Internal Filter. It is one step down and not as powerful. I have made a kink in the oxygen tube to reduce the amount of bubbles it produces. This filter is only 3W and I hope it will not heat my tank significantly. Was it a good decision to step down a filter?

Hey Grolddigger,

I have a tank similar to yours only a bit higher and I'm keeping 2 axies in there. I use a corner filter with wool and charcoal. I bought a small power filter, but I brought it back because I think it would have too much flow. For a small tank the corner filter works well and apparently it oxygenates the water well because of the airstone and it does bioliogcal filteration. All you need is the filter box, wool and some charcoal or gravel for bacteria to grow on and the airpump. I supplement this with water changes every now and then especially after a messy feeding.

Corner filters are also quite good because they don't heat up the water as well.

Thanks for the help ill look into it. My axie also seems quite hungry. The first day i had him he wouldn't eat anything, most likely because i was trying to give him pellets and the shop had been feeding him pieces of prawn. Today i bought some prawn and he happily ate 2 small pieces of it. When i put my hand in the tank he seems to expect food. Does this mean he is hungry and should i feed him, even thought i have fed him two small portions already?

Appreciate your help

It depends, mine always look up when the see me near the tank. The thing is, if he snatches the food hes hungry. If u have to wiggle it for 30 seconds then he probably isn't, it a type of learned behaviour if they see you in the room and they all started getting into feeding position mine do it constantly.

I don't feed mine prawns, I give them earthworms from the garden and thin strips of beef heart as it is a lean meat.
Beware though one of my axolotls threw up about 9 worms because he was too greedy so dont force feed them to much if they show no reponse to food , its better not to feed anymore. They generally eat every 2-3 days depending on temperature but it depends if theyre juveniles or adults, juveniles are still growing so eat more.

Also I haven't had much luck with pellets either they only seem to eat them when it fall on their head, otherwise they just ignore them. They generally need to be hand fed or given live food, but maybe it depends on how hungry they are.

Thanks you have been a great help. One last concern. My axolotl wont sit still at the moment. He keeps swimming around and touching the side of the tank. All of a sudden he will set off again, sometimes swimming half way up to the surface and back down. I am worried that he is moving so much because he is stressed and wants to 'escape'. This might just be a stupid concern but i figured it was better to ask. Is his movemement a sign of enthusiasm, maybe he is exploring or just very energetic or is he stressing out.

Thanks

Dont know as long as he looks healthy and is eating he probably ok.
If he was frantically pushing his head out of the water and swimming on the surface alot Id be more worried. Mine go through active periods as well maybe because theyer kept in quite dark room. Usually if they're hungry they're also more active and will sit in stalking positions and move alot. He might just be exploring and he goes back and forth because he has no more room to swim, cant do much about that the besides getting a bigger tank.

For almost 3 hours now he has been swimming around non-stop. He keeps goin to the surface and spends quite a bit of tome up there. If he is not happy and does want to get out what should i do?

Do you have filtration, oxygenation etc, did you dechlorinate the water and whats the water quality like? If you had a strong current form the filter maybe that could be stressing him up turn it off and see what happens, if he stops swimming.

Yes is have filtration and oxygen. I did all the steps to condition the water. I even happen to have purified water already in my house so it was especially 'clean'. It seems that he chills out a bit when i turn the filter off. But only today i got an even less powerful filter so i didnt think the water flow would be a problem any more.

Mine often move about alot and go to the surface and gulp air and float and its not particualry hot or poorly oxygenated at the moment. I think it better to keep the filter on or else it might defeat the purpose, can you put it at low settings at night, mines on low at the moment it an air pump and hums alot but yeah Im downstairs so none can hear it.
I read somewhere that axolotls need some minerals in the water so completely purified demineralised water maybe not be good, I have no idea however and doubt that's causing the problem. I would just leave him continue to feed and change his water hopefully hell settle down. Whats he look like, is he young? maybe he just an active axolotl :happy: