Tank, filter and rearing. Help a newbie?

Hi all, I'm new to the entire enterprise of hosting aquatic pets, but have been digging through this forum and have found it to be very friendly and informative

Next week I'm purchasing a 3ft tank with an undergravel filter, an aquarium near me is moving and i simply can't refuse this price
Is an undergravel filter appropriate for axies? I want to use it just till I can get some of the cycling under way, I will eventually change the filter because later I want to use black sand as a substrate. So what's your best recommendation? (Think cheaper here, student wages whut 0_0)

Which leads to the second question, if I want to change my filter, can I just rip it out and put the other one in? I understand that I'm ideally trying to cultivate these little ammonia and nitrate munching bacteria, and I'm just a bit worried if I remove my filter I'll be removing a large portion of them :/

I also want to keep guppies with my axie, is it all right if during the cycling period I introduce them to the tank? I won't be adding my axie to this tank until it's all finished, so I thought maybe it could double as the guppie's quarantine? Seeing as both those periods work for about a month, and a couple of guppies producing ammonia should at least provide the bacteria with a small food source to grow on.

Ok, very last question, there is a girl in my area whose axolotls have recently just spawned about 100 eggs. I really like the idea of being able to raise my first one or two axies from scratch. (Plus, I just can't seem to find any stocked in melbourne. Trust me, this search has muuuch mileage.) Is it all right to keep the babies in goldfish conditions? How regular should water changes be, and should they be kept separated? I understand the little ones posses cannibalistic tendencies, and while I do expect a die off rate is common with large spawns I want to give them a chance. Anyone know what survival rates are?
Also, at what age could they be introduced to the big tank? I don't know if the guppies would bother the really little ones. They'd at least be competitive for the small live foods.... so maybe when they start to take interest in pellets and their sense of smell?

Holy moley, didn't realise I quite wrote so much...!
If anyone can answer any of these questions, I'd greatly apreciate it
for now, back to digging around on the site.
Thanks a million guys!

Georgie

Honestly I would just scrap the undergravel filter now and just go with the sand, this will prevent a lot of future headaches.

Is there any way you can use the filter media from the undergravel filter and put it in the other filter you were going to use? You could kill two birds with one stone this way; you get a head start on the cycling process while getting rid of the UG filter.

Read this article on rearing axolotls and then see if you still want to start out this way. I really recommend you give yourself a chance and start out with at least some juvies if not adults. If you can't find any locally you could always check the for sale section on the forum and have them posted to you, axolotls ship really well.

You know, I hadn't even really considered shipping the little guys. I've been surprised by how hardy they seem to be, just about couldn't believe my eyes when I came across a post mentioning that they'd fridged their axolotl (though, considering it's a nice stable 7 degrees in there....)

Raising sure does seem to be a bit of work, but I'm pretty sure I'll want to get to breeding eventually. But yeah, after reading some more, you have me sold on starting at least with juvies. Whatever information I can get my hands on will be gladly filed away for future reference And to be honest, I'd be a bit happier having one shipped and being able to be more selective on colours, too~

Thanks!