Question: Getting my first axie soon, help me to not make a simple mistake.

Hi everyone, this is my first post as I am new to the forums (been reading for about a week and a half now)

I'll be getting my first axies from shoegal in a week or so, what I want to do is make sure that I know everything that I need to know to help my new pet have a great life.

So, from what I understand....

My 10 gallon tank will do for two for a while, then a size upgrade will be needed.

I plan to cycle the tank with them in it, I understand that this is acceptable. (please correct me if I'm wrong)

Right now my tank has 6 gallons of spring water and two gallons of tap water in it. I applied a dechlorinator to the tank, and the pump/filter is currently running. Yes, I understand that I will need something live or organic in the tank to get the correct bacteria build up in the filter. What I have is Aquasafe by tetraAqua. It is advertised as: makes tap water safe for fish, neutralized chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals harmful to fish (and grandparents) , Enhances natural, protective slime coating of fish, and biopolymers which support the development of beneficial filter bacteria for healthy and clear water.

Now a question on water; I'm afraid the filter that came with my aquarium is a little too powerful for axolotls. As I've read that a current is bad for them. So do I really need a filter? I understand (guess) that I would probably need to do something like an 80% water change per week. Is this a good choice? If so, tap water would be fine as long as I treat it with the Aquasafe, correct? Again, if so (another question) should I apply the AquaSafe to the water after its already in the tank with the animals, or to it in a separate container.

Temperature: My aquarium is @ 73 F currently. I believe that this is a little on the high side, and will probably increase with two live animals in the tank. The tank is already fairly low to the ground, I think any lower might be an invitation for my dachshund. If I'm able to remove this filter, would this help to lower the temperature a few degrees? And what are some tips for keeping it cooler?

Substrate: Currently my impression from reading is that its a better idea to just keep the bottom of the tank clean. Using play sand is the second best choice.

Cleaning: A turkey baster to clean up fecal remains as well as uneaten food?

Food: My local petco has live nightcrawlers, these are the same as earthworms if I'm not mistaken, and are supposed to be a great died for axies. Do I need to take off the worms heads before feeding them to my pets? Also, nightcrawlers will do fine, right?

A big thank you for anyone who read all the way through that; and an even bigger thank you to anyone who can help me out with the questions I asked. I've read quite a lot of stuff, and some stuff seems to be conflicting thus far.

thank you thank you

Hi,

Okay, where to start. Forgive me if I tell you stuff you already know. I will give you my opinion based on my tank experience. A ten gal is okay but you will need to upgrade as soon as you can. The more space they have, the better. They need hides, plants, in short, places to get away from each other. At this size, they have less of a tendency to nip but accidents do happen and I prefer to avoid accidents. Yes, they regenerate pretty well, but why put them through unnecessary stress if it can be avoided?

You need a reliable, accurate test kit for your water that measures pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate - all levels are vital to your little guys' well-being.

Your water: Do you want to constantly buy spring water to do water changes that will have to be done on nearly a daily basis without the filter? If not, you need to rethink your filter stance, what kind of filter is it? I'm guessing submersible since you say it is affecting your temp. Most out here use canisters. Shoegal's are large enough now that you could do a small canister - I use a Zoo Med 501 on my 55 (1/2 filled) and it works well. Many use the Eheim canisters - would this be an option for you? I currently have a Tetra 3i on my 2" axies in a 20 gal and a Whisper "hang on the back of the tank" filter on my 4". I adjust the Whisper's flow and divert the inflow through a hanging vine.

Your temp is an issue - do you have a hood on top? The hood can be opened or removed completely to help with cooling. Evaporation aids in lowering water temp. You can also use a small fan to blow across the top of the water - the agitation will help cool. If you have time on your hands, you can freeze little containers of ice and switch them out to maintain the temp - this has to be precise timing though to avoid stress. Or you can make a chiller or buy one where the water cycles through and returns to the tank chilled - these tend to be pricey though.

I use a siphon and a turkey baster for cleaning but I am maintaining several tanks.

Your tank will not cycle just sitting there, no substrate, nothing for bacteria to adhere to, and with nothing to start the process. In my opinion, it's better to cycle first before adding the axies - at least have it well on its way. I would put some sand in the bottom - or tiles if you prefer. I have axies from 2" to full grown and find they are all much happier since I made the switch to sand. Some people use brine shrimp to cycle. I have other tanks that I pull some ornaments, plastic plants, filter media, etc. from.

Feeding: The nightcrawlers will have to be cut for them - they are too large right now. You can also feed them frozen bloodworms, sinking salmon pellets that can be ordered online (I get mine from edsflymeat.com - you'll need the smaller size), red wigglers from PetsMart (haven't seen them at Petco), and cut up earthworms - cleaned.

You can also go out to Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander and find more detailed info and you will find some conflicting info as people have their preferences. Here though, I think everyone is on the same page about the basics.

Hope I have helped, please ask more as needed - the more info you have the better for your new arrivals! Take care!

Thank you for they reply!

Temp: yes, I did have a hood over the tank, its removed now, and I will check the temp again in a few hours.

Filter: The one that I'm using currently is a hang on the side type....I'll check out the type that you mentioned, as well as post a video of it in action. I might just be paranoid that its too powerful.

Substrate: I will be getting play sand; I read somewhere on the forums that someone said to blast it with the water hose a few times until the water that drains off is clear? Correct, no?

Test kit: Petco down the road has a sign that says it will test water for free. I'm going to see if they do a full test for nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia. Hopefully they use the test tube kind rather than test strips. I figure that since its literally two miles down the road, and I have to drive past it everyday to school its not really out of the way to get a water test. I will get my own test kit if someone says that its absolutely necessary though.

Food: cutting up nightcrawlers is fine with me

Cycling: being that I'll be getting them in a week, what would be the best way that I can start cycling. Drop some freeze dried bloodworms into the tank and let it just run for a few hours? Sand and tank ornaments give the bacteria a place to thrive, from what I understand.

I also am a little confused about my water. If the filter is too strong, and I cant get one from a local store, I'll end up ordering one. In the mean time, I can just change the water daily with spring water. Would treated tap water work in the place of spring water?

hi
yes you will need to srinse the sand before you put it in the tank, you may need to do a number of times until the sand is running clear.......the strip tests arent the best....i would suggest you get the testing stuff so you can do it at home, maybe but 1 a payday until you have them and askd the pet shop to check your water until you have them(at least you will have a rough idea on what the water is doing in the tank) .....you are able to use tap water i use PRIME with it(get out the bad stuff)...i hope this helps.
lea

Someone out here suggested putting sand in a pillowcase and then rinsing it until clear - works very well - big thank you to whoever suggested that - sorry I don't remember who. I also suggest sifting it through a screen to check for wayward gravel. Mine came from Lowe's and it had a lot!

As Lea said, Prime is a good conditioner or AmQuel+ in addtion to aquasafe. I have ammonia in my tap so I use both. And it would be beneficial for you to have a testing kit at home. Petco doesn't use the strips (at least not at the one I go to) but you will find it much more convenient to have at home.

They may reject your earthworms at first so you may want to have some frozen bloodworms on hand. The pellets work well too - but nothing is better for them than earthworms.

You really can't rush a cycle but you can help it along if you can borrow water, ornaments, and or filter media from an established tank. Never used the freeze dried worms, but what goes in the tank stays in and the filter has to be continuously running. It has to become ammonia in order to become nitrites and then convert to nitrates - make sense?

As for your filter, if you can't adjust the intake (usually a valve on top of the intake tube), you can divert the outflow through a small mesh screen, cotton media, styrofoam block, etc. I use cotton media and an artificial hanging reptile vine.

Hope we have helped some more. Take care!

Thank you, Lea. I suppose I'll be getting a test kit next pay day until then, I'll bring a water sample to pet-co every other day.

I think shannon was post at the same time I was thanking Lea. Yes, yes. you have helped a great deal. Thank you. I think, that I'm going to try to put something on, at, or around the filter to slow down the water coming back into the tank. I'll pick up the water condition that you suggested and use it in conjunction with Aquasafe. Hopefully I'll have a chance to pick up sand this week. The pillow case sounds like a great idea.

Oh, yeah, you can try keeping the hood open if you don't want to take it off completely. I do that with mine and use a low wattage bulb for lighting. Just a thought!

YouTube - getting my axolotl tank ready

I just posted a video of my tank and filter/pump.

As you can see, the water coming out of the filter is disturbing the water quite a bit. Is this too much? I read that putting panty hose over the filter might be a good idea. What do you guys think?

Thanks again.

Very helpful! Yeah, that's way too much disturbance. Most will agree that you should be able to have plants sitting all around in your tank and not have their foliage disturbed by the filtration. Try the pantyhose if you want. As I said before, I use a little cotton filament (a whisper filter folded in half sans the carbon stuffed in the "mouth") and hanging in front is a reptile vine that further disperses the flow and the nasty looking cotton is camouflaged. The pantyhose might be simpler. Let me know how that works for you! Be prepared to have to switch out the pantyhose as I notice my cotton catches a few extra nasties in the waterfall.

Another thought - live plants are supposed to help a cycle along too (I don't use them - another personal preference) - go here: Axolotl Sanctuary scroll down and you will find many possibilities that do well in the low light/temp environment if you're interested.

Nice res on the video by the way!

Wow thats a nice website! Thank you so much for your help. I'll probably get a chance to go to pet-co on wed this week; I'm going to weigh my options and see what seems best for the time being as far as my filter situation goes. I'll probably pick up sand and a live plant as well.


I recorded the video with my pocket HD cam. It works nicely


::edit:: I'll probably replace my current filter with the Tetra 3i. I just looked it up. cost effective and not too strong. I'll start to cycle my tank asap too.

Yikes... my tank is going to have a 501, a Repti Clear 350, and undergravel filter, and a Whisper 30-60 hang on the back. I'm going to have to get pretty good at minimizing currents.

How large is the tank Mac?

55 Gallons. I think I'm probably going to abandon the Whisper tank hanger, dump the UGF, and stick with the in tank Repta Clear and the external 501.
I started out looking into a half and half with some sort of Caudate (is that a word?) or bull frog ... but then I saw Axolotls and believe that after researching them (and realizing that I'm better able to have fully aquatic Axolotl tank for various reasons... not the least of which is temperatures) that are much more interesting than most other amphibians. :happy:

Not to mention that they are fascinating.

Hi Mac,

I use a 501 on my 55 and it does very well. I have a small air stone at the opposite end just to agitate the surface a little. I don't think you will need the repti clear too and the submersibles tend to heat the water just enough to be a bother.

I think you've made a wise decision regarding turning it completely over to axolotls now - it was bound to happen anyway! They are addictive! You'll have to post pics once you get it all together!