How am I going? First week owning an Axolotl.

Hey,

Have just recently got our first Axolotl and wanted some advice on how we are going, because I'm afraid we fell for the cuteness of our Axolotl in the pet shop and relied solely on the pet shops advice. After reading stuff on these forums and axolotl.org we've found that we probably haven't done everything right. We are now trying to make ammends. Here's how it went....

Purchased new Axolotl and Tank on same day (first mistake). We bought a 40L tank, river stones for substrate, meal worms for food, some plastic plants, submersible filter, water de-chlorinator and water ager. Set it all up and we thought he looked pretty happy - eating fine and pretty normal Axolotl-like behaviour.

First issue was cooling. Got a thermometer and temperature was sitting at 25C! We removed the submersible filter replacing it with a hanging filter (with sponge under the waterfall to reduce the current) and also took the lid off the tank to encourage evaporation. Tank now sits constantly at 23C so we've ordered a clip on fan to further cool it. Hoping to hit 20-21C - will this be ok if kept constant?

Just bought the big dropper testing kit after about a week of running the filter, 20% water changes and adding water ager at the start of the week. Readings were: ammonia - 0.5, Nitrite - 0, Nitrate - 5, pH - 7.2. I know this is not ideal so what should I do? Continue with water changes, cleaning waste until the cycle gets going? And should I fridge the Axolotl until this happens?

As I said he is still eating plenty and behaving pretty normal, although he does have periods of gill flapping and swimming up for a gulp of air. Gills are maybe curled forward a bit too, though is no different to what he was doing at the pet shop and has been doing the last week.

So there's a lot of words... But I would love you experienced guys to read over, pick up stuff we've missed and provide advice regarding the cycling and temperature. Want to make sure he is looked after well and lives a long happy life.

Thankyou
Max

Hi Max,

First, welcome to the Forum, and the fascinating world of axolotls! :happy:

So, you can find info and tips on cooling and cycling in the Caudata Culture articles (click here). While your tank is cycling, you just need to be diligent about daily water changes. Since you are showing a reading of nitrate, the basic bacteria chain is already established and now must just get strong enough to get the ammonia level down to zero, so you're in the home stretch now. (Question: What is a water ager?)

20-21°C is the top side of ok. Better would be consistently uner 20°C and if your summer is just beginning, you might have some trouble ahead of you if temps are already that warm. Check out the CC article on cooling methods (here).

Next, mealworms will not provide adequate nourishment for your axolotls. They are a nice snack, but a poor staple. The preferred food is earthworms, which you can get at a bait shop, order online (at compost sites), grow at home in a "worm farm", or get from your own garden, if you have one and don't use pesticides or fertilizers. Caudata Culture has some good articles on foods, too.

River rocks will prove difficult to clean, because they have spaces between them that collect muck, which will affect your water quality. It is also very important that the rocks be at least as large as the axolotl's head, because the bottom-feeding axolotl will swallow anyting it can fit in its mouth, and these things may not always come out the other end easily. A good substrate is sand (not pebbles).

Lastly, 40 liters will be way too small for an adult axolotl. They grow to about 35 cm lin length, and the floor area is more important than the depth. In the end, you should have an aquarium that is at least 80cm long and 40 cm wide.

Hope this has helped you.

-Eva

Thanks for getting back to me Eva.

Re Cycling - Ok cool, I'll keep up with the water changes and keep checking levels. The water ager was suggested to us by the pet store person. It is called 'cycle' and is meant to 'rapidly mature new aquariums', by 'releasing massive amounts of beneficial bacteria into the aquarium. Each dose works to reduce dangerous ammonia and nitrite levels in th aquarium.' Thats what the bottle says anyway!

Re Cooling - We're heading into winter down in Australia so we should be pretty sweet for the next few months. Will see what happens as the weather warms up later. Hopefully this fan will work well.

Re Food - Yes I had read that mealworms weren't the best. I'll look around for earthworms.

Re Substrate - Yep, while the river rocks look nice, they are really annoying to clean! I keep finding bits of food and poop underneath them. Gonna change to sand. Yep was aware of the gravel issue so will avoid that.

Re Tank size - guess I'll have to upgrade as he grows!

Any advice on the air gulping and gill flapping?

Thanks again
Max

Occasional gill flapping and gulping air from the surface are both completely natural behaviors for axies.

Just keep up with your small daily water changes as you finish cycling your tank, and you should be good to go!

Best of luck!

Ok cool thanks for getting back to me.

We've now changed the river rocks to sand substrate - much easier to clean! Though we should've got different colour sand as currently he is very well camouflaged!

Here's some pics...

Very nice looking axie you have there your tank looks good too have you got a name for him/her yet? my Axies called Rosie

Mr Henry Potato Head Burke.

Update: We got some driftwood which looks cool. Washed and had it soaking for a day, but it has still managed to turn our water tea coloured. We've heard this isn't bad so will keep up the water changes and hope it eventually goes away.

Latest run of water tests....
1.5.10; Amm: 1.0 Nitrite: 0-0.25 Nitrate: 5.0 Ph: 7.2 Temp: 21C

2.5.10; Amm: 0.5-1.0 Nitrite: 0.25 Nitrate: 5.0 Ph: 7.0 Temp: 21C