New owner, any advice? :)

Hi all, I'm i first time owner from Australia. i got my axolotl last week, it's about 17cm from head to tail and is black/brown with speckles and im not sure if it's male or female.. i dont know much at all haha

I was told i dont need a filter so i don't have one and I've put some large pebbles on the bottom and one large fake rock from the aquarium. He is in a large fish bowl about 30cm wide. the bowl is quite shallow (about 15cm tall)

I bought 4 guppies when i got my axolotl and i didnt know that axolotls like to eat them.. my mistake because they were all gone in a couple of days.. woops

it is really hot right now in Australia so i dont want my axolotl to suffer.. any ideas? i have air conditioning and a fan going in my room so it's quite cool

I'm feeding it cubes of frozen beef heart (cut into quaters) as advised by the person at the aquarium. Yesterday I fed it a worm for the first time, it was live and straight from my backyard, i washed it first. I feed my axolotl at morning and night and it's eating fine, it gets really excited when it sees the food.

Also, im thinking of getting another axolotl but i think i might need a bigger tank and I'm also thinking of buying some plants. what plants are the best, plastic or real? and what types?

If someone could just tell me if I'm doing anything wrong as I want to treat my axolotl well. It seems really happy and active but any advice would be appreciated thanks

Make sure it's impossible for the Axolotl to swallow the pebbles. Axolotls have been known to accidentally swallow gravel, which can be fatal.

You should consider getting a larger tank rather than a fishbowl. Axolotls like room to move around.

About the guppies-it's not good to mix species. This can cause serious issues sometimes. There are many stories on species-mixing disasters on the forum.

If the temperature is greater than 65 degrees Fahrenheit, you should use a cooling method. You could keep the tank in a basement, keep it in a cooler, etc. There are many ways to keep a tank cool.

For food, beefheart and worms is good. Be careful not to feed too much beefheart, as this might cause the Axolotl to be fat. Axolotls will readily eat frozen bloodworms, live blackworms, daphnia, possibly pellets, and much more. Earthworms are very nutritious and a great food choice. If you're obtaining the earthworms from the wild, make sure there's no pesticides/insecticides around.

Live plants are better than plastic plants, for looks and because they're healthy for the water. You can use Elodea, Anachris, sword plants, Java Fern, and many other plants for your tank.

Oh and make sure you're using dechlorinated water too.

Check out the Axolotl site, too (Axolotl.org). It's the best site for Axolotls that I know of.

Hope I helped!

thanks for replying

The pebbles are quite big I don't think that they could fit in it's mouth
Is it okay if the worms are alive when I feed it??
I'm looking into a tank as we speak so it has a better home .
And yes i dechorinated the water.

Yesterday its skin started peeling! I've read it can be to do with the amonia levels in the water.. but i don't have a water tester. Is this dangerous? What should i do?

thanks and yes you helped heaps

You'd be amazed at how large of a pebble an axolotl can swallow. In addition, pebbles trap an awful lot of waste. Most folks here will recommend sand as a substrate, rather than pebbles.

Live worms are just fine. Just be sure they're from an area that's free of pesticides or fertilizers. You wouldn't want to feed your axolotl those! At 17 cm, you don't need to feed twice a day. At high summer temperatures, I would feed it 3-4 times a week, but during the winter, you can drop that to 2x a week.

The peeling is not good. This is generally a sign of high ammonia. Since you're keeping it in such a small container, I would do at LEAST 50% water changes daily. Get a bigger tank as soon as possible. And have a read through this list of articles, paying particular attention to cycling your aquarium.

Getting a good filter can reduce ammonia. A filter with biological filtration is ideal for this, because it will create bacteria that will break down the ammonia. As Kaysie said, water changes are good for ammonia as well.

how would I go about doing the water changes? Should i let the dechlorinated water sit for a while before changing?

thanks for all the help

also can I just use sand from the beach? (I live next to the beach) or do I have to buy special sand from the aquarium?

thanks again

Sand beach is usually high in salt. A lot of people here use pool filter sand, or children's play sand. I would not bother putting any substrate in the fish bowl.

For water changes, I would get a large bucket (I use a 5 gallon), fill it up, treat it with dechlorinator, let it sit overnight, and then use a large pitcher to dip water out of the bucket for your water changes. This will insure that your water is both treated, and at the same temperature as the water in the bowl currently.

You really need to get a larger tank as soon as possible. A filter will only reduce ammonia when you have an appropriate biological cycle in place. The bacteria that convert ammonia and nitrites live within the filter media, and reduce the levels of these. These bacteria will also grow on every surface in the tank: substrate, decorations, tank walls, etc. Until these bacteria are built up, water changes are the only way to remove ammonia from your tank.

okay thanks for all your help. Im looking into tanks and filters now and hopefully I'll buy one tomorrow.
have you got any suggestions on what type of filter will be the best?

It's a matter of preference. I use a sponge filter in my tank (I have only one animal in a very large tank). If you have a large tank, I recommend using an external canister filter, but I've also used hang-on-tank/waterfall type filters with no ill effects.

Have a look at this article and this article for setup suggestions. Just be sure your substrate is either small (such as sand), or very large, much larger than an adult's head. Any size in between (gravel) will be ingested and cause impaction, which can lead to death. Good luck!