New guy

Hey everybody, I recently just got axolotls for my birthday. They are soooo awsome. I currently have three axolotls. Two black (chloris and nerina) and one golden (banana, my girlfriend named it that). They are all about 5" in length and they are in a 20 gallon tank. I have sand substrate and it is filtrated. I also have about a half dozen ghost shrimp that are to big for them to eat and an apple snail (may be getting a 2nd). There are plenty of fake plants and places for them to hide, they love it. I feed them blood worms (moslty), ghost shrimp, snails, brine shrimp, and pellots. I generally feed the tank every day or every other day depending on how hungry they are (I put some worms in and see if they eat if they do I put more in). And I clean their tank with about a 30-40% water change about every 4 days or so. I do have a slight problem though nerina eats a lot, way more than the other two. Chloris and banana usually hide so when I put food in the tank they usually dont get to it in time because nerina and the shrimp eat it before they come out. I am thinking about getting a syringe so that i can place the food in front of the other axolotls to make sure they get food. Nerina is getting much fatter than the other two and I have heard that you should keep there stomach smaller than the width of their head. Do you guys have any other ideas on how to only get the other two to eat and do I feed them to often? And do you guys have any other suggestions for my tank? I also put a shot glass and ping pong ball in for them, they play with the ping pong ball ( and apple snail) but i mainly use the shot glass for blood worms ( they like to hide underneath it and its a very easy object to move to get them back out for the animals to eat. I'll post picks soon, I love these animals

Photos of your setup would be great!

they still seem kinda young, I would keep offering food daily.

I use a pair of stainless steel reptile tongs to feed my animals, saves me having to put my hand in the tank and risk disturbing my axie when its not needed, and its easy to clean, cost me about $10AUD from ebay if I remember well.

if it is a new tank, keep a very close eye on the ammonia and nitrate(s) levels, and be sure to clean up after your animals daily, and be religious with your water change schedule.

as a general rule, their stomach (middle section between the 2 sets of legs) should be about the same width as the animal's head.

live earthworms are also a excellent addition to a axie's diet, the wriggling of the worm seems to entice them to feed more.

k thanks ive been thinking about feeding earthworms and using feeding tongs, but my girlfriend suggested a syringe, i guess either one would really work. I am also working on getting a turkey baster so that I can clean fairly easily. But, its kind of hard to go anywhere because I am on a college campus and my car is in storage right now. I'll post pics soon.

I never thought of putting 'toys' in for them to play with...might try that!
Didn't I read somewhere that apple snails were potentially dangerous? Something about them snapping shut suddenly? Can anyone confirm this?
For feeding I use beginner's chopsticks (basically small tongs) so the food goes to one axie at a time.
I look forward to photos!

I have heard of one case where the apple snail did suck the axolotl in, but after i put my snail in he just sticks to the wall, even when the axolotls push it with there heads it just keeps "walking" along, i do keep an eye on it though to make sure nothing happens

Buying a turkey baster changed my life! Never thought that would be a sentence that would come out of my mouth, but there you go! Makes cleaning so much easier.

Welcome to the forum, and to owning axolotls!

mew

Welcome to the forum! If you are really worried about feeding you could always buy (or make) a divider just for feeding time. That way you know for sure one won't steal all the food. I love the idea of a ping pong ball! Please post pictures or videos that sounds adorable.

mewsie said:

Buying a turkey baster changed my life! Never thought that would be a sentence that would come out of my mouth, but there you go! Makes cleaning so much easier.

mew

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Me too! They're missing a trick here, marketing it to the wrong people! :grin:

Here are some picks of my axolotls and there tank, ill probably have more later and i do not know the sex of them. I'll try to get some better pics so you guys can help me sex them (I believe they are all girls.) But, I did a water change yesterday and after I change the water they usually takes them a couple days before they come back out in the open water, is this normal? Once they come back out I will take better pics and get them posted.

they're probably still adjusting to the new tank. I wouldn't be worried about it at all

here is another pic of my tank

I was just wondering what are the dimensions of your tank? i am stil unsure about measuring in gallons and after hours of research i havent found one answer that has assured me -_-
I was wondering about my own tank, that is, 75 litres, 60cm in length, some sites say its 10 gallons, others 15, and other 20! Are there different ways to measure gallons (eg australia's 10 gallons is america's 20..)
I know confusing sorry.

My tank is 24" x 12 " x 17 " or 61 cm x 30.5 cm x 43.2 cm and it comfortably fits all three axolotls ( but they are still young only 5" in length, 12.7 cm), an apple snail, and about a dozen shrimp.....its a 20 gallon tank in the U.S.

It's going to be a bit cramped for 3 ADULT Axolotls, you might want to consider getting a larger tank. Very cute critters though.

ya, i have heard mixed about how many you can keep in a tank i have heard 2 or 3 i a 20 gallon but originally when i got them i had 6, was taking 4 to the pet store for store credit for the breeder (its like almost a 2 hour drive to the store) but when i had them i had to have 3 cause they were soooo cool. as of right now they have plenty of room. im hoping they dont get too crammed when they are adults, i would like to keep all 3 in that tank, but if it comes down to it i have friends that can take one

ScarletsBurn said:

I was just wondering what are the dimensions of your tank? i am stil unsure about measuring in gallons and after hours of research i havent found one answer that has assured me -_-
I was wondering about my own tank, that is, 75 litres, 60cm in length, some sites say its 10 gallons, others 15, and other 20! Are there different ways to measure gallons (eg australia's 10 gallons is america's 20..)
I know confusing sorry.

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If your tank is 75 liters, it is approximately 20 gallons (US). We have a "tall" (61cm x 30½cm x 40½cm) and "long" (76cm x 30cm x 30cm) variety available commercially here in the US. Floor space is most important for axies, so the 20 gal "long" is ideal for one or maybe two adults. Bigger the better when it comes to housing multiple axies together. Water parameters tend to be more stable and adult axies tend to thrive together better with more space. A good rule of thumb is at least 10 gallons (38 liters) per adult axolotl. There is an "imperial gallon," 1 US gallon = .83 imperial gallons. Not sure if that's the reason for the discrepancy.

mine is a 20 gallon high tank, out of the 6 that i got from the breeder these three were a lot smaller than the rest in the lot, so im hoping that these ones do not get as big, but like i said if it comes down to it i can give one of them to my friends

Oh great! mine is 60cm in length, 35cm high and 35cm in width although it may be a little longer..

Im considering getting another one and when I heard you had a20 gallon housing three it gave me hope, i know the bigger the better but im not allowed to have a larger tank, if it where my choice Id have a swimming pool filled with the little critters, trying to achieve the natural inviroment for them

I actually got my adult axie because his owner was keeping him and two others (male and female) in a 20 gal long tank. The bigger male started turning on him, nipping at him and being a general nuisance to him a good portion every day. This happened even though there were lots of hides throughout the tank. Maybe it's a gender thing when they reach maturity. Anyway, peace in the tank resided once the little male was relocated with me. Now he has his own 20 gal long to play in. Good luck with your axies, hopefully the same thing doesn't happen with yours as happened with my friend's. I'm not complaining, though. I got a free axie out of it ;-)

Fantastic looking setup.

bear in mind that axolotls tend to be more active at night and when seeking out food.

My axie just spends most of the day chilling at the bottom under the plants, and comes out searching for food at night, but all animals are different.