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New Member- Getting axolotls!

Hello! I found this site while looking up information on axolotls. I'm a zoology major at the University of New Hampshire in the US, and am taking a Developmental Biology class in which we are doing some experiments with axolotl embryos. Well, that just spiraled into a quick love of these adorable little guys, and I'm looking to take home a few of the control embryos to hatch and start my own tank!

I've been doing some extensive research on raising and keeping axolotls, and am starting a list of equipment to get. Any suggestions from experienced keepers would be most welcome. For the most part, I've been going to many websites and making lists of the most common advice, starting with your spin-off website axolotl.org, which has been very helpful.

I'm only going to be bringing home two eggs, mainly as a back-up in case something happens to one of them, but if they both hatch and survive, that would be great. I know to look out for cannibalism and will keep a close eye on them. I'm not looking to breed any, as this is my first experience with these guys, and so I'm hoping I don't end up with a boy and a girl!

Anyway, enough of my blabbing. Basically, just any necessary information you think I should have would be great, along with suggestions. I'm not a complete newcomer with NO idea what's going on, as I've been researching them extensively for a little bit, but I still haven't kept any axolotls yet, so I'm a beginner in that aspect. Thanks for your time and comments!

~Lindsay

Re: New Member- Getting axolotls!

Welcome Giving general info is kinda hard since axolotl.org and caudata articles on axolotls cover all the basics. Do you have any specific questions, like what kind of setup is best or what food you should choose? There's a lot of info on those pages, so it's hard for me to know what more there is to say Yeah, with raising the two eggs, you could end up with two great adult axies in a year, or maybe none. Sometimes larvae die for many reasons, but axolotl larvae are pretty darn tough compared to other species. I don't plan on switching my larvae to an actual filtered tank til they're about 3 in or so, I'm keeping them in clear food storage containers right now and doing daily water changes (alternating 50% and 100% water changes). Hatching baby brine shrimp is the most popular way to feed larvae, but you'd barely have to hatch any for just two ;-) Also, if you'd like to try your hand at a daphnia culture, those can be worth-while or a bust. Moina are working pretty well for me on a small scale, would probably be enough for two larvae Anyway, that's about all I have, but if you want to ask a few more specific questions, we can probably be of more help Again, welcome!

Yeah, I've been doing a lot of research and making plenty of notes, so I'm pretty up to date on most care techniques. Reading the care sections on these sites, then looking at all the threads has been very helpful. I even gave another new member some advice that was backed up by a pro axie owner, so I'm pretty proud of my info. Yay!

I'm seeing a lot of conflicting stuff on cycling, so that's probably the fuzziest area for me.

I'm glad to hear your technique for embryos and hatchlings, because that's what I was thinking. The whole, keeping them in separate small enclosures and changing the water daily, then once they're bigger putting them into a tank, thing. Glad I'm on the right track, and if anyone else wants to chime in for some good raising and then combining ideas, that'd be great.

I was thinking of getting some Daphnia to culture. I've read good things about them, and know there's a professor at my school who could just give me some. I'm a little iffy on hatching brine shrimp, so tips on that would be good. Daphnia advice would be good too, I'm kind of iffy on the set-up for it.

Ok, I think I narrowed some stuff down a bit. LOL Thanks a bunch!! XD

No problemo! I'm barely experienced with daphnia, but you have access to them, for sure give them a shot! I only got about 100 for like $30 Felt a little like highway robbery, but no one sells them around here so I had to order them online. Brine shrimp are an absolute breeze. 1 and a half tbsp of aquarium salt add 2 cups of spring/tank water and I use about a sixteenth of a tsp of brineshrimp eggs daily to feed 20 larvae. They take about 16 hours to most to hatch at 80 degrees F (heated with an incandescent 100 watt lightbulb). The setup I use is an inverted 2-liter pop/soda bottle with the bottom cut off and I cut the top half off another pop/soda bottle and use it as a base for the inverted bottle (slips right in and doesn't even need glue. I melt a small hole in the upper part of the cut-off inverted bottle and place the air tubing down the inner side to the bottom where the cap is. I add salt first, then water with the bubbler on. Bubbles should look like a low boil (you can get adjusters for the air tubing to adjust air pressure from an aquarium air pump. That's pretty much all there is to it I harvest by putting the bottle near light and collecting them with a turkey baster because they are attracted to the side with the light (avoid sucking up eggshells or unhatched eggs, this takes practice, lol). I then take what's collected in the baster and filter it through a paper towel, give it a few quick rinses with spring water, then place the paper towel in the container with the larvae, shake the towel around a little in the water, and then remove it. Again, try a couple practice rounds, but it really is a synch (at least has been for me). You can buy aquarium salt and usually brine shrimp eggs at a local fish store. Ordering online is a lot cheaper, though you don't usually have the time right off the bat to do that.

A word on cycling. There are many ways to do it. My preferred way is using 5 or so hardy guppies from my feeder breeding stock and get them producing a ammonia source. Use a filter with a carbon biomedia, an insert from an already cycled tank works wonders (is much faster) but with your first tank, you rarely have one available to you. The biomedia must not be allowed to dry out, or all the good bacteria will die. If your tank has ammonia, ammonia digesting bacteria will eventually take residence. These bacteria produce nitrites. Another bacteria digests these nitrites into nitrates which can be digested by plants and are also removed by regular weekly water changes (20% or so). A water parameters testing kit is a very worthwhile investment if you want a healthy, cycled tank. A well cycled tank rarely experiences ammonia spikes which are dangerous to fish and especially amphibians like axolotls. I know cycling can get confusing, feel free to ask more questions in the axolotl section (the setup section would probably be best for cycling questions if you can't find an answer already posted by another member). Wow, that was wordy

Hi there,
I too am reasonably new and not by any means big on advice..haha. However, I too have been doing a lot of reading with regards to cycling and came across this very easy to understand explanation on the process and thought I would pass it on.
Hope you find it helpful and see you around on here sometime
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...-set-ups-filters-substrate/74324-cycling.html

Man, thanks guys! You rock!