I am a Axolotl newbie and need help!

Hello everyone!
If someone could help me with questions I have I would love that!

I am very new to the forum and to Axolotl and I wish to build a custom display tank to hold Axies as pets.

First off I must mention I am planning on building a custom tank that is 5 feet long by 16 inches and 16 inches tall.


Also my tank will be in my bedroom which will be in the basement which tends to be the room in Colorado homes that are much cooler than the rest of the house.

How many Axies could I reasonably fit in this tank allowing them to be relaxed? Would this be too big for just 2 of them? Would the pair get lonely in a large tank?

What equipment do I need for the tank? Filter sizes? (As I do not want to deal with changing water in a tank of this size.)

I also want to put more creatures in the tank for viewing purposes.
I am wondering if things like Ghost shrimp, aquatic snails and another creatures alike could be in with the Axies with out either doing harm to each other.
Suggestions on more creatures than CAN be in the tank with them would be greatly appreciated.

If for any reason the room temperature of the house I am moving into is too warm is there any ways of cooling the water other than ice?

What kinds of plants of live plants are best for axies?

I know things like fish cannot be in with axies.. And I should use sand and not rocks that they could swallow or hurt their bellies.


Answering these questions would be greatly appreciated!
I might have more in the future I am just not remembering.

Any suggestions for this project is welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Adin.

Hi there,

Nice size tank! That would accommodate 5 comfortably. Two would not get lonely - axolotls don't get lonely actually. They do well alone. For a tank that size, I would suggest a canister filter. A small external should be fine with a spray bar. Fluval and Eheim are a couple of popular ones.

Ghost shrimp might be okay but don't be surprised if a few disappear here and there. I would avoid snails.Have a look here - Caudata Culture Articles - Species Mixing Disasters

Cooling - Have a look here - Caudata Culture Articles - Cooling

Plants: Axolotl Sanctuary - There's other info here too about aquascaping.

These articles should get you started. If you haven't, you can also look here: Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander

Brilliant! Very helpful stuff.

Lemme know how I can give you rep and I will do so.

I sat around refreshing for a while waiting for a response and finally went to gowatch a movie for a bit and come back and the wait proved to be worth it.

Thanks for your knowledge

Congrats on your new tank! (Is jealous!) I've got a 4 foot tank, and currently it happily supports three axies (between 18 and 23cm), and once I upgrade my filter and add in a chiller (Which by the way are another (expensive but INCREDIBLY efficient) way of cooling your tank ), I'll be moving my other three (12-15cm) in for summer.
As for other tank buddies, I vote for cherry shrimp-if you've got another small tank, put them in and let them breed up, then set them loose in batches on your large tank-Great cleaning crew as well as convenient snack if your axies get peckish (As they're expensive, it's an idea to get a separate colony set up first).

Another good one is guppies, which I got into when I used them to keep my tank cycled when my original three moved out for the summer. Have you read into the cycling process? Coz guppies are an excellent source of ammonia for cycling, and good fun for the axies afterwards! From my original nine, I've got seven left, and the first baby guppy's grown into a very attractive female (I've also set up another tank to try and get a few more up to full size (My axies LOVE eating the baby guppies!). As for the two lost, one was rather ancient, and she had that look of "Yup, off to the pond in the sky", and I'm guessing the other was simply AWOL a few mornings ago.

As to plants, you can't go wrong with Java moss, especially if you're adding in shrimp. It multiplies quickly (The lot I have in my guppy/shrimp breeding tank has doubled in the space of a month), and looks incredibly pretty. Also, anubias is brilliant (One of the only plants that I haven't had to replace in the eight months since I started out with my axies). I'm certain other people will jump on here and add a few more (And some more suggestions!).

Have you thought of substrate? Just to put it in there (coz someone certainly will say it), gravel is no good because axies are little vacuums, and when they hoover up their dinner, the gravel can get caught in their intestines....
Once again, I really hope you enjoy your new babies, and I'm sure I speak for EVERYONE when I say we'd love to see some pics of what you come up with (And the people around here are excellent helping out with any and every freakout you may have!)

Thank you for your advice Caitie!

I deffinitely plan on sharing the building of the tank and the new addition of my new critters with everyone here as soon as I get started on the tank. But first I need to make sure I am doing every thing I can to make it well suited for the Axies

Agian thank you for the advice

Cheers!

EDIT: I am also wondering do Earthworms/nightcrawlers culture easily if at all?
More ideas on things to culture to feed to axies would be helpful but I'd need something easy to culture as I am a Noob

You should have some hides in your axie tank like a plant pot on its side also be aware that axies don't like bright light so nothing to bright but a few LEDs to eluminate some plants or ornaments(this is why people have trouble with plants in axie tanks.)
I did get my earth worms to breed for a bit but for things wehichb are easy to culture try as others have said guppies and other live bearing fish like mollies (watch out for gill nipping) cherry shrimp breed easily as others have said. You could also try culturing brine shrimp and dathnia.
I hope I've helped if you have any more questions feel free to ask,
Sam:happy:
P.S if you want to add to my rep click on the scales below my profile and add to the good half

So I had a old beta tank that had divider in it, I removed the divider and went and bought 15 ghost shrimp to start culturing. I got a good start too.. most of the females in the tank are obviously pregnant.

Theres ghosts in my betta aquarium!

my ghost shrimpies

To answer your worm question, yes, nightcrawlers are very easy to culture depending on the type you get. Eisenia Hortensis (European nightcrawlers) are what I have. They are not as big as Canadians (Lumbricus terrestris - nearly impossible to culture at home IMO) but are bigger than red wigglers (Eisenia foetida) and usually better accepted as red wigglers can have a nasty taste (I don't notice it, I dip mine in chocolate ).

PM me and I can give you a decent site for info or you can check the food section further down on the forum index page.

Also, noticed that you said you'd rather not do water changes? Just a heads up, there will come a time when it will have to happen, even if only to keep your cycle under control. Might I suggest acquiring a water cooler bottle? With a siphon to suck the water from your tank, you'd be able to pull 10% into the bottle relatively quickly (Four 15L bottles worth), and it's pretty much the right weight to be able to carry out without completely doing your back in), and then refill with clean, dechlorinated water. The water you pull out, meanwhile, makes an excellent treat for your garden !

Very clever idea with the excess water

Hi Adin have your glass/ghost shrimp bred yet? Also there are ways that you never have to do a water change but they are exspensive I mean really exspensive.
please contact me about the shrimp,
Sam:happy:

I have aworm farm with compost worms. They're not big but mine are happy to eat 3-4 every 2 days. Also, the worms eat our vegetable scraps, breed like crazy and give us free fertilizer! They're cheaper to buy as eggs if you're patient enough.

All Ghost shrimps were harmed in the making of this thread.:ha:

Water changes are always recommended. I have a a planted filter, so I have no need to do waterchanges to lower my nitrate level, but it's recommended to do waterchanges to replace trace minerals that would be beneficial. Therefore, I still do weekly waterchanges. I mean how hard is it really to do a weekly waterchange? If you're keeping anything aquatic you need to be prepared to do waterchanges.