Question: How am i doing?

Guess this is both showing off my tank and getting some advice, so..

..getting my tank ready for two Axies that i'll be ordering in November. Got some food planned out, the local pet store have some artemia eggs and i'm also gonna buy some pellets to feed them with over the winter. Heard high protein ones were good?


This is currently my tank and layout. I'm getting some rocks soon for some hides.

I'm going for a natural looking aquarium with lots of live plants and rocks, no plastic or fancy colours.

Anyway some things i'm thinking about, i filled my tank 3/4 the way up, approximately between 70-90l. But the filter i bought, Fluval U3, is rated for 90-150l tanks and has a flow of 600l/h Would this still work? And could you maybe put a piece of foam on the exhaust to maybe disperse the current? I saw a post about it on this forum just with another type of filter.

I've begun my cycling process, went to the pet store yesterday and bought some fish food, just some cheap fish flakes. But they havent started decaying yet, how long should that take? Or is it a good idea to get some small, cheap fish too?

The temperature lies steadily at 20.8°C, a bit high but i figured with winter coming the house is going to be cooler and i will also see if i can get a fan going too. And we're moving soon so the tank is going in to the basement.

And also,
Could someone identify my plants for me? I know i have some sort of Amazon Sword plant, another sword plant and i think the tall one is an Ambulia. But i don't know the other ones. Here's some pictures.

Swordy Plants
1 - Some kind of sword plant.
2 - Amazon Sword?
3 - Grassy and tall.

Large and Small
4 - Small swordy looking.
5 - Small grassy plant.
6 - Large plant.

The tall one
I think that one is some kind of Ambulia.

Any advice is welcome.

/Martin

If the filter has flow thats too high, putting something in th way of the flow will slow it down for sure
For the cycle...you need to wait for more than a day you can add more food if you think it needs it. You don't really need to add fish.

As for the plants...I use plastic so hopefully someone else comes along who can help.

Yeah, I'm gonna try a sponge or foam in front of the nozzle plus some more plants. And i know about cycling. I'm getting the axies in a couple of weeks so there's enough time for the cycling to finish.

It is really good to see that you have set up your tank in good time to receive your axolotl. It will hopefully be fully cycled and the plants will have some time to establish them selves.
I would be tempted to maybe add a few cloud minnow, but if you do, you will need to be really mindful of the water parameters. Are you aiming to add any hides to your set up?

Maybe some cloud minnow, sounds good. But what do you mean about water parameters? Ammonia, nitrate and that?

And hides, yes. Getting some slate to build hides, thinking about two hides plus some other rocks and also a piece of ceramic pot.

And also what gases are the most important to test for? Because i can't buy an API Test kit so i was thinking of getting a separate test for maybe the most important gas to test for.

I test for Ammonia, nitrate and nitrite.

What i meant to say is if there is one that's more important to test for or are they all equally important?

They are all important, Any of them can be lethal/cause problems in the wrong quantities. (Ideally Ammonia and Nitrite should be 0 and Nitrate below 40)

Alright gonna try and get my hands on a test kit.

Also i updated my tank with some hides. Found some terracotta pots in our storage.

And could someone try and id my plants? Really appreciate it.