Stocking questions for my sister

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Nibog

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My sister was trying to join the site, but in the mean time I will post a few questions on her behalf -

Again, these are for my sister, not my own personal tanks.


She has a 72 gallon bow front with a few large goldfish.

She is planning on adding an axolotl to the tank after seeing it in person and then finding more videos in youtube.

So she wants to know -
Her tank is 68*F, has a sand substrate, canister filter, air wands, hidey holes...

with planning on doing this, what else should she do?
 
Is she rehoming the goldfish? Goldfish and axolotls don't mix. Other than that I think her tank seems pretty ideal for a few axolotls.
 
No she is not rehoming the goldfish. She saw a tank that was 4+ years running with this stock and she wants to do it. She is currently very bare in the decor area which is why she was curious what else to add.
:rolleyes:
 
Nibog said:
No she is not rehoming the goldfish. She saw a tank that was 4+ years running with this stock and she wants to do it. She is currently very bare in the decor area which is why she was curious what else to add.
:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

So how would she take the Axolotl eating her Goldfish? or the goldfish slowly and painfully eating away the Axolotls gills until it dies? as that's basically what's going to happen:(
 
She should either just keep the goldfish, or she should replace them with axolotls. If she puts them both together someone will eventually get hurt. The axolotls will shred the fish's tails, or the fish will probably attack the axolotl's gills.
 
Right now as it stands, she is adding them to her tank in the next month or so. She is interested in making hiding places out of piping - she thinks a proper amount of hiding spots will keep the axolotls happy and out of the goldfish's way.


The goldfish in the tank are a black moor and a pair of fantails. All are 5+ inches in body
 
I'd try persuade her to rehome the goldfish,even with hides you'll get accidents.i have a fair amount of hides in my axolotl tank and they barely use them(they prefer perching on my plants) and feeding time can be quite brutal,especially when you feed worms.
I personally wouldn't risk it,I wouldn't want my fish eating or my axolotl to be nibbled.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.746880,-2.479827
 
Get your sister to search youtube for Axolotl eating Goldfish.

This one had a hold of a goldfish about the size of the one's your sister has
Axolotl eating a fish - YouTube

and if she STILL wants to keep them together then she can have a look at the mixing species pages on Caudata Caudata Culture Articles - Species Mixing Disasters

They WILL eat the fish and at that size they are large enough to cause problems if they do assuming of course they fish don't eat all the axies gills off first.
But hey if she's all for large fish being eaten alive by her axie killing them and potentially injuring and or killing it in the process then by all means keep the fish in the tank.
If not then take them to a pet shop that accepts unwanted fish in return for store credit and use it to buy a test kit, or food or the axie itself or something pretty for their tank.

PVC pipes make great hides but can be a bit of an eyesore. Some members have manages to disguise them and a forum search should bring them up for you :)
 
What kind of sand substrate is in the tank? Some people use the word "sand" to refer to small gravel, and this would also be a risk to the axolotls, with or without the goldfish.

Black PVC pipe looks better than white. And broken terracotta flower pots look better than white plastic too.
 
She went out today and bought a bunch of gravel, a couple pipes and aquarium sealant to "make" her own hides.

I forwarded that youtube clip to her in email, I hope it gets her to reconsider. I even offered to take the axolotls and set them up at my house and help her redo her goldfish tank as a planted goldfish tank - she said no.

And yes, it is just standard black aquarium sand - same that I use in my tanks.
 
My two cents.

Axies and goldfish dont make great tank mates.

Gravel will hurt axies.

Your sister sounds like she has made up her mind and wont be swayed, so i guess we'll meet her to say hello when she posts in the sick forum.......

"Urgent help needed, my" -

A - Goldfish has nibbled of all my axies gils, will they grow back?

B - Axie has tried to eat my goldfish, the tail is sticking out his mouth and he is thrashing around. What do i do!!!!????

C - My axie is bloated, floating funny, won't eat, and hasn't pooped for a month - do you you think he swallowed gravel?

We'll be secretly annoyed that she chose not to listen to good advise in the first place, but we'll help, just like we are trying to help now.

Bren

Edit, saw that it is sand she is using, so that's good. Strike out the gravel bit above, the rest stands.
 
Need to clarify - the substrate is SAND.

The gravel was bought to be glued to the pipes to hide the fact that the are PVC pipes and make them look prettier.
 
Yeah, saw that the substrate is sand, thats good.

Personally, i would not use gravel at all in the tank, even to glue onto hides.

Put it this way - It's a LOT easier to guarantee they'll never swallow gravel if there is none at all in the tank, than it is to guarantee the gravel will always and forever stay stuck to the pipe.

Bren
 
I find this horrible. Why would any body want to put two animals in together after being told they are absolutely going to cause each other harm?? :nono:
Such a shame that people still do such horrible things thinking oh.. Its fine it wont happen to my axie.. Or it wont happen to my gold fish... UNTIL it DOES.
 
I completely agree - I am hoping that if I can get her to sit and read this thread that she will too.

Problem is a co-worker of hers has had this set up for 4 years and says he has never had an incident of a torn fin or a nibbled gill. In her eyes, she is trusting someone she knows who has actually done it rather than people she doesn't know saying she shouldn't but haven't done it.

Trust me, as frustrating as it is to you - think of how frustrating this is to ME!
 
Nibog said:
she is trusting someone she knows who has actually done it rather than people she doesn't know saying she shouldn't but haven't done it
Click to expand...

I understand that what she has actually seen with her own eyes, but there are plenty of horror stories here of people who have tried it, or even worse listened to the advice against + then tried it anyway, only to then have to ask for help. There are usually the odd 1 or 2 people who comment in a thread like this, saying they have managed it successfully, just because problems haven't happened YET, but there are many, many more who report problems.
Try letting her know about the numbers, even if they are people who she doesn't actually know ;)
 
Here's hoping. I am filled with dread. :(

If anyone can introduce me to someone more thick-headed, I will pay to meet them. If we weren't twins I would swear she was adopted!
 
I dunno, but would an old-fashioned spanking to the trick?
 
Molch said:
I dunno, but would an old-fashioned spanking to the trick?
Click to expand...


:D:p thank you, you just made my morning!

I think she is going to be making the decor this week/weekend and once she has it set up she will be "trying one of the quieter ones out"

I will keep this thread updated with pictures so you can bear witness to the disaster
 
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