Upgrading :)

Since I have to redo one of my ten gallons due to my new axolotl being a sand eater ::sigh::.... I started eying up the 36 gallon bow I had sitting in the garage.

I made my hubby an offer - - Instead of having 2-3 ten gallons in our bedroom (coincidentally the coldest room in the house (it is the North East corner) and therefore the room the axies live in...) I opted to breaking down my 10 gallons and housing my two axies in the 36 bow.

He agreed (might have to do with the fact that I asked while I was baking him the apple pie he had asked for . . . it's all about timing!)

Other wise I would have had to drain the two 10 gallons that had the sand that the axies were in, drain two of the 10 gallons I had in another room that were being used by ACF which were bare bottomed, swap the four tanks, refill and redecorate...all the while swapping unhappy critters around from their current tanks, to holding containers then new tanks....

This way I can set up the bow front, take my time decorating it, then just quickly move over the two axolotls and let them settle in.


Yay! Will be posting pictures as I get it up and going!

Here is the tank . . . Dimensions (inches) 30x15x21
Only downside is that sometime while in storage the motor died on the filter. I tried taking it apart, cleaning everything and reassembling but it didn't work. For now I put on the two filters that had been on the other tanks. They equal 30 gallons worth of filtration so it will do for the time being.

I will be adding a background, just haven't had a chance to go pick it up yet.




Before I put rocks in - can someone tell me if these are large enough? They range from 1.5" - 2.5" or larger. Tape measurer added in for




Here is my female Wildtype, Reese, exploring.



How should I introduce Reese and Butters? (They have been separate so far in individual but side by side 10 gallons. The rescape is because Butters turned out to be a sand eater. The hubby let me set up the bigger tank I had had in storage rather than just keep them in little 10 gallons)
They are nearly the same size and both ranging from 6.5" - 7.5" with the female being a bit longer.

Can I just add him to the tank or should I put them in another tank with a divider first?

Well....it was time for Reese and Butters to finally meet.

Seems to have gone well! Reese hammed it up a bit - since I first got her in early April of this year, she has always been a performer! She loves chasing my finger up and down the glass and is always very inquisitive. If she sees movement by the tank she comes right up and tries to figure it out.

Axolotl tank - YouTube

Hey Jenste,

Not my favourite style of decorating a tank (I like the natural style).
But I would use some sand on the bottom, They live on the bottom and a bare bottom is just bare. I wouldn´t add those stones, too risky.
About 2 inch of sand at the back and 1 inch at the front so you create some dimension.

Add some floating plants, they don´t like much light. Also make sure their isn´t too much current/flow in the water, they don´t like that. A filter is good but an axolotl is tough, it can handle dirty water. A lot of live plants are only benefitial for the water quality, they create hiding spots and are a good substrate where the axolotls can lay eggs on.

Sorry for the spelling faults, correct me if I whrite something wrong, I want to improve my english.

SanderB said:

Hey Jenste,

Not my favourite style of decorating a tank (I like the natural style).
But I would use some sand on the bottom, They live on the bottom and a bare bottom is just bare. I wouldn´t add those stones, too risky.
About 2 inch of sand at the back and 1 inch at the front so you create some dimension.

Add some floating plants, they don´t like much light. Also make sure their isn´t too much current/flow in the water, they don´t like that. A filter is good but an axolotl is tough, it can handle dirty water. A lot of live plants are only benefitial for the water quality, they create hiding spots and are a good substrate where the axolotls can lay eggs on.

Sorry for the spelling faults, correct me if I whrite something wrong, I want to improve my english.

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Hi SaunderB,

In my first sentence I said I had to redo my axolotl set up because I had a sand eater so adding sand to this tank is not an option for the health of my golden albino.

And in my pictures, I do have floating live plants - this is Water Wisteria, grows like a weed and is in all of my tanks, they just need a bit more time to grow in to the larger surface area.

The flow on the filters is very slight, does not even move the tall plants at the top.

Ok, that´s good. But it´s not bad if an axolotl eats sand, it will go trough his gills or else trough himself. That´s the reasen why you need to use sand and no gravel or big stones because that can cause constipations.
In the wild their is also sand on the bottom so I don´t see any reasen why it would be a problem. If your axolotl die because of the sand then you can have one for free from me.

SanderB said:

Ok, that´s good. But it´s not bad if an axolotl eats sand, it will go trough his gills or else trough himself. That´s the reasen why you need to use sand and no gravel or big stones because that can cause constipations.
In the wild their is also sand on the bottom so I don´t see any reasen why it would be a problem. If your axolotl die because of the sand then you can have one for free from me.

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Actually, I had to post in the emergency section because he eats so much he impacts himself and refuses food. He has had to be put in the refrigerator while he spits it back up. I took nearly two and 1/2 teaspoons of sand out of his container that he passed - for him, sand is not an option.

Jenste said:

Actually, I had to post in the emergency section because he eats so much he impacts himself and refuses food. He has had to be put in the refrigerator while he spits it back up. I took nearly two and 1/2 teaspoons of sand out of his container that he passed - for him, sand is not an option.

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Hu? Strange axolotl you got over there. Are you sure it was normal sand and not gravel? My axolotls also eat sand but i never had problems with that. But they don´t just eat it, they eat the tubifex and bloodworms that are hiding in the sand.
I use sand that people use for children to play in, if you know what i mean, just rinse it very good and after a while you have good sand for in al kinds of aquariums.

SanderB said:

Hu? Strange axolotl you got over there. Are you sure it was normal sand and not gravel? My axolotls also eat sand but i never had problems with that. But they don´t just eat it, they eat the tubifex and bloodworms that are hiding in the sand.
I use sand that people use for children to play in, if you know what i mean, just rinse it very good and after a while you have good sand for in al kinds of aquariums.

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Definitely only sand, no gravel in my tanks. If you go to my other thread, titled "I have a sand eater" there is a video of him spitting out some sand in the refrigerator container.
I also don't feed tubifex or bloodworms - I only hand feed them Earthworms.

I use fine aquarium sand and rinsed it thoroughly before adding it to my tanks. I have been keeping aquariums for years and different species of aquatic amphibians such as different ACF species.

I got the larval tigs in a 36 gal bow front, good choice ;] I use another 36 gal bow for the kaiseri breeding tank though I think I'm going to go with something spread out wide rather than tall for that this year.

The tigs are still kicking by the way, Indian Almond Leaves have done wonders on whatever the hell skin issue it is that they have..

Eric.

Linus said:

I got the larval tigs in a 36 gal bow front, good choice ;] I use another 36 gal bow for the kaiseri breeding tank though I think I'm going to go with something spread out wide rather than tall for that this year.

The tigs are still kicking by the way, Indian Almond Leaves have done wonders on whatever the hell skin issue it is that they have..

Eric.

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I am so glad the little guy is doing well! Definitely glad he is in your hands - I have no experience with Tigers.

I managed to get this Golden Albino from Skilly and may be getting an albino axolotl off of craigslist for free! It is tiny, and the owner doesn't know the gender. They ordered it from buy-axolotls and have found it too difficult to care for. I have a feeling a bunch of TLC is going to be instore.

Yes I know you from the frog forum, I am the same SanderB. I´m also a friend on youtube.

SanderB said:

Yes I know you from the frog forum, I am the same SanderB. I´m also a friend on youtube.

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Silly me! Duh I forgot lol.

Jenste said:

Silly me! Duh I forgot lol.

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I have been breeding axolotls for about 6 years now, and since I was 3 years old I have always had animals.