Question: Planning to keep axies in NC.

So I live in north Charlotte and I was wondering if anyone around NC have kept these?
I believe the temperature right now is perfect, I am just worried about the summer months.
I live with a friend and he owned a tank for years, and currently has two fishes. The problem is he doesn't know the exact size of the tank.Personally I believe it's around 15-20 gallons. It has a hang on back filter and has a hooded lamp covering the top. My question is, will I need to buy a chiller or can a micro-chiller like this be sufficient during the summer months? CoolWorks Microchiller

Just to give you guys an idea on how cold or how hot it can get here, I pasted a link of
our cities temperature.
Average Weather for Charlotte, NC - Temperature and Precipitation

Right now I just turned of the heater of the tank, and checking how cold it can get. Will update tomorrow.

Thank you!

You can measure the tank to get a good idea of how many gallons it holds.

I would not put the axolotl in there if the fish are sill around - unless you don't mind the fish being eaten. And depending on the fish, they might harm / kill the axolotl (even small ones have the potential).

In NC, you would probably be fine with just a makeshift chiller like a fan. Or if the house is climate-controlled, nothing at all.

Your water will gradually go down to room temperature, if there are fish in there, I wouldn't stress them out just to confirm this ! You could just stick a thermometer in a glass of water left out.

Is your friend selling the tank / getting rid of it ? Is it a long tank or a high one ? If it's a high, I'd nix it in favour of a long - it will be more comfortable for the animal and more fun for you to watch. With a 20 long, my axolotl doesn't smash into the glass nearly as much as she used to !

Is there anything in the tank for decoration ? Are you keeping it ? Is it safe for an axolotl ? They can swallow gravel, become impacted and die. Just a warning since many pet shops do not even know/care to advise not to use gravel. If the filter produces too much current, you'll need to lessen the flow or it will stress the axolotl out.

Honestly, I'd just buy a new 20 long at Petco now during the $1/gallon sale, get a sponge filter + pump and think about a light hood later unless you wanted live plants. If you don't want live plants, you don't need a lighted hood. Axolotls don't like bright light.

Live plants are great, but not a necessity.

It's currently 22C 72F, which I believe is the border line temps for these pets. I hope it goes down
a little more. I will need to remake the landscape since it has small gravel which they could swallow.
Has anyone here ever kept these in NC? Lights are not a problem since I don't use the lamp, at least
while I'm not looking at it so.

Nix the hood and get yourself a mesh screen top. That'll bring the temp down a couple degrees.

I kept mine in Alabama with no central air, and they did all right.

Kaysie said:

Nix the hood and get yourself a mesh screen top. That'll bring the temp down a couple degrees.

I kept mine in Alabama with no central air, and they did all right.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, took the top off, going to check temps tomorrow.
So what was the temp, and size of your tank, in Alabama?

I'm thinking of still purchasing the microchiller just for added assurance.

I had 3 in a 40-long (4 foot). To be honest, I never really checked the temperature. I'm kind of a hippie when it comes to that (and maybe a bad 'lead by example' moderator), so I never really test my water; I go by intuition. But it probably got to the low-to-mid 70's. We had a window air unit, and I tried to keep it blowing at them with a fan as much as I could.

If you have the means to get the chiller, then go for it! They're fantastic. But don't break the bank. There are lots of other ways to cool the water.

I might need to get a thermometer for accurate temp measures, because it's still in the 22C 72F range
except it's more highlighted then when it was covered. I measured the tank and it's 15 gallons.

I am also thinking which would really control my water temps, coolworks micro chiller or some fans?
With the temp controller do you think I can keep it down to 18C 64F or 20C 68F?

Taking the top of my tank brought the temp from 73 to 68. Mesh screen did more than cooling fans I had installed on the plexiglass lid which burnt out after a year of constant running.

Could I leave it open or do I really need a screen mesh? I will take photos of the tank
and upload them in a min...

As mentioned earlier, here are the pictures of the tank and it's current temp...

Axies have been known to decide to jump out of their tanks, which is why peeps have recommended the screen mesh. The other option would be to lower the water level, but with a tank as small as that I think you'd want all the water you can get (more water = easier to control water parameters)

The HOB filter might be contributing a little bit to the heat, have you felt the back of it to see how warm it is? Though this is something you can't really part with.
Here in Australia the temps can get up pretty high, my axies spent a few weeks in the fridge over Christmas because their tank was often hitting 25 degrees. I managed to bring the temperature down quite a bit by setting up a fan to blow across the waters surface. At the moment It still sits between 20.5-22 degrees, but my axies seem to be handling it alright.

danchristopher said:

Axies have been known to decide to jump out of their tanks, which is why peeps have recommended the screen mesh. The other option would be to lower the water level, but with a tank as small as that I think you'd want all the water you can get (more water = easier to control water parameters)

The HOB filter might be contributing a little bit to the heat, have you felt the back of it to see how warm it is? Though this is something you can't really part with.
Here in Australia the temps can get up pretty high, my axies spent a few weeks in the fridge over Christmas because their tank was often hitting 25 degrees. I managed to bring the temperature down quite a bit by setting up a fan to blow across the waters surface. At the moment It still sits between 20.5-22 degrees, but my axies seem to be handling it alright.

Click to expand...

Yep, the back of the filter has heat... I guess I'll just add a screen mesh for safety...
I was thinking of trying the fans first if It could further decrease the temp, or should I go ahead and purchase the coolworks micro chiller hang on back? Also about the strip I'm not really sure what the temp is since 3 bars
are lighted, but I guess it's 22 since it's the one visibly seen?

Before you go out and spend $180 on a chiller, maybe invest in a different thermometer (I think the stick on ones like you have are known to be a bit crappy...) you might get a better idea of what the temp really is and how it fluctuates, if at all.
Get a fan and see if it brings the temp down, it can work surprisingly well. There are certain clip-on fans made for aquariums (I've seen them on eBay and some online aquarium stores), I think some people have used clip-on desk fans as well.
Have a look at this article: Caudata Culture Articles - Cooling

There are lots of different ways to effectively cool a tank without spending a whole lot of money, although if you have the cash and are willing to part with it then it could possibly be the easiest solution.

I'll buy a digital thermometer to get a more precise reading of water temps.
I also noticed that my friends hang on back filters pump is submerged in the water,
as you can see the wire is inside the tank. I think aquaclear has their pumps outside
right? Right now the temp stick is reading 20C 68F. I have to check if my friend lowered
the ac temp of the house or it just got colder outside.

AquaClear do have their pump thing on the outside, it plugs into the bottom of the filter box at the back and pulls up water. From memory though mine still did heat up a little bit. I had my tank (and the HOB) pressed up against the wall though so it's possible it absorbed some amount of the heat? Not really sure. In winter my tank barely rose above 17 degrees, so if it was putting out any heat it wasn't enough to effect the water temps that much...

I don't think anyone mentioned this yet, but is that gravel on the bottom of your tank? If so, it'll have to go. Axolotls should never be kept on gravel. It's also an excessively thick layer of substrate. You don't need anything deeper than an inch.

Kaysie said:

I don't think anyone mentioned this yet, but is that gravel on the bottom of your tank? If so, it'll have to go. Axolotls should never be kept on gravel. It's also an excessively thick layer of substrate. You don't need anything deeper than an inch.

Click to expand...

Yep I was going to remove it when I have made my final preparations...
I just got a digital thermometer, and it reads 20.3C/68.5F. If I had the coolworks microchiller HOB, how much lower do you think it could get? Or should I get a
fan instead?

Today the water somehow dropped a bit further to 19.3C/65.5F... About the substrate, will
a substrate like this be fine with axolotls or just buy plain sand?
http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Freshwater-Aquarium-Gravels/I/Flora-Base-Plant-Substrate.aspx

And would a coolworks micro chiller be enough to cool down my 15gallon tank to 17C from 19-20C
versus a mounted fan?

I lived in Eden, NC on the third floor of a house and managed to keep my tank at about 65 degrees F. It's a matter of keeping the air conditioning running and just evaporation cooling. You should be fine.

arenaboy007 said:

Could I leave it open or do I really need a screen mesh? I will take photos of the tank

Click to expand...

Get a screen. They can jump out. A screen also keeps things OUT. I had my pet birds trying to bathe in my Lotl tank. In the summer I sometimes have to put a fan on my tank. The fan works well and is much cheaper then buying a micro chiller. If you can afford a chiller by all means give it a go and see if it works.

So I was looking up some stuff at amazon, and found these.
Do you guys think it's complete, and compatible with my current tank?
Fan(Decided to ditch the iceprobe chiller):
Amazon.com: AQAUTEK ChillMaster Aquarium Cooling Fan 4 Fan Model (AQT-F04): Pet Supplies

Screen top(Is it supposed to be larger than my tank dimension, of 10x20,
and will I need to cut part of it to fit the hob filter and fan?):
Amazon.com: R'Zilla 11704 Fresh Air Screen Cover with Center Hinge, 12-Inch by 24-Inch: Pet Supplies

Substrate(How many bags for 15 gallons?):
http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-12691-F...WQI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327927897&sr=8-1

New Filter?:
http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-14001-F...EQ/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1327928126&sr=8-16