Is this tank OK? Also what should I name my Axolotl?

It was my birthday on thursday and I got the tank, the filter, the light and the lid together in a box. I set it up at night and then I went to sleep, and the next day I added some substrate and the tapwater (dechlorinated with de-chlorinator) and rigged up an extension lead to plug the filter and the light in. So I did that, and here is how the tank looks a day later:


I'm furnishing that tank today as well as getting the Axolotl.
Also, I was thinking Renegade (I came up with that) or Sparky (brother came up with that).
What do you think?

The tank is 60cm long, 30cm wide and 1 foot tall.

Good start!

Have you considered cycling the tank first....?

Pretty much the waste produced by the Axolotl is called Ammonia which is very toxic. The bacteria in the fiilter will essentially eat the ammonia and eventually convert it to nitrate which is far less toxic. Nitrates need to be eventually removed before they reach high levels but ususally when the tank is cycled (Filter is full of bacteria) you only need to change the water once a week.

Right now your filter holds no bacteria and ammonia can rise pretty quickly in an uncyled tank and stress out your axolotl... Unless your willing to do water changes nearly every 1-3 days for around 1-3 months its best to cycle the tank without the axolotl..

If you google 'Fishless cycling' you will find lots of info on how to do it.

you might already know this but i thought id make sure :happy:!!

Good luck!

i see a few small problems and visual flaws. :happy:
and i will give some advice as well.

one, that light is to bright! unless you plan on changing it, you should make sure to cover the water surface with floating moss to soften it down.
second, i see nothing that disperses the outflow of your filtered water.. you need to make sure there is hardly any flow in the water, as axies dont like that.
make a piece of tubing with holes in it to release the water more gently.
or simply slide a piece of sponge over the exhaust, and check what that gives.
my visual problem is that you only half filled the tank.. if you fill it up. and you have a closed lid, your axie will not be able to get out, and your tank will look much more beautiful.

next and much more important, please do NOT add the axies just yet. let your tank cycle for a while.
add some live plants ( moss balls.. fern ) to suck up any ammonia that could be in the tapwater you used.
axies are forgiving.. but ammonia and nitrite are pure venom, and will kill them!!
test your water for other values as well.. they will not harm your axie much if they are wrong, but it will not make them happy!

i personally think you are jumping to this without much thinking.. excuse me for saying that.

jhonny said:

i see a few small problems and visual flaws. :happy:
and i will give some advice as well.

one, that light is to bright! unless you plan on changing it, you should make sure to cover the water surface with floating moss to soften it down.
second, i see nothing that disperses the outflow of your filtered water.. you need to make sure there is hardly any flow in the water, as axies dont like that.
make a piece of tubing with holes in it to release the water more gently.
or simply slide a piece of sponge over the exhaust, and check what that gives.
my visual problem is that you only half filled the tank.. if you fill it up. and you have a closed lid, your axie will not be able to get out, and your tank will look much more beautiful.

next and much more important, please do NOT add the axies just yet. let your tank cycle for a while.
add some live plants ( moss balls.. fern ) to suck up any ammonia that could be in the tapwater you used.
axies are forgiving.. but ammonia and nitrite are pure venom, and will kill them!!
test your water for other values as well.. they will not harm your axie much if they are wrong, but it will not make them happy!

i personally think you are jumping to this without much thinking.. excuse me for saying that.

Click to expand...

The filter is actually a sponge filter, so the ammonia has been morphed into its more, helpful, form And yes, i'll be adding moss to suck up bacteria. And the light isn't too bright in real life, my phone's camera makes pics brighter for some reason.
The light will be off at night, and sometimes during the day.

Spudss said:

Good start!

Have you considered cycling the tank first....?

Pretty much the waste produced by the Axolotl is called Ammonia which is very toxic. The bacteria in the fiilter will essentially eat the ammonia and eventually convert it to nitrate which is far less toxic. Nitrates need to be eventually removed before they reach high levels but ususally when the tank is cycled (Filter is full of bacteria) you only need to change the water once a week.

Right now your filter holds no bacteria and ammonia can rise pretty quickly in an uncyled tank and stress out your axolotl... Unless your willing to do water changes nearly every 1-3 days for around 1-3 months its best to cycle the tank without the axolotl..

If you google 'Fishless cycling' you will find lots of info on how to do it.

you might already know this but i thought id make sure :happy:!!

Good luck!

Click to expand...

The tank has been dechlorinated, the ammonia has been turned to nitrate in the filter (its a sponge filter) and the light isn't too bright for massive algae buildups.

First of all, if you ask for advice, please try to listen to it

You don't buy a filter WITH the bacteria in it, the bacteria will establish in your tank as your tank cycles for a while. Your tank has to find its balance, those bacteria and live plants will help you with that. If you add your axolotl right now, there will be no bacteria to change the ammonia from his waste (poop) to nitrate and to nitrate (nitrates will be good for your plants).

Actually, my tank is cycling right now and my 3 axolotls are living in seperated boxes, from which I change the water every day. If you are really want to buy your axolotl now, you could do that too. Personally, I would wait until your tank is cycled... Give it two or three weeks!

as for names.. its not like they care.
just call them clark kent and superman

I've had a little help from the guys at the store I was going to buy my Axolotl from.
They were sold out on leucistics and there was a cannibalistic wild type with a leg deformation, so it's pretty obvious to know why nobody bought him.

I was going to take him home, but I hope to make a breeding pair next year or so. Can't be having a mantid style breeding.

So, it'll have been being cycled for 4 days when they said I could buy one. Those plants in the picture are plastic plants, but i'm getting some floating live plants on Tuesday, along with the Axolotl (they are 5cm in the store) and I think i'll be replacing the barrel with small driftwood.

I also now have a thermometer. It says my tank is 19 celsius. Is that good for gill growth? I have a book on exotic pets that says the gills grow impressively at 22 Celsius.

So, it'll have been being cycled for 4 days when they said I could buy one.

Click to expand...

I really do reccomend you do your own research. Its good to listen to people and take their advice on board but always double check to see if its correct..

The guys working at pet stores generally want to sell you their 'product' and don't always give you proper advice... honestly 4 days is nothing. And with no ammonia source in the tank nothing will happen over the 4 days.

Here is a link which i really think you should read to get a better understanding of how a filter works and basic aquarium chemistry.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article14.html

Ill explain why 4 days is nothing. beneficial bacteria which grows in the filter needs an ammonia source to grow. New tanks have no ammonia so you cant just let it run for a few days and 'hey presto' its cycled. When the tank has an ammonia source (Ammonia sources are explained in article) the bacteria will slowly start to grow on the surfaces around the tank, mainly in the filter because the sponges have loads of surface area. It takes at least a month before there is enough bacteria to successfully convert enough ammonia that an animal would produce to nitrites then the less harmful nitrates...

Also the problem is if you do get an axolotl and don't wont to wait you probably wont even notice its swimming in toxic water... They are very hardy and most actually survive the cycling process without the owner even knowing its been silently suffering over a month... If you do decide to get one now you should really get a basic liquid test kit that measures the ammonia,nitrites and nitrates... Test it daily and if you notice a rise in ammonia every day you going to need to do daily water changes.. Daily water changes slow the cycling process so it might even be 2 months before enough bacteria has built up. Some people use fish like goldfish to cycle a tank because they can survive in terrible water and they flush them when the tank is finished... If you come across this method in your research please dont try it becuase its very very cruel.

Again.. research this yourself! don't take my word on it or the guys at the petshop !
I'm sure there are articles on this site too about cycling.

Maybe read this article first.... Its a beginners guide to fishkeeping but its essentially the same thing for an axolotl. the previous article only explains how to do a fishless cycle and doesnt go into the basics.

Beginners Manual to Fish Keeping

Spudss said:

Maybe read this article first.... Its a beginners guide to fishkeeping but its essentially the same thing for an axolotl. the previous article only explains how to do a fishless cycle and doesnt go into the basics.

Beginners Manual to Fish Keeping

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I've kept alot of fish before :/ I know how to cycle water, I added Ammonia into the tank yesterday.

you ignore every single piece of advice anyone noted here..
these are all experienced axelotl keepers, yet all you seem to care about is how to name them..

Cocoapanda10 said:

I've kept alot of fish before :/ I know how to cycle water, I added Ammonia into the tank yesterday.

Click to expand...

Bacteria does not magically grow and develop into a mature colony over night which is what you are implying with "I added it yesterday"

Fishless cycles can take weeks so your 4 days, as said above, is not sufficient.

If you introduce your axie now and actually do your water readings, you will see a steady presence of ammonia due to the tank not being cycled.

Advice is being given to HELP you and your axolotl. We definitely are not discouraging more axie owners, but want to help them do it properly for the sake of the axolotl.

An anecdote for you:

My girlfriend and I set up our tanks at the same time. She jumped into it and added her fish right away, and didn't cycle the tank. I on the other hand chose to use janitorial ammonia to cycle my tank, testing my water about every other day. It took about 8 weeks for my tank to cycle. Did hers cycle first? Yes, but half of her fish died in the process. If that's something you want to put your animals through, fine, just change the water often. You will get very tired of that, and your axies will suffer. There's no easy fast way to do it.

If you have an established aquarium already, then next time you do a water change, dump the waste water into the new tank. If you do this it can vastly improve the time it takes for your tank to cycle. Just be sure to keep an ammonia source in the tank, you can use ammonia (I used ACE brand janitorial strength ammonia, there are no additives), you can also use a sock full of fish food, or chunks of meat. It will smell bad if you do this, though.

Long story short, no, it's not really OK to put axies in an uncycled tank. It sounds to me like you just want to jump into this, and I would highly suggest making sure you have everything you need and have your tank set up and ready to go before you put axolotls in there.