Question: On the fence and need your advice and knowledge from experience...

I am on the fence about purchasing this axolotl.

measuring 40-50 mm at just 6 weeks old

I had been holding out for a leucistic that is all white and it's been difficult to find one.
I stumbled across this wee thing - the seller claims that its spots will decrease or increase depending on the darkness of the substrate used in the tank. (is this true? has anyone heard of this?)

I have heard from a few people that these sort of spots decrease by a lot while they grow up.
The adults are both leucistic and have darker, more prominent markings but only on their heads that don't cover much of the head at all.

Im warming to the idea of my axolotl having markings that will add personality to it but am wondering how much I should expect to change over time as if these spots begin to take over I am not sure how i will feel about that as my mum finds Wildtypes scary and wont let me have one that may end up resembling them. (might be a good way to keep her out of my room, though huh?)

Substrate will not influence your axolotl's natural coloration.

There is no way of knowing how many freckles a leucistic will gain or lose over the course of their life. Each one is unique.

I sincerely doubt how ever that it will ever gain enough to resemble anything that could be confused with a wildtype.

thanks so much for your response.

I guess by looking similar to a wildtype I meant that its entire body will begin to take on the pattern on its head at the moment.

maybe I will just sleep on it for tonight and will be able to have a better opinion on the whole things tomorrow.

I'm becoming so impatient, though!
I have been searching for an axolotl for so long!

This looks a fairly typical leucistic, juvenile leucistics are often surprisingly dark. The substrate and lighting does influence the colouration a bit in juveniles, after they have been in the dark the black flecks are a lot more prominent and in a bright light they fade. There is a strong possibility this animal will end up all white with few flecks, the pigment cells in leucistics seem to have a defect in establishing themselves in the skin and sink below the surface and fade with rapid growth.

If you like the look of the parents (they are the best guide to future looks) buy it if the price and everything else is OK!

thanks oceanblue!
the axolotl itself is 5 or 6 dollars more expensive than what they usually are but the shipping price more than makes up for that fact, as it is 15 dollars cheaper than usual shipping costs of fish here.

I think I may go for it just gotta sort out a few logistical factors before clicking the buy now button.

I have the tank all set up and it has silica sand in it. The breeder said that at this age he would personally split the tank half sand half bare bottom and feed it off the bare bottom until it is a little bit older - I have a rock that acts as a bit of a platform away from the sand that I could feed it off I could potentially do instead of getting rid of some sand.

Do you think this suitable?

This is what I meant about the platform rock by the way :happy:

I ended up buying the axolotl but would really appreciate anyone's input on the tank setup considering it's age and size
(50mm, at 6 weeks old)

Well little ones can have an issue digesting sand I've heard, but I have not encountered any problems personally. As long as he eats on the rock or in a feeding dish he'll be fine.

The tank looks great btw! Has a nice hiding place and everything. As long as the current isn't too strong he'll be happy.

Thanks! yeah, a friend also suggested removing him and putting him into a tupperware container while I feed him so it's a lot easier to maintain the overall cleanliness of the tank so I might try that for the first week or two and see how that goes... I got a turkey baster for the poop too because a lot of people here swear by them.

I used "stress-zyme" for good bacteria etc, and the other day I took that log thing out to rearrange the tank and the underside of it had this slimy layer on it that was quite clear but smelt a little funny... is this normal? (considering there is no animal inside the tank yet!)

plus, I thought a lot of people would mention there is a little too much sand in the tank but if this doesn't cause any health threats I am quite happy to have that much sand in there
any thoughts?

By having a thick layer of sand, you run the risk of developing anaerobic pockets. These will discolor your sand, and can actually be deadly if enough gas builds up. It's better to have a thinner layer.

I wouldn't bother removing your animal for feeding. This is unnecessarily stressful, and not needed as long as you're diligent about cleaning up the tank.

Do not trust any product to add 'good bacteria' to your tank. There is only one product on the market that legitimately speeds up your cycle, and it's refrigerated (and I think they no longer make it). You need to dechlorinate your water with a simple dechlorinator that does NOT 'lock' or 'detoxify' ammonia, and you need to invest in a good quality liquid reagent test kit for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Change your water as necessary to keep your levels within acceptable ranges. There are literally thousands of posts on cycling.

I think about an inch of sand is a safe bet.

you were right, I took the sand out and it smelt quite funny once I did that.
There were also dark swirls in the sand like how some of the posts suggest and I had bubbles rising whenever I agitated the sand from beneath... all bad signs I gather.

Will try sort this all out before my axolotl gets here in 4 days

Thanks for your help

I too would recommend a good set of liquid based test kits, without one you are driving blind. Ingestion of sand isn't usually too much of a problem, they may swallow a lot but it's the larger pebbles that kill.

Kaysie's advice on a thin layer of sand to avoid anaerobic pockets is conventional and works well. Despite that it is possible to run a tank with a very thick base, full of anaerobic pockets and let a thick layer of debris build up just like in a pond! If you do this you get a tank where the nitrogen is broken down anaerobically in addition to cycling to nitrates.

This sort of setup looks scruffy compared with most aquarists immaculate clear tanks and if you stir the mud you risk gassing the inhabitants with a nasty gas mix! I run one tank this way, it is choked with plants and there is a leucistic axolotl usually just about visible enough to know where to wave a worm! I also have a couple of tanks where I perform drastic water changes with carefully pH and salt adjusted water and don't bother about cycling and one tank which is supposed to have a decent established cycle but every now and then gives me a fright with ammonia spikes.

Whatever setup you go for without test kits you will not know what is wrong when things suddenly seem a bit adrift.