Photo: Sponge filters = happy axies! Just look at how much Bowie's gills have grown!

Hi guys, I just had to share. For the first year of their life with me (from about 2" juvies to 8-9" adults) , my pair lived in a tank with a HOB filter. They were happy enough, and their gills were always average sized.

When I built their new tank, I decided to switch to a sponge filter. 2 months later (today), I was watching them do axolotl stuff and I could not get over how big and fluffy their gills have gotten! It's a ridiculous amount of growth in only two months.

While both have larger gills now, the difference in my female is the most impressive out of the pair!

The before pictures were taken moments after moving them to their new sponge filtered tank.
The now pictures were taken about an hour ago.



The now pictures are a little lower quality because I took them with my phone, but you can still see a big difference!

Just as an FYI bigger fluffier gills also mean less oxygen in the water so they grow more to get more oxygen.

I know less oxygen can result in fluffier gills... but I doubt that's the case since a sponge filter is like having an air stone running in your tank 24/7. In fact, I was worried that their gills would shrink due to the constant O2 supply!

Many people keep axies with no filtration or stones or anything. Just perfectly still water and they do just fine. I'm sure that my O2 levels are at least higher than those conditions.

The sponge filter is great because it allows their gills to grow as if they were in a filterless tank, but with filtration

Oh yeah I wasn't saying you were doing anything wrong. Just thought that that should be mentioned as well.

Bdyoung said:

Oh yeah I wasn't saying you were doing anything wrong. Just thought that that should be mentioned as well.

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Ah, good to know! Lower O2 definitely encourages growth because they need that extra surface area.

They look beautiful. The sponge filter definitely increased their appearance. I'll remember this if I ever get the chance to purchase and axie.

I LOVE SPONGE FILTERS!!!! when i was trying to reduce the flow from my old hang on side filter i discovered sponge filters! now i use them in every tank!

I dont understand it beacuse i would of thought that by adding two sponge filters to my 50 gal tank the gills would of stayed the same/shrunk beacuse of the added O2 but instead as have yours their gills have grown more fabulous

Mr Poseidon said:

I LOVE SPONGE FILTERS!!!! when i was trying to reduce the flow from my old hang on side filter i discovered sponge filters! now i use them in every tank!

I dont understand it beacuse i would of thought that by adding two sponge filters to my 50 gal tank the gills would of stayed the same/shrunk beacuse of the added O2 but instead as have yours their gills have grown more fabulous

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Hahaha, fabulous indeed! That is the perfect word to describe it.

I recommend sponge filters to everyone lol. They're cheap to buy, easy to use, difficult to break, cheap to run and they do tend to make the gills look impressive. I have them in every tank I own now.