Anyone With a breeder set up

FireTailz

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I Recently purchased 32 Axolotls for my girlfriend and would like to see some pics of anyones breeder setup to give me ideas on what would look nice and take up minimal space. I breed beardies so i know all about ways to build racks and what not but i really dont know on Axolotls. Right now i am thinking a bakers rack or two with 10 gallon tanks put in with the narrow side face the front, just looking for ideas and i have a little time because they are only 1.5 - 2 inch long right know .
 
Don't have any setup pictures here just can tell you if you have 32 axolotls even for breeding you'll need way more then two 10 gallon tanks. Axolotls can grow 12-14 inches. Also don't expect to see them breeding for 9-12 more months since they aren't sexually mature. I would consider a few much larger tanks with that many axolotls.
 
I think there was a misunderstanding i am gonna use 2 baker racks to put mutiple 10gallon tanks on i can fit 5 tanks per shelve and i am gonna do at least 4 shelves maybe 5. so i will have plenty of tanks sorry should have worded it better
 
Only thing I will add is watch out for the weight. One US Gallon is 8.34 pounds, so you will need one heck of a backers rack to hold 83.4 pounds per tank 320-420 pounds per rack not counting the weight of the tanks themselves filters and hides, etc.
 
I breed fish and built my own stand out of 2x6 and 3/4" plywood. I used 5 lag bolts per corner to hold up the shelves. Each shelf has 4x 20gal tanks an there is no sign of sagging.
Before I put it all together, I painted it all with a marine epoxy (check the mistints section of a local paint store - I got a gallon for only $5), so that I wouldn't have to worry about rot or warping due to the spills and drips that always happen with a system like this.
 
Don't forget the rule of thumb for axolotls: 10 gallons or more per axie. So if you're planning on having 2 adults in a 10 gallon aquarium, they're not going to be too happy. Try having 20 gallon aquariums, it'll be way heavier but should get better results ;)
 
Thanks everybody for the advice , I am not really sure on what I am going to do yet so I am taking everyones ideas and hopefully come up with the best solution possible to build something. I have thought about going with a bigger size tank so I dont have 32 different tanks. If anyone has any pics please feel free to post them I like to look and get ideas. Another thing is She has 32 but we wont keep all I am sure so it will be less down the road but we are going to grow them up big enough to sex them first.
 
When there are more gallons you can safely for more axolotls. I would say bakers racks with half full twenty longs can hold 3 axolotls (one male two females) for good breeding space usage. Depends on what you're using, but even my small three tier chrome racks usually hold well over 200 pounds. I had two full twenties and two fives on them, and larger chrome racks hold even more. They're cheap too. Home built wood racks are easy to find on Craigslist and you can test the weight before you trust water in them. I'd say if you really want to be economical you can potentially have two adults in tens, but 3 in a twenty would much better. A lot of people also just do large ponds. I believe you can get a 120-200 gallon turtle pond or kiddy pool pretty cheap for when they're adults.

For 2 1/2 inch axolotls you can you small sterilite containers until they're big enough. I grew mine to five inches in containers, then put them together in tanks. Cannibalism didn't happen for me in 2 in one sterilite container as long as they were all well fed.

You have a lot of options, but yes, bakers racks will work for sure. The ten gallon to one axolotl rule is flexible once there are more gallons, and especially if you're doing water changes often. I have 7 in a cycled 40 breeder and I have no issues whatsoever with space or water quality since I do changes frequently anyway. I have so many hides I hardly ever see mine, too.

You'll really just have to see how much weight the racks can hold.

By the way, do you use bins, tanks, or wood enclosures for your breeding beardies? Do you keep them separately or in groups? Wondering what your methods were, since they vary so much between breeders. I see a lot around here that keep harem groups in large wood enclosures - one male to three females- but I've seen other styles.
 
Well after seeing all the feedback I am think a few bigger tanks would best suit us , plus I am going try to talk her into only keeping a pair of each morph or at most a trio due to the amount of eggs one female can have. On my beardies I have 4ft melamine critter condos that I house all me adult females in. I actually keep 2 to 3 females per cage and could prolly do four no problem. I do have a few males in them as well but will steadily move them out to a rack system I built as my smaller females get bigger. Males live by their selves because they will fight so really a 4 ft cage is too much for one dragon because they don’t even use it all. The rack I just built has 106 qt sterilite bin and that’s what I am going to keep my males in. I also house all my babies in the same rack set up just smaller bins. I have tons of pics seeing thats all i do lol, so i can share if you would like.:D
 
Another thing you should note is the difference between floor space and tank height in aquariums. A 20 gallon long has much more floor space compared to a regular 20 gallon. So much more, in fact, that it has the same dimensions, excluding height, as a 29 gallon tank and even that of a certain 37 gallon one. In general, floor space > height.
 
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  • Shane douglas:
    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
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  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
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  • stanleyc:
    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
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    Clareclare: Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus... +1
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