New Axolotl owner

Hi all, first of i would like to thank you for such a warm welcome to the forum! Since I'm new to the axolotl world i decided to post a few pics of my setup. I know i have a lot to learn so any advice or observation is welcome. He lives in a 120L tank with quite a few Anatome helena (killer) snails some Neritina (turbo) snails unknown nuber of RC shrimp and about 4 Amano Shrimp (Caridina japonica). water temperature is about 19.8C (Celsius) i only feed him by hand: dried shrimp, frozen blood worms and some piranha pellets i got from a friend (made out of chicken). He is a relatively young axolotl (i think male) at the pet shop they told me about 5 months, they gave me some bogus info about keeping them so i had to learn all of it my self, mostly from this forum. The pet shop kept him in 24C water, 4-mm gravel and a high tank... they told me that he came to them without the right side limbs and damaged gills i felt so bad for the little critter i had to take him home.

Ps.: i know the gravel i use is not good 4 him, i'm working on a new bigger tank for him and it will have sand. And sorry for my shabby english.

Hello and welcome!

First of all, you have an absolutely beautiful axolotl and tank set up! What is your little cuties name?

Well done on learning as much as you can about him and helping him live in a suitable environment! Pet shops are sly places, and do not tend to look after their axolotls properly, so you should be really proud of yourself for saving this gorgeous creature! :happy:

Just a few things! You can use sand as a suitable substrate like you said, or others. Here is a great page to tank set ups and different substrates you can use!

Axolotl Sanctuary

As for the snails, I am not sure if they are a good thing. Depending on their size, these fellas can be swallowed by your axolotl and cause serious damage too. They also tend to nibble on the axolotls sensitive skin and are generally used to clear algae. Clearing algae would upset your nitrate balance, so it is probably best to remove. As for the shrimp all I have heard in regards to feeding are cherry shrimp and river shrimp (which I think you have in there!) As he grows you might find the number of the shrimps will decrease...nom!

As for feeding your axolotls the best possible thing they can eat are earthworms. If you have a pesticide free garden,you can simply go and dig some up yourself! Easy peasy! :happy: You can also feed your axolotls the frozen bloodworm as you have been doing, and salmon pellets. I am not sure the chicken based for is good for them, hopefully someone with experience on chicken pellets can help clear that up!

Are you using a filter? What type have you got?

Again, welcome to the forum!

The little monsters name is Gringo neritina snail eats algy and about 4 of them in a 120L tank can hardly ever be seen (they keep my glass clean), they could be swallowed but he newer showed any interest in them in the slightest. Anatome Helena is a snail eating snail hence the nick name assassin snail and only eats those pesky small snails that tend to occupy aquariums in vast numbers (Red-rimmed melania). I use a 20L volume filter whit sponge, cotton and ceramic filtration materials, power of the pump a bit less than 1000L/h but i had to reduce it to a minimum i also use a little contraption i made to disperse the water flow (half a coconut. Almost forgot the shrimp used to be in this tank before him and as much as i tried to remove them all they kept multiplying so i just left them in for him to use as a midnight snack and a bit of exercise.

The picture is a bit unclear but it is a old fish feeder and i put half a coconut in it so it catches the water jet and enriches it whit oxygen

There we go no small task but i changed all my gravel substrate to sand. The monster was in the fridge during the process and he seems to enjoy it a lot, i put him out today to warm up a bit before poping him in the tank and he looks so happy in his little Tupperware sanctuary.

PS.: the little black spots on the sand are bits of wood, i moved it so much when cleaning and positioning it i kind of fell apart a bit. I'm gonna vacum it out in about 2 days as soon as my new batch of water ages properly