Gravel or Sand?

Hi
I'm a new Axolotl owner and have read up alot on them.
I see that some people say do not use gravel and some people say do not use sand.

I have read a book and it says in there that sand can cause problems in the Axolotls stomach and it's best to use large smooth gravel (4mm - 6.5mm pea gravel).

I have taken the advise from the book.

I just wondered what your thoughts were on this subject?

Many thanks

Sand or bare bottomed really is the best. With bare bottomed being a bit easier to clean and sand, in my opinion, being more eye appealing. I have play sand in my tank, as do many other axolotl owners. It's cheap. 4$ for a 50 pound sack. You just have to rinse all the dust off of it first. Aquarium sand (not terrarium I've heard it can cause problems) also works. It's just a finer grain and more expensive. I would be wary of using any kind of pebbles. Even at sizes of 4-6.5mm there's a good chance for impaction. So no pebbles is a good idea. If you really want rocks, than "river stones" might work. The only problem with them is that crunk tends to get between them and then it fouls up the water. The only time I could see sand being a problem is with very young axolotls, where the sand is quite large in comparison to them. It's best to keep young ones on a bare bottom. And lastly, I've seen pictures of where people have taken slate tiles and siliconed them to the bottom of the tank for very attractive flooring.

Welcome to the forum. Unfortunately the book you read is wrong. If you look through the sick axolotl part of the forum you will find countless instances where axolotls become impacted with gravel. Sand is generally harmless because it passes right through an axolot. If you keep your axolotl on gravel or stones smaller than its head, it will more thank likely suffer from impaction.

Thanks for the reply,

I think I may go for the play sand option, it's just hard to make the right decision when there are conflicting opinions. I want my axies to be safe and happy, so I think maybe the change is necessary.

Thank you for your advise I appreciate it

I have attached a couple of pics of them, I was told in the shop that the wildtype is definately a female, but i'm pretty sure now that it is a male, I think the White one is male too, I was hoping to get a male and a female.
Oh well I will try and get a female soon to add to the group.

Thanks again

Thanks Jess

I will get that changed asap.

They're both definitely male.

honestly the whole sand thing has been a hot topic on here for the last couple of weeks. So basically here's the conclusion:

Gravel has been known to cause impaction. No matter how careful you are your axolotl has probably swallowed some gravel. Sometimes your axie is big enough in proportion to the gravel to pass it harmlessly, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Sand can cause cement-like blockages in the axolotl's system because they also eat some sand no matter how careful the owner is. Sand can stay in an axolotl's system for weeks but is more likely to eventually pass through. The ratio of sand related problems to gravel related problems says that gravel is always a no, but there haven't been many instances where we KNOW that sand has killed an axolotl.

So basically bare-bottomed, siliconed down gravel/rocks, slate or some other substrate similar to that is better than either of them

I have an axolotl book which states the same, it's very out dated. If you do put sand in you can reduce the amount they swallow by hand feeding or using a feeding jar.

I started out with large stones (15mm+) in the bottom of my tank, but I have just changed to a base covered with siliconed sand - just sand pressed into a coating of aquarium silicone on an acrylic base. Hubby spent a week making it for our lotls and it looks great!
The stones looked great, but it was a pain to clean - poop and uneaten food got between the stones and was hard to siphon up.

Last weeks I removed all the sand from my tanks. And they're still pooping sand.

Definitely both boys!

I keep mine on sand. They were on gravel at the pet shop nearly 4 years ago now (oish, has it really been that long?!) and no joke, one of them pooped out 2 bits of gravel 6 months ago!

Dont seem to have any problems on sand, and I find it easy to clean.

I dunno what the bottom of Lake Xochimilco is like, muddy and sandy and plants and rocks and litter I'm guessing. Not glass. I draw the line at mud, so I'm going with sand!

I'm personally using sand that's 0.5-1.0mm in size. Mine were too young to be on sand initially (it's not recommended to have them on sand until 5-6" in size) and I could tell mine were happy to have a surface to grip, as they couldn't get enough traction on a glass bottom. I do think my guys swallow some of it, but if you feed them from tweezers then it really cuts back the amount they ingest. With smaller particles it has an easier time passing through their system versus gravel. Yes, there are cases of sand impaction, so I think it's up to the owner to decide what's best. I decided to risk sand impaction because I haven't heard of any problems with my sand brand and I could tell my axies were relieved to actually have a substrate (sliding around will be a definite permanent stress on my guys, vs a small chance of impaction). Some axolotls don't seem to have a traction issue though, so I think it should be case-by-case decision!

Thank you all for your comments I appreciate the advise and it's good to learn.

I will be changing it to Sand I think.

Thank you all again, have fun with your Axies

Hi All

All gravel has now been removed I'm having them on a bare floor at the moment, then i'll get some sand soon.