Question: Once a week feast?

Hey guys,

Quick question. When I get Whooper back and my new addition of Murlo, would I be able to feed them ONCE A WEEK but give them a feast at that point in time? I would like to stop the amount of nitrates building up in my tank so its either get rid of the substrate and allow them to have a bare bottom tank or take them out for the once a week change and feed them both then?

Would this cause too much stress? I have no idea. My tank was never exactly amazingly crystal clear when I had her and I believe it was due to the shrimp that I first fed her - bad idea from the guy at the pet shop -_- - just degrading in my gravel. I then got a syphon for gravel but it took too much water out my tank to actually do the water change!

I think, taking into account that Bloodworms are really messy - theres so many of them! - that I really am just contemplating doing it out of their tank.

Any suggestions or advise?

Thanks,
Tom

How big are your axies? The older and bigger they are the longer you can leave it between feeds, but if they are still growing they need fedding more regularly.

The advice I was given was to feed them every day until they are about 8-9", then cut down to every other day. My axies get snappy when they are hungry and start going for each others' tails.

If you find bloodworms messy try a feeding jar - just a jam jar on its side - and put the worms in there. But I find the cleanest food is earthworms - easy to know who has eaten what and there's no mess other than poop.

Thanks!

I will try that!

Well, I would say one is 4" and I have no idea what the others size is as he/she hasnt arrived yet! Murlo (her/his name) is coming tomorrow!

Thanks for the advise! It seems that they just roll the food around in the water, like a shark or alligator, so thanks for the advise

Tom

Nitrates arent a problem unless they are really high. If youre doing waterchanges you should be fine. Why not get some plants to take care of excess nitrates. And how will having a bare bottom tank get rid of nitrates?

Ok, well that seems a fair point. I will probably give it a shot but I sort of want the bare bottom personally and its easier to see food which hasnt been eaten So the animal doesnt decompose in the water

I would be removing the gravel immediately before you re add any axies for sure! I have a bare bottom tank and my axies are fine with it! I do have a very thin layer of sand just for traction but not enough to hide a mess.

At this point in time i think you could try feeding them earthworms chopped up for them.

Have you also ever considered a feeding jar? Just a mason jar in the tank and you put the bloodworms in the jar and they go in to eat? It doesnt eliminate all the mess but a lot of it.

Are you maybe over feeding them too? See i dont think a feast once a week would work because i find mine dont eat any more then they would if i didnt feed them everyday. They only eat so much at one time. That would be like saying you are only allowed one meal a day but you can stuff you face.

Many small meals i find more efficient for my lotls then fewer big meals, and i feed them less per so less chance of rotting food.


Edit: oh my god! I cant believe i missed an entire post and i repeated what someone already said! Sorry! But it really seems like the best option. Mine are 7" and im still feeding them once a day. But only a half a nightcrawler each a day. I cut one up in 4pieces and give two each.

But wait! I dont think your problem is feeding them anyways.

A nitrogen cycle starts with ammonia, which is created by degrading food but really mostly from lotl waste. So now you have a spike in ammonoa. Your tank starts to grow bacteria that eats ammonia and releases nitrite as a waste product. Now you have a lower ammonia and a nitrite spike. Over time yourtank grows bacteria that eats nitrite and releases nitrate as a waste. So now you have nitrates and your cycle is almost done.

So the problem here is no bacteria grows to get rid of nitrates. So you must remove them from weekly water changes. You want a nitrate level if you had 0nitrate it means you dont have a cycle. Anything under 40ppm is good 10-20being ideal. If its 40 or above you just need to do a water change. Really nothing bad factors into a high nitrate level, i think of it as a good thing(well not to high! If its to high it probably means you arent doing enough waterchanges) if i was getting super high ammonia levels i would be worried that i was overfeeding my axies. Or something was rotting in the tank.


Your axies are at a critical part of their growth and i really wouldnt recommend feeding only once a week

Probably a little late but I do think daily meals, especially when they're very small, are a must. I would be worried that without them they would either attack each other, or bloat. I fed Galaxy two large prawns the other day and he actually had lumps sticking out of his side because he was so bloated - I had to wait a day before feeding him again to allow his tummy to empty. I wouldn't want to imagine the full tummy of an axolotl who sees food after a week, as they're known greedy gutses and will eat several times a day given the choice. It's also that you need axxie waste for your cycle and they'll be pooping less with less food.

So I reckon small meals (say 1 to 2 chopped earthworms, as many pellets as they will eat in five minutes or a block of bloodworm each, for example), 1 every day, is the way to go. It promotes good digestive health, lessens the chance of overfeeding and floating (although some float regardless - Gally is notorious for it!) and means you can be sure they're getting the nutrients they need.

Regardless of how often you feed (I feed my little dude every other day) I would recommend getting that gravel out ASAP. You didn't mention how big the gravel is, but it's common for axys to think gravel is food and swallow it! This can cause them great stress and make them very sick if they cannot pass the gravel chunk. Bare bottom tanks are fine, as is sand, but just say no to gravel!