Boring Habitat

My Natsu has a 20 long to herself ... She had an in tank 35 gallon sponge filter but I felt it took too much room in her habitat So she now has a 10 gallon filter ( She is the only inhabitant of the tank) . Right now she is 5 inches long and only has a flower pot hide, a couple plants and a Marimo moss ball ... What else can I add to give her a more enriching environment?

Btw I am using plastic plants ... This is ok right? She seems fine with them and they are weighted so there is nothing she can ingest and she is unlikely to get scratched by them.

This is a picture of her tank ( see what I mean)

Yes plastic plants are fine

You could go with some more plants, maybe a couple of larger rock formations? an ornament or two...

I have pretty much the same in my tanks. No sand. Just some plants and enough hides for all of them. And a moss ball. Xotl loves to bump it around.

I was thinking of getting him a large marble and another large moss ball ... any particular ornaments? I was thinking a log and cave ... And I was going to buy some more plants and silicone them to 2 inch rocks.

My two lotls love hiding under their tree stump ornament. And my leucistic loves hiding in this big mountain ornament I have. My flatmates lotls love hiding around/under super bushy fake plants and under a log ornament. One of her axy also loves a divers helmet... I don't think ornament types really mater so long as they can hide in them. Some people also say ornaments with two open ends are better so that they don't feel trapped if another lotl comes in and starts picking on them. In saying that, you currently only have the one so not an issure for you.

I had two ... My friend LOVED my other one so she took him home lol. Plus Natsu has grown at a normal rate and Mudkip grew 2 inches a month average ... He is probably roughly 8 inches now.

I do not plan on getting another, They didn't exactly bond or need each other so this gives me room to spoil Natsu ... ( though I wish I could set up my 40 long for Natsu)

I will certainly put these things on her to buy list

Btw ... Natsu probably seems like an odd name but it means Salamander in japanese ( which my boyfriend and I both took in college)

Is bare bottom Ok or should I invest in some of those tiles?

Natsu is very lucky to have such a lovely owner that wants to spoil her! I also have a "to buy list" for my guys. Slowly getting everything on it

And I think that's a fantastic name! If your looking for odd names my two are Ajax and Pepper... Now that's what I call weird. A cleaning product and pepper... Haha. Although Pepper does get called Peppy most often because she is a rather peppy lively little (not so little anymore) girl

And there is a story about why she was called Pepper... But that's for another day xD

And and bare bottom is perfectly fine - it really comes down to preference

I just got a new job and a new puppy who needs all of his shots and both my rat and hamster have tumors ... Our expenses are high lol so I completely understand. Natsu recognizes me and comes and greets me its SO cute <3 I love her so much. I may Eventually get another axie from the breeder I got her from ...

The problem with a 40 long is finding a place to put it lol.

Btw thats a 4 inch flower pot with a teeny entrance I made when she was 2 inches ... no idea how she still gets in there.

I just don't want to take ANY risk with her getting sick which is why I haven't even used sand.

You can always PM me the story I am friendly I swear lol.

How many do you have?

How big of Hides should I be looking at? I am willing to spend decent money on them but I want a size she will not grow out of.

Are PVC pipes ok? I thought she could swim through and push it around.

Congrats on the new job - I just got a new job too! I start on monday soo nervous but excited haha.

That's so cute that she greets you. I spend hours watching and talking to my guys even though they can't hear or understand me... yeah I'm crazyyyy. Haha. I have two No I have three but one I'm tryna find a new home for... Although the longer it takes to adopt him out the more I get attached... My two are leucistic and golden albino they have been together since about 10cm which is 4" and are now 22cm and 20cm which is 8-9". They are best buds and often I find them cuddling in the corner. It's so darn adorable.

I have a bell ornament which has two openings in it. They used to love it and fit in it comfortable when they were a lot smaller. Now they still amazing fit and it baffles me as to how. They seem to be able to squish their bodies into odd small places and positions

I understand what you mean about the substrate thing - I spent ages researching all different types. I eventually went with very fine white silica sand. It's sooo soft to touch and settles super fast when my axy are being spazz so it works great. The thing thaat settled it for me was when I discovered how soft it is to touch. I was worried about their sensitive underbellies getting rashy or something...

As for hide size I guess just bigger enough for her to get in comfortably. If you look for ones big enough to fit her when shes fully grown then you can save money buy not having to buy bigger ones later And heaps of people use the PVC pipe and PVC pipe fittings. I think they use like 100mm size but I'm sure 50mm upwards would be fine even for adults

My girl is quite the eater ... I do not want her ingesting any , I wouldn't want to eat sand so I don't want that for her either.

I got Natsu when she was 1.5 inches ( Nose to tail ) ... less than 4 Cm , I was actually afraid she wouldn't make it she was just so teeny and I was so new.

She does love her flower pots and they really dont look bad ( I like to keep my tanks as natural as possible) So I will probably get like an 8 inch and make it a cave and get a nice log and some plants.

I am talking to my boyfriend about the 40 long ( 4 ft tank) I am like ... All we don't have for it is a stand, she will have the hides, It has a mesh topper, I have a 35 gallon Sponge filter ... Its great for her and cheaper for me. But we don't move until next summer so thats the soonest she can get an upgrade. I know a 20 long is PLENTY for her but Why not go bigger if I can?

This topic is getting off topic lol ... Oh well.

Does anyone use driftwood in their tanks? I thought it may add a nice natural feel, Maybe even attach an anubias Nana so she cant destroy it.

I think what you have planned for ornaments sounds great. Can't go wrong if you get what she loves

I would love to go bigger for my guys. It's only a 20 gallon too. But I can't afford a bigger tank and I don't think my boyfriend would let me have a bigger tank... heh

Heaps of people use driftwood and it looks create even better with live plants attached but I don't use it in my axy tank... The main reason is because when I was first setting up my tank I read wood makes water go softer and axy like harder water... In saying that driftwood has many benefits like leaching tannins which is good for axy skin. And now I have no room to put driftwood

I have had my 40 long my entire life ... My boyfriend will go before that tank does lol.

You know you can buy very small pieces right?

Yup... Just haven't gotten round to it. Lol. It is on my "to buy list" though... But maybe I'll wait till my guys have finished out growing their ornaments and then I can replace some of them for some nice driftwood I would love to have all live plants in my tank eventually instead of the plastic ones so I'll get some nice driftwood to put some plants on :d

This is my 20 long
I put a hang on back filter on mine, frees up the inside space and its got adjustable flow so its not too high
with the hang on back filter i was also able to diy a chiller for it
All I have in mine are some big rocks making a cave and another rock with some java fern growiung on it

How did you do the DIY chiller? Natsu is a little warm in the summer.

you can see my wlakthrough on the chiller here

How about an airstone or an air curtain? Mine live surfing the bubbles and snapping at them.
They also love the fake spikey grass - they wriggle across is, and I guess it must tickle or scratch slightly and feels nice on their bellies.

I thought they liked to keep the water movement to a minimum? I could always split my air pumps output and try it though.

My flatmate has a air bubble curtain thingy and her babies LOVE surfing the bubbles. Also you can get little valves to put in the air line so you can reduce the amount of air. Then its less disrupting. They are cheap the little valves here in NZ we can get them at the LPS for less than $5 NZD

I have check valves, Splitters ... A little of everything lol. I will pick up an air stone next time I get the chance and see what she thinks