New Axolotl Owner - Best Fertilizers & Plants for Axolotls?

I'm sorry if this seems like a repeat-thread, but I would really appreciate some expert opinions on my axolotl-keeping so far. This is my first post and I am a new axolotl owner as well as new to planted tanks. So, I'm sorry I apologize if I'm not doing this right.

I've had my axolotl for about a month now and he is now 6 inches long and seems very happy and healthy. But about a week ago I dosed some Flourish Excel for my live plants and the next morning he seemed very ill. Floating, pale white, gills had shrunken, wasn't moving and not eating as much as he was. Well I did a 50% water change and another the next day, and a few days later he's healthy again. The reason I thought I should use any fertilizer though was because I managed to kill frogbit and duckweed. -_- I assumed the Amazon Frogbit died because the temperature stays around 64-68 degrees F, but I have no idea why the duckweed died and my anubias doesn't look too great either.

I have a 20 gallon long tank with a decent sized (6 x 10 inch ish) hornwort plant that I just put in, and some java moss that I've been growing for the past two weeks. I will also have a few moss balls soon and I have 4 ghost shrimp. I clean up any axolotl waste or uneaten food that I find, as well as siphoning the sand and cleaning the glass a few times a week.

In other words, I'm concerned that my plants aren't getting enough nutrients since there really isn't any waste. I would like a clean, heavily planted tank for my axolotl, and I was wondering what I could use to feed my plants that won't harm my axolotl. I really don't ever want to see him sick again.

If there any other tips you could give me on maintaining axolotl health and optimum water quality, that would be great, too.



*** I also tested the water when he was sick, and all the levels were fine except the water is very hard and alkaline. The water read 150-300ppm or 'Hard' to 'Very Hard', 'ph units' were 7.5-8 and 'total alkalinity' was around 180-300ppm or 'Ideal' to 'High.' Nitrates and Nitrites were virtually 0. I read that axolotls like alkaline water but I'm not sure about water hardness. The test kit I used also didn't include an ammonia reading so I assumed it was an ammonia spike from the Flourish that made him sick. Everything seems to be fine now though. I haven't done a water test since I did two 50% water changes and cleaned out everything in the tank.

I believe he is healthy and happy now because his color has come back, he's looking very pink (leucistic) and his gills are darker. The 'feathers' are also starting to grow back again where as before they had shrunk. He swims around more, but never frantically, and eats A LOT (about one cube of blood worms and one earth worm a day.) I got him a small food dish and he now eats earth worms and blood worms out of it. (That's all I've ever fed him outside of the occasional ghost shrimp that he catches.)

It's never a good idea to use any kinds of fertilizers in an axolotl tank. Axolotls have very sensitive skin that will more or less "suck up" anything in the water. Because of this, you will either need lots of natural or artificial light for the plants (which means more hiding places for your axolotl to escape from the bright lights), or plants that will thrive in low-light and cold conditions. Anubias, elodea, and moss work well, but you won't find many other plants that will.

If you really must use fertilizers or plant food on your plants, take them out of the axolotl's tank first. This means you'll probably need to plant them in a pot so they're easier to move around.

NEVER use any kind of chemicals in an axolotl tank unless it is on the advice of a respected expert (not just a well meaning amateur on a forum!) or a vet. Axolotls absorb oxygen and chemicals through their skin, anything you put in their tank can get in to their system. And remember you LFS just wants to sell you stuff, they are not axie experts.

There is a list of plants that thrive in low light and cooler water in axie tanks on here somewhere, stick to those or plastic. Axies don't need plants the same way fish do.

Your ghost shrimp will end up as lunch - was that your intention?

I definitely know now not to ever use any chemicals. I'm just happy that he's better now. As far as the ghost shrimp go, yes, they are meant as food. They are 6 for a $1.50 at our fish store.

I've seen a few heavily planted tanks with axolotls though, is there really nothing I can use as fertilizer? I have sand substrate that has been layered over soil for my plants so that may be why my anubias and hornwort are fine, but I would still really like to try a floating plant as well. Any suggestions there? I still can't believe I managed to kill frogbit and duckweed...

blackstar said:

I definitely know now not to ever use any chemicals. I'm just happy that he's better now. As far as the ghost shrimp go, yes, they are meant as food. They are 6 for a $1.50 at our fish store.

I've seen a few heavily planted tanks with axolotls though, is there really nothing I can use as fertilizer? I have sand substrate that has been layered over soil for my plants so that may be why my anubias and hornwort are fine, but I would still really like to try a floating plant as well. Any suggestions there? I still can't believe I managed to kill frogbit and duckweed...

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Like we've said, no fertilizers in an axolotl tank. I don't know any floating plants you could get, though. For heavily planted tanks such as the ones you're thinking of, people tend to use strip fluorescent lights, which helps the plants grow. And obviously, because the tank is heavily planted, the axolotls have plenty of places to hide, and everyone wins. Axolotls tend to enjoy rooting up plants and biting roots and such, which would explain why your frogbit and duckweed died.

Well thanks everyone for responding. I had been reading elsewhere that some fertilizers were OK but never seen them listed. I'll start managing my lights then to help my plants grow. I do keep him under very low light though as of now. I think I may try water lettuce at some point. With that said though, if there are any toxic plants or other substances that are harmful to axolotls, I would love to know.

I suggest you make getting a decent liquid based ammonia test kit your top prority. High pH, high hardness setups often cycle very efficiently and axolotls thrive in them but ammonia is highly toxic at these pH levels so even a small spike could be dangerous, you need to know what is going on and ammonia is the only test I do with any regularity.

The plants often get enough food from the breakdown products of the food you feed the axolotls. I don't generally use fertilisers but have occasionally dosed my tanks with a drop ot two of "pond grow", a proprietary mix which does not state its ingredients but is rich in chelated iron. Ordinary garden fertilisers are rich in ammonia and/or nitrates are to be avoided.

Flourich excel is a strange product, supposed to make carbon available to plants. In a high hardness tank carbonates are plentiful and plants that tolerate alkalinity will thrive without it if the light is OK.

blackstar said:

If there any other tips you could give me on maintaining axolotl health and optimum water quality, that would be great, too.

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Having a heavily planted tank is one of the best ways to maintain water quality. Axolotls make enough mess to feed the plants. Even when they are small there should be no real need to use a fertiliser. I personally wouldnt use a walstad tank with axolotls, they are too prone to digging plants up. What you can do is use walstad tubs, you can use pyrex dishes, add compost, plants , a thin layer of sand and add large pebbles to the top. Make sure the pebbles are too big for an axolotl to swallow. Alternatively you can just use free floating plants like elodea and hornwort, just make sure you use adequate lighting.