First time setting up axolotl tank

Hi! New to the forums here, and to keeping amphibians. So after reading a lot of info here and elsewhere, we recently redid our 75 gallon (280 liters?) to be axie-friendly. We just finished planting it this weekend, heres a (kind of big) pic:

http://i.imgur.com/iDeBEPn.jpg

I swear the plants aren't that pathetic, my phone just takes potato pictures.

We're using micro swords as a carpet with lots of anubias nana in the back, some java ferns on the driftwood & java moss on the granite turtle shell. None of our LFS had any taller plants than the little squat anubias, I'm kind of disappointed.

I'm worried about a few things though:

- How long will it take the micro swords to get situated in the tank? I've read it can take anywhere from 1-2 months or more, that it's slow growing, fast growing... I'm honestly confused at this point, haha. This is our first planted tank.

- How much flow/current is too much? We put in a bubble bar in the corner opposite the filter & have an Aquaclear that's rated for 300 GPH. We also put a prefilter sponge on the intake and took the activated carbon out as I'd read it wasn't good for planted tanks. Should we remove the bubble bar before we look at adding axies later? I also read that some people hooked up filter sponges to the output to minimize surface agitation - is that necessary?

- And finally... How many should we think about acquiring? Do they like having tank buddies, or are they ok being alone? Would we need to keep them in something smaller and then 'graduate' them to the big tank?

We're planning on letting the tank sit awhile for now and basically watch the plants grow. We did use some water & the filter media it had in it previously. Oh, and I'm guessing the t5 we have for the plants is probably too bright, so we're also trying to cultivate some duckweed up top to dim it down a little. It maintains a temp of ~68 degrees.

Are we missing anything? Apologies for the rambling. I'm really tired and have been kind of excited about posting. >__>

Current depends on each axolotl. Mine loves to sit under the waterfall created by the HOB filter, just put something to disperse the flow. Bubble bats aren't necessary but most axolotls love playing in them.

Axolotls can live by themselves, or with others it doesn't fuss them. If they are fed well then there will be no issue with nipping. Generally people say 1 per 10 gallon however if your tank has more height it's useless. For 1 axolotl I like to say 1.5ft tank and then for each one after your first axolotl you'll need 1 extra ft. If your axolotls have quite a size difference I would advise dividing the tank up until they are the right size.

Like you stated, the idea of more plants = more shade and hides is important, especially if you plan on using a light that strong.

Also how are you planning to cycle your tank? How big are your axolotls, if they will be under 5" sand is unsuitable. Other than that it's a great set up!

As Hayley said, Axolotls are solitary creatures and don't NEED to be kept together. They should also never have tank mates of other species - they don't mix well with fish.

In a tank that size you could keep several axies, just make sure they're all the same size - bigger ones WILL eat smaller ones.



The biggest thing is you can't just let your tank sit - you need to cycle it BEFORE getting Axolotls or you could possibly kill them when the cycle begins when they're added.

Here's an article on tank cycling: Scales Tails Wings and Things, What is Aquarium Cycling? How to Cycle your Tank

Cycling takes weeks, even months so I'd get started right away.

Also carbon is not the best filter media as it has to be replaced every few weeks and really isn't necessary unless you're trying to remove medication from the water. I'd switch to a more permanent media like sponge or ceramic.

Last but not least a reminder that you should never use plant fertilizers or CO2 in Axolotl tanks.

Thanks for the replies!

Like I said, we removed the carbon from the filter already, it has sponges/those ceramic 'biofilter' things/filter fiber in it at the moment.

As far as cycling goes, we used some of the old water from it's previous occupants & are using some of the old filter media - I'm not sure if that means it's cycled now, or if I still need to add something? We kept the filter running in a separate 10g with the old water while we completely revamped the contents of the tank and then moved it over immediately.

When we put the duckweed scraps we got from our LFS it came with some dead leaves he'd accidentally pulled out, I left them in thinking the decomposition would help? If not, I can grab some ammonia from the store on the way home today and follow the guide on that website. I'm assuming ammonia won't hurt the plants/burn the leaves?

We are not using CO2, and the only ferts we added were some root tabs to get the plants started; other than that we don't have any plans to fertilize.

And finally, we don't have any axolotls yet, lol. We wanted to get the tank situated first and grow out the plants before looking into acquiring some, so that we'd be 100% ready to go.

Do you test your water? That's the only way to know if your tank is cycled or not. I would invest in a liquid test kit such as the one made by API - axies are sensitive to water quality and testing regularly is important.

In a cycled tank your readings will be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and anywhere from 10-40ppm nitrate.

If there is currently no ammonia source in the tank and or the tank the filter was running in, there will be no cycle because the bacteria will have had nothing to 'eat'.

I totally have test kits, we bought some this weekend and I even made sure to put them where I wouldn't lose them. I have no idea why I didn't think to test the water... I'm going to blame my allergies for making me totally wacko this week.

For some reason I was thinking testing would only show ammonia/nitrite and not help me?? I don't even know. Sorry, I will test it as soon as I get home. Thanks again.

Oh, it's not letting me edit but, if sand is an unsuitable substrate when they are small, should we keep them in one of our spare 10g until they are bigger (assuming we end up with smaller ones)? But we'd have to cycle that too, right?

I am beginning to worry I did everything wrong after all. v__v

pennyroyals said:

Oh, it's not letting me edit but, if sand is an unsuitable substrate when they are small, should we keep them in one of our spare 10g until they are bigger (assuming we end up with smaller ones)? But we'd have to cycle that too, right?

I am beginning to worry I did everything wrong after all. v__v

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Yes, sand is generally considered unsuitable while they're under 5 inches, although I've seen people keep them on sand when they were small and simply feed them in a separate container to keep ingestion to a minimum. (though they will always root around in it and possibly eat it)

And yes, if you kept them in a different tank as they grew you would have to cycle that tank too.

You could also keep them in tubs for a while until they're bigger, but you'd have to be really diligent with 100% water changes often or the ammonia will build up. Axies are pretty sensitive to water quality.

Yeah, I kinda figured... Ok, well I threw out our spare filter this weekend because it was grody and we hardly use it (limescale, limescale everywhere!). But I can probably pick up a little HOB from somewhere and start cycling it too.

I just have to figure out where we're gonna put it.

Oh well. It'll give the plants lots of time to grow. I might add some plastic egg crating beneath the sand in the big aquarium in the meantime to use as anchor points because those darn anubias don't seem to like staying rooted, and I think I read here axies like to dig up plants.

Also, I sort of bought test strips and not the API kit, which I rectified today on my lunch break. :blush: I'm glad I posted on here before buying anything else.

pennyroyals said:

Yeah, I kinda figured... Ok, well I threw out our spare filter this weekend because it was grody and we hardly use it (limescale, limescale everywhere!). But I can probably pick up a little HOB from somewhere and start cycling it too.

I just have to figure out where we're gonna put it.

Oh well. It'll give the plants lots of time to grow. I might add some plastic egg crating beneath the sand in the big aquarium in the meantime to use as anchor points because those darn anubias don't seem to like staying rooted, and I think I read here axies like to dig up plants.

Also, I sort of bought test strips and not the API kit, which I rectified today on my lunch break. :blush: I'm glad I posted on here before buying anything else.

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Glad you got rid of the test strips, they are essentially useless XD If you have any other questions about the cycling process feel free to poke me, I've done it a million times unfortunately xD

Just a tip on anubias ... They like to root to driftwood rather than sand/soil so maybe a small piece of driftwood would be a good idea? I personally use Mopani which will sink immediately the wood will also leech tannins into the water which from my understanding are good for axolotl skin, Even if they are not very pretty.

Actually good quality test strips are just as good as API kits etc. You just have to make sure you know how to use and store them properly, but that's what you need to do with all the kits really. They use test strips with a similar principle in hospital labs too to test urine etc.

Hmm, I could probably get some small pieces of driftwood from the LFS, but I don't know if I will have time to pick any up till this weekend. The pet store near where I work (Petco) doesn't usually have any. I did read online that *only* the roots needed to be submerged in the substrate, and not the part of the plant the leaves come from, so I was very careful about that.

I wish they'd had a better variety of plants. Maybe I can tie some of them to the white hide thingies...

Well, I have both the strips I'd bought before and the full testing kit now, so best of both worlds?

keiko said:

Actually good quality test strips are just as good as API kits etc. You just have to make sure you know how to use and store them properly, but that's what you need to do with all the kits really. They use test strips with a similar principle in hospital labs too to test urine etc.

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I'm going to have to disagree. Test strips lose their effectiveness the moment they're exposed to air - and most bottled test strips have been exposed to air long since you get them, and since they're all in the same container, the moment you open it, they're all bad.

there are some brands that package them individually, which is better, but they're still not terribly accurate and really just a waste of money. Plus most do not test for ammonia which is obviously important if not the most important reading.

So please don't rely on the test strips at all unless you're using them to test for PH.

While cycling, use your liquid kit.

Kaini said:

I'm going to have to disagree. Test strips lose their effectiveness the moment they're exposed to air - and most bottled test strips have been exposed to air long since you get them, and since they're all in the same container, the moment you open it, they're all bad.

there are some brands that package them individually, which is better, but they're still not terribly accurate and really just a waste of money. Plus most do not test for ammonia which is obviously important if not the most important reading.

So please don't rely on the test strips at all unless you're using them to test for PH.

While cycling, use your liquid kit.

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It's not air itself that ruins the test strips but humidity in the air. All GOOD QUALITY test strips have this thing in the container that absorbs the humidity (don't know what to call it in english) from the air as long as the container is closed firmly and only opened briefly when taking a test strip out. The accuracy comes down to the quality of the brand and also how you use the strips. From my experience the test strips I use (JBL) are just as good as any liquid test kits I use. But ofcourse as I said earlier you have to make sure you store and use them properly. I usually use liquid kits while cycling and use the test strips to quickly check that everything's ok in the old tanks (and liquid kits every now and then too).

I'm studying biomedical laboratory science and in my field we use all kinds of test strips among other things and they're just fine so I don't see any reason not to use those with aquariums too. But as Kaini said most test strips don't test for ammonia so that is the biggest problem in my mind.

Bleh. I tested my water with the liquid test kit as soon as I got home. It's pretty awful...

The ph looks like it's around 8.1? Which I'm going to assume is bad. How do I get it down and keep it down? Wouldn't it change every time I do a water change?

Ammonia is somehow at 0.4, even though there's nothing but plants in there. I guess some of the old leaves are rotting or something?? IDK.

Nitrites and nitrates are at 0. So definitely not cycled. Boo.

I guess tomorrow I need to go to the store and get some ammonia, and bump it up to 4ppm and just keep testing it every day...

I would see if the pH goes back to normal on its own - it could be something you added to the tank swung it and it'll settle back as you let the tank run and do water changes.

But yea there is definitely no cycle :c that's what you'll have to do.

Okie dokie. Like I said, it'll give the plants lots of time to branch out and settle. I ordered some marimo balls and some more duckweed online, and I remembered I had a bunch of large (fist-size) river stones I can tie those anubais to!

This is gonna feel like watching the grass/bacteria grow, lol.

Thank you so much for all the help!

Oh, side question - where does the bacteria that breaks down the ammonia come from? The air? Wizardry? Is that a stupid question? (It's probably a stupid question lol)

pennyroyals said:

Oh, side question - where does the bacteria that breaks down the ammonia come from? The air? Wizardry? Is that a stupid question? (It's probably a stupid question lol)

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No it's a valid question! Haha. And it confuses many. It naturally occurs all around us - in the water, in dust spores in the air, etc. So basically wizardry LOL

pennyroyals said:

The ph looks like it's around 8.1? Which I'm going to assume is bad. How do I get it down and keep it down? Wouldn't it change every time I do a water change?

.

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Ammonia is a base so when you mix ammonia and water you get some hydroxides -> higher pH. Check the pH after cycling and it's probably just fine.