Hi Everyone/ Heat and lotls

Hi Every one my name is Peter and Im from Melbourne Australia.
I used to keep axolotls back around the 99-2001 period I had quite a few of them kept about 6 in a large tank and several even bred and we had babies. However all my axolotls succumbed to some type of fungal infection, they stop eating there gills got fluff on them and the gills curved forward and they lost appetite eventually carking it one by one, even the babies who were cool and who we all had names for too. I had alot of correspondence with Susan Duhon at the Axolotl colony in Indiana and followed her advice but they all tradigically died.

Recently, probably because of watching Walking with Dinosaurs and Monsters too many times I have considered maybe keeping a single axolotl in a 45 by 30cm tank I still have.
It is not huge but I used to keep a single lotl that I called Nero Gilly in who was black and my first axolotl. Ive been thinking of keeping maybe just one in there or two at the most but I am a bit discouraged because of the hot summers we have here.
I have setup the tank without any gravel and have nice upside down wide cactus dish as a hidey house and a few plastic plants and a small rock formation with a mermaid wanted sign. I wanted to keep it simple so it easy to clean. Ive been thinking that if a heat wave happened I could empty the tank and move it to out basement/cellar where it is a bit cooler or put the axolotl in the fridge. For the tank I would use a simple box filter, would this suffice for Axolotls? as I think gravel traps too much junk and is harder to clean cleanliness is my main pirority in the diff conditions due to heat. I ahve placed the tank away form the window in darkish spot so in summer the cutains will be closed anyway and the tank wont be exposed to sun.

Anyway I would welcome any advice on keepers of lotls in Australia or elsewhere on heat control and in the meantime Ive been reading your posts and enjoying them alot.

Cheers,
Peter

Here is an article on Cooling Methods, although I am sure you have read it already. Ianclick has also mentioned that axie keepers in Australia have been wrapping their tanks in polystrene (I think thats what he said it was) with good results. Maybe it's worth a shot.

Welcome Peter. I am sure you will find many like minded axie enthusiasts here. Do also have a look through the articles available here (axolotl.org and caudata culture in particular). They will provide plenty of essential husbandry tips. It was a nice axie history you have there. I hope you get back to keeping axies.

Cheers.

Hi Rayson,

You wouldnt have any idea what the disease was which caused the gills to arch forward and get covered in fluff (possible fungal infection)? it seemed to spread to each axolotl one by one. Back then I didnt know about their sensitivity to heat either.

Peter

The thing was I also caught live fish and insects form a nearby lake that wasn't the cleanest, but Im not entirely sure if the infection was from there. Now I know not to give wild caught aquatic foods from what Ive heard.

Peter

Forward-facing gills and fungus are usually signs of stress. All of your axolotls succumbed because they were all stressed. It wasn't necessarily a contagious disease, but they were stressed and more susceptible to illnesses. The stress could have been heat, light, parasitic (from wild-caught food), temperature, or any number of things.

Hi Peter!!!

I think is nice you are planning to house axies again!!

I was reading this, and remembered something, some thermoelectric chiller, I dont know how it
works, but is a lot less expensive, and if it works well, I think it could be ideal for your tank´s
size.

Perhaps somebody has use it, but I thought it could help!!

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~chillers_coolworks_iceprobe.html

Hi there,
I'm new to the forums myself, but I think you might find that this is a similar method to standard refrigerators. This can be both a blessing and a hindrance, because the units require a radiator which needs to be placed away from your tank, or you will not achieve any discernable cooling. These fan units that you linked to won't do much for our friend here if the ambient air temperature is already high. In this case, it might even be worthwhile to put the vivarium inside an air conditioned room, and that might be enough.