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Question: New Lotl owner, hoping for advice!

Rumoi

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Hey everyone!
I just got my first Axolotl (and first aquatic pet) last weekend, so today marks one week with my new friend. :D I believe I have a juvenile wild type female... still debating on her name. So for now she is being called Lotl.
Being new to axolotls, and new to aquatic pets in general, I know I'm going to panic over every little thing till I'm more used to caring for them.

Currently I have Lotl in a small circular tank I bought for her while I look for a large tank I am happy with and while I adjust to caring for her and she adjust to me. I was told that she would be alright in the small tank for a little while (they said a year... buuuut I want to get her into a bigger tank ASAP)
The tank has large stones on the bottom, some fake plants and some real plants. It has a air and filter system. Right now I've been changing a bit of the water everyday to help maintain a cooler temperature since my house (and thus her tank) is prone to getting a bit warm. I'm hoping once I get a larger tank the water temperature will stay cooler. Whenever I add water I make sure to add the conditioner so that I'm not adding harsh chemicals and chlorine.

She is eating well and already showing signs of growing larger. Her diet has already nearly tripled to what she was getting at the pet store!! :eek: Currently I just have her on frozen bloodworms that I thaw out in water until she is a bit bigger and I can start introducing new things to her diet.

What has me worried is that she has started swimming to the top of her tank to get air fairly often (as in a few times a day) ...... I'm uncertain if that is common in young axis or only happens when something is wrong with my water quality, which I'm unable to test till I manage to pick up a tester. :( Today she has been moving around my tank a lot more than before and been going to the surface more. What makes me more uncertain is that being so new I'm not able to tell if her gills are too forward or that is just how they usually sit for her.

If anyone has some advice and tips for new owners I'd appreciate the help!!!​
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StormyPhoenix77

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Hi, and congrats on your new friend! I don't know all the answers to your questions, but I do know that a larger tank will definitely help keep your water temperature more stable. When I had my 10 gallon it was very hard to keep it cool without constant work. Now I have a 30 gallon and the tank temp does not fluctuate much at all. The bigger the better.
From what I have seen and read, swimming to the surface for air is normal. I am not sure at what point it becomes excessive and a sign of danger, but if you are monitoring temp and water quality (as much as you can at the moment) all should be well. Frequent water changes will keep your nitrates, nitrites and ammonia in check. How many gallons is your tank? I did weekly changes on my 10 gallon and still do on my 30. If it is less than 10 you may need to do more often.
 

capn

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Hello! I'm new too! Just to put your mind at ease- I've seen lots and lots of people on here mention that having real plants in the tank will help with certain parts of water quality. Not all of it, but some of it. I have a few marimo moss balls in my tank, which are supposed to help with nitrates.

In your picture, your lotl looks fine- not stressed. I'm still brand new to them too, but the pictures I've seen of axolotls with forward gills look very different. I think they're supposed to look more hook-like, or curled up tightly if they're stressed- which doesn't look to be at all the problem with your little one.

As for cooler temps in the tank, you could try angling a fan to blow on top of the water. That will cool the water by a few degrees- which can be hugely beneficial to axolotls.

Your little lotl is very cute!
 

Rumoi

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Thanks so much for your replys!

I'm glad to hear that Lotl seems okay with her gills and I'm just worrying for what is hopefully nothing!! I may check out those marimo moss balls. They sounds like a cute addition later on. Right now I just have the banana plants, can't wait to get more for Lotl to hide in and explore!

I have the BioBubble aquatic... BioBubble Aquatic - Overview
It's definitely less than 10 gallons. I believe it supposedly holds 3 Gallons/ 11.3 litres? I'll have to double check exact quantity. Which is why I want to get a bigger tank quickly.
I've been changing 2.2 litres everyday.. on really warm days I changed up to 4 litres just in case. Since its a new tank I know I need to change and clean more to help maintain the water quality till the healthy bacteria and such have grown to help.
 

Creepella

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First of all, congratulations on getting your first axie! She looks pretty young, how long is she? (Nose to tail tip)

I'm fairly new at this myself but I've learned a few things along the way. I have two axolotls, they're both about 6 inches long now. They were three inches when I got them a couple of months ago. They can grow pretty fast, especially if the water is warm and if they're fed a lot. I'm not sure how big your tank is, but it's a good idea to start looking soon for something bigger That way you can set up and cycle the new tank in advance so it's ready when you're ready to move your axie. .

Water quality is very important now. With a new tank the bacteria that get rid of ammonia and nitrites haven't grown (cycled) yet. These chemicals are toxic to axies. I strongly suggest you buy a good water testing kit so you can keep an eye on the toxic chemicals. A lot of people use the API Master Test kit. You can get testing strips, but they're not as accurate. When the tank is not cycled, you will need to do more frequent water changes. I did daily changes with both my 10 gal tanks and now my 30 gal since it hasn't cycled yet. I just ordered a water changer, which will be my best friend until my tank is cycled! :rolleyes:

The easiest way to keep the toxins low is to do a partial water change every day until the bacterial cycle is complete. Other things you can do:

- next time you buy water conditioner, get Seachem Prime. It removes chlorine and chloramine, but it also buffers the effects of ammonia and nitrites, making them less toxic for your axolotl. In the meantime the conditioner you're using should be fine.

- get some aquarium salt and add a teaspoon for every 10 gallons of water. Do this once a week while you're doing frequent water changes. The salt will also help to reduce the effect of toxins in the water on your axolotl.

- use a turkey baster or siphon to remove poop and extra food after your axie eats. That helps reduce the ammonia.

It's good that you have a lot of live plants in your tank, because they also help to clean the water. I have moss balls in my tank. They just need to be rolled around each day so they don't turn brown on one side, and squeezed out in the tank every week, as they collect some debris from the water. My axies love to perch on them and roll them around.

Re water temperature, I do the same as you - when I change the water I add water that's a few degrees cooler. I have a standard rectangular 30 gal tank, I built a screen top for it. This allows me to put a couple of small fans on top, cooling the water by about 5 degrees. I know you can't do this with a dome shaped tank, but this idea might help when you switch to a bigger tank. Some people move their tanks near an air conditioner to cool them.

Re gills and stress. Here's a good page that has more information and some pictures of what to look for in a stressed axolotl. Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity

Based on the pics you posted I don't think her gills are showing signs of stress. My axies had their gills pointing forward for a while until I figured out that the filter was turned up too high, creating a current. Re the air gulping. It's normal for them to do this a few times per day. If they float up and can't get back down, that's a problem.
 

Swag

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Hi there, I read the full original post but didn't read the replies so pardon me if any of this is already addressed and such. This will be a long post full of lots of information, a lot of which you probably don't need, some of which you probably already know.

First thing I'll talk about is a list of things you will need, the essentials. I'm sure you already know about a lot of it or most of it but missing any of it can be a big deal so I figure it's best to just say it.
1: Freshwater testing kit for ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites.
2: A small fan to keep the water cool. More on this later.
3: A quality filter with quality media. More on this later.
4: No rocks! More on this later.
5: Dechlorinator, which you have.
6: Hides or densely planted area for the axolotl to get away from lights and such.
7: A full grown axolotl will need at least a 20 gallon tank (pref. 20 long, 30x12x12)

Fan
As for the fan, I like to get what's called a "usb stand", as well as a "usb adapter" and a usb fan. Obviously you don't need to do it exactly like this, but it's cheap, looks good, and it's quiet. The usb stand is basically just a usb plug in a plastic housing with a long cable, you plug that long cable into a usb -> wall adapter, plug that into the wall, and the fan into the upper usb stand. I used double sided tape to attach the usb stand to the rim of the tank and then some black duct tape on the outside to ensure it wouldn't fall into the tank and such. It cools by evaporation more than anything else, by constantly blowing on the surface of the water it will create faster evaporation which cools the tank, scientific wizardry stuff that I don't really understand, but it works amazingly well. I had a 50 gallon tank that stayed 60 degrees year round with just one of these fans. Here are links to the specific things I used, like I said you could change it up however you prefer. One fan will easily keep most tanks below 70 degrees, if you get up to like 75 gallon+ tanks then probably add another fan or two.

Amazon.com: ARCTIC Breeze Mobile, USB-Powered 92mm Portable Fan, Portable Cooling Solution, Quiet Fan, Mini USB Fan, Mini Gooseneck Fan for laptop and PC - White: Electronics
Amazon.com: StarTech 5ft Desktop USB Extension Cable - A Male to A Female (USBEXTAA5DSK): Electronics
Amazon.com: Bluroo Universal USB to Wall Charger - Compatible with all USB Cables - 1-pack: Cell Phones & Accessories

Filters
As far as filtration goes, some of this you may already know. My golden rule to filtration is that there's no such thing as too much filtration. However, there is such a thing as too much flow. There are 4 main kinds of filters.
Hang-on-back, which goes over the side of the tank and.. Well.. Hangs on the back. It pulls water from the tank with a pump, flows it through a little box of filter media and then it waterfalls back over into the tank. These are your most common filters especially for tanks sub-55 gallons. They're easy, cheap, but they do have limited space and most usually can't hold much filter media, which is fine depending on how stocked your tank is, for instance one fully grown axolotl in a 40 gallon would be considered a very light "bioload" so it wouldn't need that much media.
Canister, which is a bucket-like container that sits on the floor below your tank. It will have a tube coming out of the top of it, as well as the side near the bottom. The top tube will go into your tank and pull water from it, where it will go into the top of the canister and flow through multiple layers of media, then it will be pushed out of the side tube which goes back into your aquarium. This is a great filter which are easy to set up and use, have lots of space and they are convenient. I personally like that the only thing that shows in the tank are two small tubes and you can put the canister in the tank stand so it looks pretty great. They're also pretty cheap, not as cheap as hang on backs but a lot cheaper than the next option.
Sumps, a sump is kind of complicated and kind of not. It's basically another fish tank, usually smaller, set up under your tank (in the stand again) and it will have glass walls arranged in a certain manner where water is basically forced to flow through a ton of media and then pumped back up to the tank. These are popular on huge tanks (75+) and are the best pure form of filtration. The only catch is that to properly run, without running the risk of overflowing your tank, you need to drill holes in your tank and plumb it so that when water is pumped from your sump to your tank, the water level will rise, and when it rises it will overflow into the plumbing and back down into the sump. This isn't really practical for smaller tanks but pretty much necessity for huge tanks. Another big plus is that it adds a ton of water volume to a tank, for instance if you have a 75 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump, it's basically like having a 95 gallon tank, and thus you can stock it accordingly.
The last main form of filtration is sponge filters. These are very basic, easy, and cheap. All you need to power them is an aquarium air pump, which are cheap, and some airline tubing, which is also cheap. Basically the way it works you'll have a plastic tube with holes in it and a sponge wrapped around it, you put the airline into the middle of the plastic tube and the bubbles will pull water through the holes, thus through the sponge, and pull the water up the plastic tube and thus filter the water. Bacteria will collect on the sponge, that bacteria will filter your water.
A lot of people on here use a combination of hang on back and sponge filters. There are also a lot of diy filters you can make using bottles, pumps, media, etc. that you can find on youtube.

Media
Filter media can be a lot of things. Some are easier to deal with than others, some only work when used in a certain way. Easy and cheap things include aquarium sponge, 'ceramic media', nylon plastic dish scrubbers (non-used, no soap!), and lava rock. These simply require water flowing through them. Bacteria will form on them in time, this bacteria will eat the ammonia produced by the waste of your axolotl and turn it into nitrites, which is then eaten by your bacteria and turned into nitrates. Nitrates require water changes or a 'planted filter' to be taken out. A 'planted filter' is basically where you take certain kinds of house plant (most commonly the 'pothos' plant, cheap!) and put the roots in the filter. As water passes the roots, the roots eat the nitrates, and if you have enough of this you can potentially extremely long periods of time without needing to do water changes. More complicated media would be stuff like K1 Kaldness. K1 is used in what's called a "moving bed filter", basically you load an area in a sump with this K1, which is basically just little plastic rings, and then you put a powerful airline under them, this causes them to swirl around and crash into eachother, ensuring that only the strongest bacteria thrive on them and thus creating a no-maintenance form of filtration. Very handy if you can set it up, as the easy media I listed requires being rinsed every month or two. For small tanks you can actually take a plastic water bottle and load it with a liter of K1, drill some holes for water to come in and one small hole for an airline then just put it in a corner of your tank. There are a lot of videos for this online if you care to make one, a liter of K1 is like $7 on ebay.


Rocks
Rocks and gravel can cause big problems in an axolotl's life. Right now the rocks in the pictures are fine as the axolotl is just a baby still, but basically any rock that is small enough to fit in their mouth is unsafe. If it fits, they can eat it, if they eat it, they won't be able to digest it. If they can't digest it, they sadly perish. Like I said right now he can't eat those but definitely no rocks once you move on to a bigger tank. Some people use big river rocks (ones like twice the size of a full grown axolotl's mouth) as substrate, but I find that uneaten food, poop, and detritus (gross stuff that shows up in the low-current areas of a tank over time) will build up in and under the rocks, just a pain to keep clean. Most people use sand, but they say no sand until the axolotl is 4-5" long as even sand can cause digestive problems in very small axolotls. I myself prefer bare bottom but only with the bottom glass painted (on the outside of the tank).



I think that covers a lot of area, probably too much stuff really. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Sorry if I was a bit long-winded, but aquariums can be tricky especially when first starting out and from what you've already said you seem like you'll do great!
 

Swag

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Also her getting air isn't a big deal and you can't tell much from the gills other than if the 'feathers' shrink up and look bad then the axolotl could be sick or the water could be bad, you'll know if it you see it.
 

Rumoi

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Wow! Thanks for all the helpful info!! I'm really glad to have found this site. This is exactly the sort of advice I was looking/hoping for ^_^ I probably should have tried owning fish before jumping to the axolotl, the poor dear has a very inexperienced caretaker.

I'll definitely look further into everything. Especially the larger tank (plus whatever filter/media it will have), water testing kits and Seachem prime - right now I have Nutrafin Aqua Plus which doesn't seem to treat ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites, though it does protect the skin and reduce stress supposedly.
 

SnotOtter

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I probably should have tried owning fish before jumping to the axolotl, the poor dear has a very inexperienced caretaker.

I'll definitely look further into everything. Especially the larger tank (plus whatever filter/media it will have), water testing kits and Seachem prime - right now I have Nutrafin Aqua Plus which doesn't seem to treat ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites, though it does protect the skin and reduce stress supposedly.

Dont fret you have to start somewhere and in my opinion axolotls are more resilient than fish. The frequent daily water changes alone would kill most hobby fish. Nothing regenerates like a lotl!

Aqua plus is developed for fish, not that its detrimental for axolotls, but the skin protection and stress reduction probably doesnt apply to amphibians. It stimulates scale slime production in fish, which makes them more disease resistant. Its about the equivalent of aloe vera to us. Prime is a great product but no replacement long term for water changes and proper filtration. It will definitely make tank cycling easier on your new friend.

Good luck!
 

Rumoi

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I forgot to say that Lotl is around 3.5-4 inches... seems to be closer to 4 inches now.
 
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