Questions - New Axie owner

Hello! I got my very first axie last night and it's a little 2.5-3 inch albino I've decided to call Lumos :happy: He's currently hanging out in his 10 gallon holding tank while we let his permanent 30 gallon cycle through completely. He'll likely move into that in a week or two.

Anyways, I have just a few questions in regards to his care that I haven't quite found definite answers for scouring these forums.

1. My tap water naturally has a pH of 7.4-7.6. If I just use dechlorinator he can safely live in this water, correct? Everything I've seen tell me different ranges and it's kind of confusing.

2. What should I feed him at this size, and how often? I still have to go to the store after work today and buy him food. I'm guessing he's too small still for earthworms just yet. I have some floating blood worms from our fish that I gave him this morning to tide him over, but I doubt this are sufficient. I need suggestions of things I can get from a Petsmart or Walmart.

3. He's got two legs that look like they haven't grown the actual foot on them yet. Is this normal or is is possible he got them nipped off in his over crowded tank he came from? I know they can re-generate limbs and he gets around totally fine on it and doesn't seem phased so I'm not too concerned, but figured it was worth an ask.

4. Is he too small to live with a few ghost shrimp? I understand they'll likely get eaten as he gets bigger, but I like to use the little guys when cycling new tanks and they help with cleanup once occupied too, which is a great bonus.

I think that's everything I have for right now. Thanks in advance for all the help!

Hey there! Welcome aboard!

1. Your pH is fine, (that is the ideal range imo actually.) From what I’ve read as long as they are acclimated properly and there are no swings in water parameters- they can handle anywhere from 6.5 - 8.0

2. I feed my two lotls chopped earthworms as a staple, however, a varied diet is the best. I suggest for simplicity’s sake you give yours chopped “Canadian nightcrawlers” as a staple and throw in some treats like frozen (not freeze dried) bloodworms. You can also try red wiggler earthworms but mine are a bit picky about eating those, they secrete a nasty goo when chopped up and some caudates don’t like this goo. Another option is to literally dig up your own earthworms from the ground! Just make sure the area is pesticide/herbicide clean- when in doubt, don’t dig.

3. I have an albino lotl who was kept in a tropical fish tank at a pet store, he was missing all limbs and his gills were badly damaged. He is doing great on his road to recovery. Your little fella should be okay, just keep the water nice and clean and avoid stressful situations, (s)he’ll do great.

4. I’m a bit hesitant with ghost shrimp. Maybe I’m just paranoid but hear me out: I had a batch of ghost shrimp come in once for a planted shrimp tank I was setting up. They all looked exactly the same other than the size difference. A few weeks in and I started having shrimp disappear, a month in and they were all gone- I couldn’t find a single ghost shrimp. This was a HEAVILY planted tank mind you, but it was a 20 long with (originally) about 150 shrimp. I figured they where dying and being eaten by each other, oh boy was I wrong... 5 months later I was doing a routine water change and I saw a strange bluish stick in there, I thought it was maybe a piece of plastic so I reached in and grabbed it. Turns out it was the claw of a giant Malaysian river prawn. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard a grown 250 pound man scream before but it is very loud. My point is 90% of the time pet stores have no idea that ghost shrimp look exactly like baby river prawns to the “Everyman”- now the chances of this happening are very low but be careful, also make sure the shrimp aren’t aggressive or ill looking. Otherwise they’ll make a okay snack for Lumos.

I wish you the best of luck and if you have any other questions please ask.