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Question: Cycling? and Tank Sizes?

NovaRose

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I'm clueless. What is cycling? Is it nessisary? Is there special kits for testing the water? Also, I heard 2 adult lotls are fine in one 10 gallon. This seems very small. What would be an appropriate size tank for maybe up to three axolotls? I know this is a lot, but I need the advice. Thanks!
 

Boomsloth

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Cycling is necessary and it is establishing a biological filter to remove harmful waste from the tank.
10 gallons is good for one axolotl and two will require at least 20 but more water volume is better.

To cycle a tank requires a good test kit (API liquid master test kit is good) and an ammonia source (pure ammonia, food etc)

Axolotls that are just thrown into a new tank that has just been filled up with water will over the course of a few weeks get very sick and may even die.


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limnologist

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Cycling is promoting the growth of bacteria in your water, the bacteria clean up the waste and make the water safe. Its very necessary. Its also simple, when u want to cycle a take, to do it naturally, add the water, then add some old aquarium water or a plant or some special bottle "cycling liquid" that u can get at the pet store. Let the water sit for a few days after that before introducing the animals.
 

limnologist

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Its best to keep one axolotl per ten gallons, but, once you become a pro at caring for them its possible to keep 3 in a 10 gal tank.
 

rachel1

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I feel that would be extremely crowded. Adult Axolotls can grow to 13" long- 3 in a 10 gallon couldn't even stretch out without bumping each other, and maintaining water quality would be a nightmare. I like a 40 gallon breeder for 3 adults. You can probably get away with a bit smaller, but if they're going to spend their whole life in that habitat, the more room to explore the better.
Read up on cycling- it is essential to maintaining a healthy aquarium long term. Also, very little of the bacteria are living in the water column. It is much more effective to borrow a piece of used filter media to kick start your cycling bacteria than to use dirty water.
Things to keep in mind:
Cycling can take a long time- best to start 6-8 weeks before you get your Axolotl's.
Never change all your filter media at once- you will throw out your good bacteria and most likely will have to cycle again.
Clean your filter media in dirty tank water- chlorine kills your good bacteria.
Try to choose filter media that can be cleaned and reused, like sponges and ceramic media.
Buy a test kit, add ammonia daily as needed- watch for ammonia spike, then nitrite spike, when ammonia and nitrite drop to zero, you will have a nitrate reading and your tank is cycled.
 

Boomsloth

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I'm going to add that there is chlorine in most tap water and a good dechlorinater like seachem prime is important to be using.


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Xtophr

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Here are some links. Since your axolotl is in the tank, you are NOT doing a fishless cycle, so DO NOT add ammonia to the tank.

Axolotls are different than fish - they tend to be messier, and their skins are very sensitive, so don't take any 'generic' guidelines about fish literally. You don't want ammonia to get over .5 ppm (and I don't recall the maximum nitrite value, as in a cycled tank it should be zero), and nitrates shouldn't get over 40 ppm.

Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling

Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity

http://www.axolotlonline.com/axolotl-housing/cycling-a-tank/

Fish-in Cycling: Step over into the dark side. - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community
 

keiko

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Its best to keep one axolotl per ten gallons, but, once you become a pro at caring for them its possible to keep 3 in a 10 gal tank.

It is NEVER ok to keep 3 adult axolotls in a 10 gallon tank. That's like putting you and a couple of friends in a bathroom stall. I wouldn't even suggest putting one axie in a 10 gallon tank. Axolotls are big and if taken care of have long lives so better just get good tank right from the beginning.
 

auntiejude

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It is NEVER ok to keep 3 adult axolotls in a 10 gallon tank.
I agree - way too small for 3 adults.

The accepted basic formula is 10gal per axie plus 10gal - so 2 axies would need 30gal. It is possible to work with a larger tank and more axies - 6 axies would work in a 60gal as long as it's long rather than deep.

However, some universities keep their axies in small (2-5gal) containers and change the water daily, but they are research animals as opposed to pets.
 

axys

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uh i wrote a really long reply about water conditions in a previous post but i cant find it now... so ill make this one slightly shorter. 10 gallon is pretty small, i suggest 10 gallons per single adult. if u get larger tanks u can do maybe more axys per 10 gallons but if u want 3 axys i suggest atleast a 30g. as with everything, the bigger the better.

as for cycling, yeah its necessary, i read from some "experts " that its not necessary but they breed and sell so the axy usually doesnt spend too much time in their hands anyway. i always think u should go with the safest bet. Cycling settles a biological micro environment in ur tank. these are things like certain bacterias that will reduce ammonia levels and keep ur axy healthy. if u dont want to take a full weak cycling u could use api quick start. its suppose to have cultures of good bact already in it. idk how well it wworks, i just bought it but its an option. when ur tank is cycled and u want to clean it bc its dirty or bc of algae i suggest u take out some of the old water and substrate and keep it somewhere and add it int he new and clean tank and water after. tht will help speed the establishment of the bio-env. hope this helps
 

keiko

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uh i wrote a really long reply about water conditions in a previous post but i cant find it now... so ill make this one slightly shorter. 10 gallon is pretty small, i suggest 10 gallons per single adult. if u get larger tanks u can do maybe more axys per 10 gallons but if u want 3 axys i suggest atleast a 30g. as with everything, the bigger the better.

as for cycling, yeah its necessary, i read from some "experts " that its not necessary but they breed and sell so the axy usually doesnt spend too much time in their hands anyway. i always think u should go with the safest bet. Cycling settles a biological micro environment in ur tank. these are things like certain bacterias that will reduce ammonia levels and keep ur axy healthy. if u dont want to take a full weak cycling u could use api quick start. its suppose to have cultures of good bact already in it. idk how well it wworks, i just bought it but its an option. when ur tank is cycled and u want to clean it bc its dirty or bc of algae i suggest u take out some of the old water and substrate and keep it somewhere and add it int he new and clean tank and water after. tht will help speed the establishment of the bio-env. hope this helps

Cycling takes a lot longer than "a full week". The fastest I know is 3 weeks, but most of the time it'll take even longer.
The bacteria lives in the filter and on all the surfaces in the tank, not in the water. So it's not necessary to save old water. However if you're thinking of doing a 100% water change you need to be sure there will still be "food" for the bacteria to eat (like a living axie in the tank producing wastes). You should never clean the tank so well that you kill or get rid of all the bacteria.
And when it comes to the bottled bacteria, I'd recommend staying away from them. First of all most of the time they don't work as well as they should resulting in ammonia poisoning for the axie. Second, they contain chemicals that could be harmful to axies. And third, I've heard about cycles that have been started with bottled bacteria just crashing all of a sudden with no apparent reason.
 

Boomsloth

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And when it comes to the bottled bacteria, I'd recommend staying away from them. First of all most of the time they don't work as well as they should resulting in ammonia poisoning for the axie. Second, they contain chemicals that could be harmful to axies. And third, I've heard about cycles that have been started with bottled bacteria just crashing all of a sudden with no apparent reason.


I've heard it's because it's not the correct type of bacteria being cultures or that it's too much bacteria and the bacteria dies off. Anyway totally agree it's not worth it.


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axys

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Cycling takes a lot longer than "a full week". The fastest I know is 3 weeks, but most of the time it'll take even longer.
The bacteria lives in the filter and on all the surfaces in the tank, not in the water. So it's not necessary to save old water. However if you're thinking of doing a 100% water change you need to be sure there will still be "food" for the bacteria to eat (like a living axie in the tank producing wastes). You should never clean the tank so well that you kill or get rid of all the bacteria.
And when it comes to the bottled bacteria, I'd recommend staying away from them. First of all most of the time they don't work as well as they should resulting in ammonia poisoning for the axie. Second, they contain chemicals that could be harmful to axies. And third, I've heard about cycles that have been started with bottled bacteria just crashing all of a sudden with no apparent reason.

thx for letting me know about the bacteria bottle, im new to keeping axolotls so im experimenting with the products right now. glad i didnt add it to my tank yet!
 

layna

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The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community

This is a pretty decent guide to cycling.

You want to be looking for 1 foot of floor space per axie then an extra foot for filter and decor ect so ideally for three axies you want a 4 foot long tank. It needs to be around 1 foot tall too.
You will need a test kit to test your tank for ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte. A cycled tank should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and you should keep the nitrAtes less than 40ppm. A good master test kit is the API freshwater master test kit which tests for ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, you can find this on amazon for around £20 :)
Once you tank is cycled you will need to do weekly water changes of at least 20% and add dechlorintor to the water before you add it to the tank, API stress coat + is a good one or a lot of people also use prime.
You will need at least 6 weeks to cycle a tank without axies in it so make sure you start before you get your axies, my cycle took 10 weeks but im in england so its colder.
 
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