Question: Cooling question

I have two baby axies, Jenson and Lewis. Here in England we are having something currenty resembling Summer and their water temp is reaching 25 degrees.

I have moved them to the landing (coolest room in house, no windows) but its not had much effect. As they are so small, 2 inches long maybe and just got their back legs, and they are currently living in 15 litre aquariums. I have read about cooing on here (chillers, ice packs, water changes mainy) but not sure if these would be suitable and/or safe for small babies in small tanks. I know our hot weather probably ont last but worried incase it does

What would you experienced people recommend the safest way to cool them without cooling too much and yo-yoing temps too much under these circumstances?

Thanks :happy:

Considering that you live in the UK, the heat probably won't last long. So I'd fridge the little guys.

Axolotls can stay fridged for months on end if need be. The little ones won't be harmed by it.
It will be especially easy since they are so small. Get some plastic tupperware containers that give them enough room to move around a little, fill it with dechlorinated water and put them in the fridge. Keep extra dechlorinated water in the fridge with them, because you will have to do daily water changes, and you don't want to have to wait for the water to cool down to change it.
Be sure to keep the containers covered with a towel so that they don't get startled by the fridge light.

Once the heat dies down, take them out and float the containers in their tank for a few hours until the temperatures are equal, then you can release them again.

Thank you. I think I will do that. Didnt know you could put them in the fridge. Whats the score with feeding whist in the fridge? They are eating live daphnia the moment.

They probably won't be too hungry at fridge temps. And I don't think the daphnia would live very long in that water! Have you tried frozen foods yet? Your best bet would be to try frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms.

And as long as it's not more than 3-4 days, they'd be fine with zero food while they're in the fridge, honestly. But it's always good to try to feed them anyways.

also, larger volumes of water can maintain stable temperatures better. The larger tank you can house them in, the more stability it will have.

I also swear by aquarium fans if you don't want to fridge them. I've got a little fan that clips to my tank and brings the temperature down about 4 degrees. It's a very gradual drop, so it doesn't shock the little axie at all and I still get to watch her swim around and play.

I agree with the recommendation for using fans.This may be worth a try before fridging. Here is the article on the topic:
Caudata Culture Articles - Cooling

Agreed on the fan- the bigger the better! With the fan going (before I invested in a proper chiller), I could knock of five degrees c.
Some other things:
-Tie a rock to the bricks to sink them for more even cooling- Beware that you DO have to change them out every 45minutes to an hour and a half to keep the temp stable (to put a number on it).
-Make sure you get a REALLY good quality frozen brine shrimp if you're going down that path- mine ended up sick the one time I tried it on them, so ask around (especially on here) to find the ones that are the best quality. Otherwise, some nice small earthworms are good, as are pellets, bloodworms, blackworms (If you can get your hands on them), and (if available from a clean source, slugs.
-When coming out of the fridge, I'd probably be putting them in a cooler bag with an ice brick for 24 hours before floating them- it's a long way up from 4c. Also whilst in the fridge, can you disable the light? I've had ice forming when using the tea towel method (no damage done to the axie in question, but very alarming for me!) , but by the same token, my fridge sits around the 2c mark and I'm explicitly forbidden from touching the thermostat.
Good luck!

Also, could us aussies PLEASE have our summers back?

I'm in England too and my axolotl has had to go in the fridge. My fridge is bizarrely at 15 degrees as I think the thermostat is broken but its a good temperature (but I have to keep up normal feeding at that temperature).

I wouldn't be too nervous about putting them in the fridge, especially if you plan to set up cooling fans as it may take you several days to find, purchase, deliver and install them. They'd be better off in the fridge until you choose whether to invest in them.

Thank you all very helpful

I am having the same issue, here is a pic of what I have done. It keeps the temp at 22c.



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Thanks Callum, Ive got something similar on the go now

Sorry just had to jump in and say Jenson and Lewis = Fantastic names Gotta love F1.

On topic The temperature spike here in Scotland over the last couple of days but seems to be dropping down now. If it gets a bit warm I position a fan over the surface of the water. Seems to do the trick but not sure it wouldn't work over the long term.

Nova said:

Sorry just had to jump in and say Jenson and Lewis = Fantastic names Gotta love F1.

Click to expand...

Thank you

It has gone a bit cooler now. I didnt find the fan helped much though in the end. Lewis started to float today so he's just gone the fridge. Ive left Jenson out as he seems OK. Will watch his temp and reconsider this if needed though. Love my little axies so worried. I know Lewis should be fine in the fridge but its so tempting to go and look (I wont thogh)