No real plants, no oxygen in the water?

Heya!

As of today i've started an aquarium in which I hopefully will raise 2 axolotl's. But first things first; readying the tank.

So I added water and fine sand, so that's a good thing, right? Tonight i'm gonna buy the interior; some stones and fake plants. Fake, because I just don't want to and keep real plants. I was just wondering if this ccould harm the water in any way bad for axies? Or should I buy something to keep the water 'breathing'?

Thanks in advance!

As far as I know plants are not necessary but I'm sure they help. I think you should add a couple of real plants though, they require little or no care (maybe a little pruning of dead bits and overgrown bits). I have 2 fake and 2 real plants in my aquarium.
Maybe an air stone might help oxidise the tank if you are adamant not to keep real plants.

I´m personally a huge fan of live plants. You either use live plants or a filter....without any of those, keeping a tank healthy is a lot more work(it can be done of course but requires extra effort). There are some live plants that are perfect for a caudate tank and require no care at all except some light and the cleaning of rotten material(which you have to do anyway for the axolotl´s feces).
I prefer plants over filters cause axolotls are stil water creatures and a strong current wil stress them.

Thanks for the answers. You guys kinda convinced me to take a few live plants. Would be fun, actually. Thanks. )

So you dont need a filter if you have live plants?

If you have enough and do the necessary partial water changes....no. That´s my opinion though, you may encounter others. It works for me....but then again my aquariums are FULL of plants....

Greg31 said:

So you dont need a filter if you have live plants?

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This depends greatly on your skill level, your water quality out of the tap, and the bioload in your tank. Average temperatures, lighting and tank volume all come into play here. That and the adherence to an ironclad tank water chemistry maintenance schedule will increase your workload maintaining the tank quite a bit.

Filterless axolotl tanks should only be attempted by extremely experienced aquarists.

For the average pet keeper, live plants or not, you will need a filter.

SmartBartje said:

Heya!

As of today i've started an aquarium in which I hopefully will raise 2 axolotl's. But first things first; readying the tank.

So I added water and fine sand, so that's a good thing, right? Tonight i'm gonna buy the interior; some stones and fake plants. Fake, because I just don't want to and keep real plants. I was just wondering if this ccould harm the water in any way bad for axies? Or should I buy something to keep the water 'breathing'?

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

My vote is always for live plants. Fake plants are a pain to clean, and I am a lazy guy... Fake plants tend to make nothing more than an excellent surface for algae to grow on in my experience.

As for oxygen saturation, this varies greatly with the carbonate hardness of the water, the pH and the temperature. Then, to make it even more daunting, when you throw in water volume and bioload it becomes a very interesting mathematics exercise.

One thing to keep in mind with live plants though: Do your homework on these BEFORE you buy them. Many plants in the aquarium trade do not do well in axolotl water temperatures. Also, many require intense lighting, which axolotls are generally not fond of.

A bit of time with the search function here on the forums, using keywords like "plants, quarantine, and aquascaping" will open up even more information to you on this topic.

Shameless Plug:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=62407

I really don't do very much at all to maintain my plants.

Hi Smartbartje,

There are pros and cons of keeping live water plants versus artificial water plants such as those made from silk or plastic as well as keeping any plants in the first place.

Advantages of keeping live plants in tank
- Provides hiding places
- Beautifies the tank
- Allows eggs/spermatophores to be attached to
- Provides larger surface area for beneficial bacteria to colonise
- Can buffer against ammonia and nitrite spikes

Disadvantages
- Well its alive so you got ensure you provide at least 6 hours of lighting.
- They can rot and die and if unremoved, can contribute to nitrogenous wastes.
- They can sometimes introduce unwanted parasites and other microorganisms, therefore you would need to quarantine your new plants first.
- There are some species of plants that can thrive better in a cold water tank such as the anubias over other species of water plants (especially some plant cuttings) that would tend to die quite easily. You would need to research the plants available to you whether they are suitable for your tank.
- Your axolotls may rip the plants out when snouting or digging around.

Here is a link that may be useful to you.

http://faq.thekrib.com/plant-list.html

Cheers.