New Slate Bottom Axolotl Tank!

benh · Oct 15, 2009

Looks even better with the wood! Beautiful tank - and some happy Axies

Tom Highum · Oct 15, 2009

How long does it take for the gills to grow back? Where did you get the shrimp?

nickjwes · Oct 16, 2009

Tom Highum said:
How long does it take for the gills to grow back? Where did you get the shrimp?

For my Golden Albino it took may be 2 weeks for his one gill to grow back. As for Harvey, He wont ever grow gills on the right side. I guess it's just a genetic defect but I've had him almost 6 months maybe and he still hasn't shown any growth in his right gills. As for the shrimp they are Ghost Shrimp which are pretty available on the web and in most pet shops as feeders. I generally get them at a specialty fish shop near me called The Hidden Reef and they're like 5/$1.00 which is nice when they tend to get eaten from time to time.

I finally snapped a shot of Harvey so here it is (and a few others of course-please bear with the mess):

Harvey (His right gill is missing)

Caught him in plain sight. He likes to hide. Clear view of his missing right gills.

Of course I have to include the other two.

Golden Albino

I want to give credit to Michael Shromm as all of these axolotls were purchased from him and are amazing and healthy specimens. Thanks!

Coastal Groovin · Oct 16, 2009

This is a great idea but I don't see why you would have to glue these tiles down. Their weight should be enough to keep them down flat with the glass. Any waste that got under would be minimal. and easy enough to remove.

gilbertjelly · Oct 17, 2009

Hi
Your tank is amazing :smile:
I love it
I'm thinking i might try something similar
hope you don't mind me copying some of your ideas
My tank is 60cm long x 30 wide x 45 height i'm not sure how many litres that is?
Before you mentioned about the load on the tank do you think that my tank will be ok to put in a slate bottom?
I noticed that in your earlier photos was a shrimp i've have also been thinking i'd like to put some in with my axie how do you find them together?

thanks
Gilbertjelly

nickjwes · Oct 17, 2009

BillYannone said:
This is a great idea but I don't see why you would have to glue these tiles down. Their weight should be enough to keep them down flat with the glass. Any waste that got under would be minimal. and easy enough to remove.

The reason I silicone-ed them around the edges was because they weren't a perfect fit. I also did it because I wanted ti to be a permanent fix. The slate tiles can also easily chip from the edges and they would ideally need to be ground down on the edges since they can be decently sharp. Using the silicone keeps them solid in place and covers the edges. As for wast and such I like to keep it to a minimal so that I don't have to at some point get under the tiles and clean (they're not perfectly flat or square- they have ridges, meant for gluing them to floors, on the bottom where stuff could collect).

gilbertjelly said:
Hi
Your tank is amazing :smile:
I love it
I'm thinking i might try something similar
hope you don't mind me copying some of your ideas
My tank is 60cm long x 30 wide x 45 height i'm not sure how many litres that is?
Before you mentioned about the load on the tank do you think that my tank will be ok to put in a slate bottom?
I noticed that in your earlier photos was a shrimp i've have also been thinking i'd like to put some in with my axie how do you find them together?

thanks
Gilbertjelly

As for your tank, I'm sure it would be fine because your tank is approximately 20 US gallons so it would require about 40 pounds of gravel and the tiles will weigh less than that. The only thing you may have to worry about is cutting them to fit, but you could always overlap them or something. As far as the shrimp with my axolotls, they seem to do fine only thing is the axolotls like to eat them (which is fine with me). They seem to entertain the axolotls especially when the axies try to sneak up on them for a quick snack. They are pretty cool to watch.

gilbertjelly · Oct 19, 2009

Hi
Thanks for the great info
I'll have to get some shrimp
i've seen shrimp here they look very similar to the one in your photo
called glass shrimp
Thanks again :happy:

keq · Jun 3, 2010

Wow, that is amazing! After 2 months and 2 rounds of substrate changes I am considering this option. I don't plan to silicone mine down though as I will need to sell this tank and get a larger one in about a year. Do you think it would work for me to just put silicone around the sharp edges on the tiles and then add the tiles to the tank once the silicone has cured?

Thanks,
Kori

cellowithgills · Jun 17, 2010

I saw this and loved the idea, so I did it in my tank too. Just giving you the credit.

SeanB · Jul 2, 2010

Wow this looks so good!
The only thing i dont like is the plants, I dont know how i would keep my plants down.
Even if i bought the ones with the weight to them, it still doesnt look that great.
Maybe i should silcone it down or something.
I have Moon Sand and i think its a pain.
The slate looks great and i LOVE IT!

Great Tank

nickjwes · Nov 17, 2010

Hey thanks, sorry havent been on here in a little while, glad to hear people are still appreciating my tank, I\As far as the plants go I drilled holes in the very very very dense mopani wood and rooted them in there and they seem to take on their own from there- I have to get some new pictures up because the moss is starting to grow all by itself and the Wood is looking better.

e23ho · Dec 25, 2011

Hey there - I am at my wit's end with trying to find a substrate that works for me and my axies, which are currently living in buckets waiting for their new tank to be ready (just moved back home and although I have a 55 that I just vacated it's currently full of gravel - but I will be using cycled water from there to start them off)!

I love the slate idea, and if I can combine part of my tank slate and the other part "glued down" sand and river rocks I think it would look awesome. HOWEVER, the tank is not mine and I can't glue anything to it. How would the folks here suggest accomplishing this? I'm wondering if I use plexiglass or something to glue the substrate to then lower it into the tank, would that work or would waste just get into the sides and sit underneath the plexi?

AWESOME TANK btw

!

Ryanne · Dec 13, 2016

I really, really love the look of your tile bottom. Is this tile safe for axies? I am so confused as to what is ok and what isn't when using tile.

Daltile Continental Slate Asian Black 12 in. x 12 in. Porcelain Floor and Wall Tile (15 sq. ft. / case)-CS5312121P6 - The Home Depot

Purpletotodile · Dec 15, 2016

Love your new tank bottom!
Just a quick question, is it possible to make a tiled slate bottom? As in it would look similar to a checkerboard?

Ryanne · Dec 16, 2016

Is this the right stuff?

georgiarh10 · Dec 31, 2016

Wow, this looks amazing! I really thought about a slate bottom for my tank, but I never got around to it, so I have sand instead. I might use slate for my quarantine tank... we will see!

Has anyone got a substrate in their quarantine tank? I just think bare-bottom is so boring..! but easy to keep clean which is a necessary bonus for a quarantine tank, I suppose.

Really great work, your tank looks awesome, and the new pictures with the wood centrepiece are incredible! Did you buy the wood with the plants on it already?

mojester · Jun 1, 2017

Hi, I'm still doing a lot of research before getting an axolotl. I love the idea of slate on the bottom instead of sand. I think you said you didn't put silicone on the bottom of the tiles, is that correct? How did you attach the tile to the bottom of the tank?

Thank you.:happy:

Lupejkis · Apr 20, 2023

Looks great, how did you know the slate was safe? I went and looked at some but, got overwhelmed. I was worried I would pick the wrong one.

nickjwes · Jun 2, 2023

mojester said:
Hi, I'm still doing a lot of research before getting an axolotl. I love the idea of slate on the bottom instead of sand. I think you said you didn't put silicone on the bottom of the tiles, is that correct? How did you attach the tile to the bottom of the tank?

Thank you.:happy:

You don’t need to silicone under or around them but I did and it seems to be good still after years.

nickjwes · Jun 2, 2023

Lupejkis said:
Looks great, how did you know the slate was safe? I went and looked at some but, got overwhelmed. I was worried I would pick the wrong one.

I got the idea from really old tanks that used to come with a slate bottom and metal frames.

I went with the cheap basic lowes slate tile and they even cut them down for me. I don’t know if they still do that though

New Slate Bottom Axolotl Tank!

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