Question: Advice please: Stones or Stress?

Hello all,

I am new to this forum and new to the wonderful world of Axolotls.

I got two axolotls yesterday, and very lovely they are too. However, I do have a problem, and I would really appreciate some advice.

The axolotls came to me with all the setup included, which is great, but the tank in which they have been living has some sand and some gravel on the bottom. They've been in it for at least 3 weeks with no obvious ill effects, but obviously I am keen to get the gravel out as quickly as possible - I have already spotted one of them coughing a stone out.

My problem is that the gravel is all mixed in with the sand. I have tried to get as much out as I can with a scoop and with my hand, but I can't work out how to clear it completely without emptying out the whole tank. I'm keen not to stress the axolotls out any more than necessary.

Can anyone suggest the best course of action? Thank you.

use a siphon pump or a turkey baster to take out the gravel, then sift it with a net, and add back in the sand. That's my 2 cents anyway.

Scoop it out with a dust pan or something of the sort. You should probably remove the axies from the tank while you do this as it might stress them, and it could make your water kind of cloudy.

Thank you for both suggestions.

I did try scooping the stones up with a scoop but, as you say, the water went very cloudy with the sand, and I was worried about stressing out the axolotls with the movement. I don't have another tank to put them in though - can I just put them in a clean bucket or something while I clear out the stones?

I don't have a turkey baster and I'm not even sure what a siphon pump is, but maybe I should invest in one or the other!

Thanks for your help

You can just use alarge Tupperware container it bucket, the bigger the floor space the better

How deep is the substrate? If it is deep enough it will have anaroebic bacteria in it that will die when exsposed to The oxygenated water. first definetly take axies out if playing with substrate. Secondly test parameters of water afterwards.
Ive used fish nets to sift gravel out of sand before it works.

The sand isn't very deep at all - maybe half an inch at most.

I'll have a go at putting the axies in a large bucket - presuming I can prise the cats away from the tank long enough to shut the door on them!!