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I'm new here, so I'll introduce myself

KookaRocha

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Hey all,

New Axie owner here, but years of experience with freshwater, saltwater, etc etc etc.

So the setup: 55 gallon, filled to about 45 gal, 10 gallon wet/dry filter with about 6 gallons of water, 2 gallons worth of bioballs. Pump moving about 60 gallons per hour - No current. Avg. about 67 degrees.

In the tank: Large river rocks, 2 large flagstones, a couple broken pots for cover, and for the time being Elodia, Cabomba, and Dwarf Water Lettuce. Coming soon: Giant Marimo balls & Christmas Fern.

2 axies, both 4 months old, and 1 melanoid and 1 leucistic.

Tank mates, about a dozen large Ghost (glass) shrimp - with all the space between the large rocks and the plants, LOTS of places for these guys to hide, and clean.

Quick question though, are the leucistic known for getting very pale, but otherwise looking very healthy?

For those that will ask, tank conditions: (toward the end of a startup cycle, but never got an ammonia spike (too much water)) Nitrate-0 Nitrite-0 GH (hardness) 150ppm (hard) Chlorine-0 KH(alkalinity)-between 120-180ppm PH:7.8-9 and Ammonia- between .6 - .7ppm. (like I said, still cycling)

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layna

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i realise i didnt actually answer your question. yes they go paler when resting, their gills especially go pale, but when they are feeding or active they gain colour as the blood flows, you generally notice the gills go bright pink/red
:D
 

Jen10s

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Yes welcome to the forum.

Agree with Layna, the gills are paler when resting and brighter pink / red when active or eating, love the pics, keep them coming :happy:
 

KookaRocha

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Thanks for the greetings everyone. Good to know about their color. I wasn't too concerned considering near perfect water conditions, they're eating well, and don't look stress or otherwise ill, but thanks for the clarification.

Sir Kippy, thanks, I spent some time figuring out the tank the way I want it. This is actually just the beginning. So you all know what is planned:

The Elodia and the Cabomba are only the beginning, I had a debate between adding the dwarf water lettuce or duckweed, as both grow so abundantly I can't really, or shouldn't really have both. I went with the dwarf water lettuce since it's larger and less likely to get sucked into my drain.

I have a Giant Marimo ball on order, and likely will get a few more in time. I also have some Christmas fern on the way, and will likely allow it to grow enough to make a partial backdrop. Once that grows in a bit, I'm going to find some Driftwood (very large) and, after removing as many tannins as I can, I'm going to use some mesh to get some java fern growing on it.

I've picked lots of plants that I will let you all know later, all that grow in low light, and cold water conditions.

Like I said before too, Lots of shrimp. I don't like sand, so very large river rocks, all are at least 3" in width. With that size it creates huge gaps, not enough for the Axies to really get in, but MORE than enough for the ghost(glass) shrimp to take refuge.

Also, if many of you don't know, if you don't feed the ghost shrimp flake food, they will gladly eat any axie leftovers. In fact I have one LARGE ghostie that has spent the past 2-3 days on a small piece of red wiggler. Not to mention they're perfect plant landscapers.

Oh, and names. My wife decided we should name the Melanoid after my friend Jaime. I'll share the reasons she posted on facebook:

1. after living off crickets (equivalent of hamburgers) [LFS fed crickets not worms] he rejects all possible healthy food. When he does eat, he eats like a horse.
2. since he was forced to move he has been grouchy and will do nothing but stare at the wall
3. after being sick he is able to regenerate
4. even being an aquatic animal he is not very god swimmer nor can he go on land
5. he has poor aim (inside joke, he's a state LEO and is a miserable shot)

So, that's why the melanoid is Jaime, now the second, we weren't exactly original, Falcor. Nuff Said.

So, with all that said - thanks again for the friendly welcome, and I hope to see all your shots and share mine in the future.

Take care!
 

Sir Kippy

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They are the best names!! (I have only had nice dealing with people named Jamie)
I love the shrimp idea! Do your Axolotls bother them much?
 

KookaRocha

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The axies are still only 4 moths old, so only Falcor has been stalking the shrimp, but can't do anything to them. But I did two things to delay the inevitable, I chose the largest ones at the LFS, a few of them are almost 3 inches long, and like I said before, all those big rocks leave LOTS of escape routes.
 

KookaRocha

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Yeah, not 20 minutes after I wrote that, the smallest shrimp became lunch. Oh well, the rest have started learning to not get so close.
 

Sir Kippy

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Haha that is amazing!! I have been thinking about getting my Mudkip a few cleaner tank mates but he is good at eating things. I might look into these shrimp :D
 

KookaRocha

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I love ghost shrimp, they clean everything and if they get eaten, they are usually 3 or 4 to the dollar.
 
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