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Photo: my axolotls

rnocera

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Just wanted to share a few shots of my axies. Here's Hayt. I've had him for about 6 months, and I believe he is appearing to be male. Could someone explain what type of albino he is? I haven't seen any albinos that look like him. He's stark white, but his eyes are almost the exact same color he is. Would he be a melanoid albino, maybe?

hayt10.jpg

hayt9.jpg

hayt8.jpg

hayt11.jpg




And here are some pics of the babies I just got in from Rick Perez today. For now they're in a bare bottom 20 gallon long with some plants and decorations to provide hiding places. Do you think I'll have any problems with 5 babies in a 20 long? Should I split them up? The only other aquarium I have that will hold water (and doesn't have aggressive fish in it) is a 10 gallon.

These guys are super cute. They're all really active, and they keep swimming up to the top of the water directly into the stream of the filter, so it pushes them to the opposite end of the tank. I have a duetto and a (cycled) sponge filter going for them, with the duetto raised just slightly out of the water so most of the water it moves is at the surface, and they seem to love fighting the current.

babies2.jpg


wildtype1.jpg


melanoid.jpg


babies1.jpg



I'm thrilled to have a lot of color variety now. I now have- 1 (white?) albino, 2 gold albino, 1 leucistic, 1 melanoid, and 1 wild-type. I love it especially in the babies in their tank together, because the contrast is awesome.
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi there,

Your bare bottomed tank really accentuates the natural beauty of the various colours of axolotls. The babies really appear innocent and young with their large dark eyes.

Cheers
 

Kerry1968

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You're little ones are gorgeous! Great photos too! I can never seem to get decent photos of my larvae. How long are your babies? (Or how old?) Mine are 9 weeks old and vary in size from 3cm to around 6cm.
 

rnocera

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I'm not actually sure how old mine are. I just got the babies in yesterday. But the smallest is around 4cm and the biggest is around 5cm.

Photos underwater are extremely difficult. I'm using a d60, and having a DSLR makes the photos come out MUCH better than they did with my point and shoot. Also, for a little tip, put the lens right up against the glass, as close as possible. And, the brighter the light on the tank, the better the photos come out. For those pics there, I put a 13w CFL coil light bulb directly on top of the tank. The water looks really blue because I added a little too much Start Right to it. And, the closer to the glass of the aquarium your subject is, the better it comes out.


For this one, the fish was only maybe 3" away from the end of the lens, and I was shining that same 13w CFL directly on him. I'm also shooting through really heavy tannins in the water, because of driftwood, so it makes it a little difficult to get the colors right.
malecockatoo.jpg
 

Mitzee

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Wow! Another amazing photo!!
(I hope that's not one of your old pets in the background :eek:)

Thanks for your tips, I will try them out. c:
 
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  • Shane douglas:
    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
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  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
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  • stanleyc:
    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
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    Clareclare: Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus... +1
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