Question: My Substrate

I'm new to the whole Axolotl thing and my axolotls are kept on quite large, smooth stones. It's called "Amazon Gravel" but it's much bigger than normal aquarium gravel. Is this ok? Also, when I got my axolotl I realised the two front legs were missing but the back ones are fine. Will my axolotl be ok? They both seem to be settling in and eating well.

From what google has showed me on a search for Amazon Gravel and from what I remember possibly seeing it in a store once upon a time - the stones are too small and can be ingested.
Even stones larger than the head of an axolotl can be swallowed or at least sucked in by the vacuum they create when feeding.
If you're going to have large stones for a substrate I recommend having them a minimum of half the size of your axolotl.
However the BEST substrate is none at all, coming in at second place would be fine play sand.

Amazon gravel does seem to be too small and will easily be sucked up by an axolotl. I personally think that bare tank is the best because it is easy to clean the axolotl won't get impacted because there is no substrate to swallow. You can also use large river stones but this is extremely hard to clean us all the food and gunk falls straight through them. Sand is also a good substrate but is slightly harder to clean than bare bottom. Sand makes the tank look good and you can also put plants and other decorations in your tank then. So your three options are either; sand, river stones or bare bottom. Also take in the factor for cost, river stones costs about $20 AU a bag. Of course bare bottom is the cheapest. I'm not sure how much sand costs. Sorry i don't know U.S money value. There are three types of sands that you may use; child's play sand, building sand or aquarium sand. The cost is in order with play sand cheapest and aquarium sand dearest. With the sand there is also the colour problem with which colour to get, i recommend natural colour sand as it has no chemicals in it from the colour that can seep out into the water.
Mitch.

Hi Malx,

I agree with Stef and Mitch, I have no substrate in either of my axolotl tanks

Sorry Mitch, I wouldn't recommend builders sand as it's not 'clean' (unless you want to go through the process of trying to sterilise it by boiling it). Childrens play sand I know is washed and I think sterilised to make it safe for children.
I go with bare-bottom tank too by the way.

The best sand by far is silica based sand. Aquarium sand is ok but you may be creating issues if you use marine aquarium sand as it has a high limestone content you will be messing with the ph balance of your tank.

The most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings (e.g. deserts) and non-tropical coastal settings (e.g. beaches), is silica (silicon dioxide SiO2), often in the form of quartz.

Arkose is a sand or sandstone with a high content of feldspar (an Aluminum Silicate), usually derived from the weathering and erosion of nearby granite. "Aluminum is a protoplasmic poison and a pernicious and persistent neurotoxin". No living systems use aluminium as part of a biochemical process. It can have devastating accumulative effects in humans though I am unsure what it would do to an axolotl

Much of the fine white sand found in coral reef settings is ground-up coral (limestone) that has passed through the digestion system of the parrot fish.

Some places have sands that contain magnetite, clays, chlorite, glauconite, or gypsum. Sands rich in magnetite are dark to black in colour. The chlorite - glauconite bearing sands are typically a green colour. The gypsum sand dunes of the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico are famous for their white colour.

All commercial sand is washed as it is part of the extraction and preparation process. The problem with builders sand is that there are many different grades depending on the application ie: masonry, bricklaying, cement etc. It is also not as uniform as say pool filter sand which is why it appears to be unwashed.

Have I sold you on no substrate yet? But seriously if you stick to playsand or filter sand (which incidently can come in a variety of colours) you can't go to far wrong.