new tank for my babies

just settled my axys into their new tank (will post pics in a sec)

for the eager beavers i used RO water and my old filter and most of the old water so it is cycled.

when i put them in they both did a little lap of honour and then started looking for food :wacko:
i may get another friend for them but it depends on what you guys say is the max for a 50gal tank

Nice start to your tank..do how ever check the pH of your ro water as it may be acidic ..

i know its not exiting but it will be when its fully planted and has some decent lighting, at the min it has 3 T8 bulbs so its very rubbish at the min.

how many more axys do you think i could have in their?
i would love 6 (2 of each morph) but i guess this is not possible.


oh by the way in their i have a white called peggy (she only had one leg when i got her)
and boggy a wild type (named bog brush in full by a friend who does not like him ;( )

being ro it is ph 7 but is not stable as the bicarbonate level is increadibly low so waste products acidify it so i add a little baked baking soda to raise the bicarbonate level to about 6 GH

this was the tank 2 weks ago as my rubbish looking fish only (i never did anything to make it look better as when i moved i had plans to upgrade very soon)

new tank is being set up as an LPS reef for any hidden salt heads

Hi Jamesh,

That is a beautiful tank with a lot of potential. What are the dimensions? Based on an estimate, is it around 3 x 1 x 1.5 ft? I don't think its suitable to house 6. Stretching to the very limit, maybe 3 or 4 at max.

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/information/calculate.htm#Liquid Measurement Conversions

As for plants, you ultimately have to choose those that can thrive in cold and dark conditions. Anubias, amazon swords, elodea, java fern and java moss are quite suitable. Just 6 hours of lighting per day will suffice. You don't want to turn the aquarium lights on for prolonged periods because it can heat up the water as well as stress the axies. You will need to provide at least 2 hiding spots per axie for shade and security.

My concern with RO water is the hardness. From my understanding, RO water will be on the soft side. Although hardness is seldomly discussed, axolotls do prefer hard water. Soft water can cause a transient anaemia and disrupt the integrity of the skin and gills. You can raise the hardness by adding salts. I have provided some links for you for reference.

http://www.axolotl.org/requirements.htm

http://www.ambystoma.org/AGSC/guide.htm

Cheers

that is about right with the size and i will have more hides in their.

yes you are right the ro water is very unstable but by adding bicarbonate it buffers the ph of the water and yes 6GH is quite low but this is still high enough to buffer the ph to 7 quite easily.

the reason i use ro is that my local water is increadibly high in nitrate and phosphate (not that axys dont produce enough phosphate with their high protein diet)

and other nastys like arsenic and cyanide are quite high in our water hence why i use ro to rid the water of 97-98% of these contaminants.

i will not raise the GH as the water is stable as it is.

with the plants you will find that most plants not just the ones you listed thrive in cooler water (see tropica website)
this is when i show the cynics that it is possible but i will not be getting my co2 till next pay day as i have to buy lights for my new tank (not this one)

lighting wise i will be using solid state lighting which is not bright but has alot of the yellow colour spectrum in it for the plants.

if i do raise the hardness i will just be using my regular methods of raising and not salts as baked baking soda has the bicarbonate but not the phosphates of these salts.