Psyched about my new tank, in progress

I was lucky enough to find a tall 55g tank with stand, filter, lights, and miscellaneous accoutrements on craigslist for $100. I plan on popping my baby axolotls in there when they get a little bigger. Meanwhile, I'm slowly moving through cycling and planning out decor.

So far, I've spraypainted the back walls and bottom glass a mottled green, and I've bought some shower caddys that I plan to suction cup along the sides so the axies will have a few extra places to hang out and/or hide.

I've got a ways to go, so I'll post a follow-up when it's looking a bit more finished. I know I will plant it and add some hides. I haven't really thought beyond that, yet. I'm definitely open to any suggestions that come to mind.

I think a second level is a good idea, a large ornament or driftwood. I have a bit of driftwood I have propped up with glass 'pillars' but I cant put it in until I drain my tank, which I wont do until I have too, But I think it will add more floor space so to speak

I'm going to try to give as much added floorspace as I can. I've got three suction-cup-shower-caddies (you can just about see one on the right hand side of the tank in the pic) that I plan to modify so they can double as hides. I'll keep working on decor and layout and post a follow-up when I've made some headway. The babies are still pretty small, so they won't be moving in for a while, yet.

I have a 90 gal. diamond tank. Its furnished with sm-med. blk river peeble stone, live plants and lots of cherry shrimp!!!

I like the way you have painted the sides...wish I had thought of it . Your ideas are good, though bare in mind, axolotl are hooligans and love to trash their tanks. My only concern is the water flow at the top, may be it can be buffered with something?

Thanks for the compliments on the paint, bellabelloo. This time, I planned ahead well enough to paint the base, too, which I will be leaving bare bottomed.

As for the filter current, I'm already on it.

I had modified the output on their parents' tank, http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...views/63332-decreased-water-current-idea.html and after a couple of days of letting the tank run, I did the same for the new tank. So far, the flow is looking gentle enough, and if, once I put in plants, I decide there's still too much current (which I can't see at the moment, but waving plants will tell me), then I'll just jam a filter sponge in the output to slow the current further.

I had bought some Heterandria formosa to try in the tank (smaller than guppies, prefer cool water, livebearing, and I'm willing to loose some/all to the axies, should my charming babies feel so inclined) and I was quarantining them in a cycled, 5-gallon bucket. At this point, thanks to seeding the 55g tank with an old filter, it seems to be cycled, so I decided to let the fish finish out their quarantine in the still axie-less tank. (One less bucket o' water to keep tabs on.) I've had them for a month, and so far, they've not yet shown signs of illness. I figure, the worst case scenario is that they become ill before their 3-month quarantine's over and I have to clean out the tank, (which I think is unlikely given their apparent health thus far). Even if that does happen, the babies axolotls are still small enough that they won't need the tank upgrade for a while, so I can run the risk of delaying their arrival in their new home if I have to.

My next step is to finish modifying the decor, so I'll post a follow-up once I get that on its way.

Well, here's the follow up. I've got the babies in there, and some cheap, mediocre-looking-but-functional decor. The axolotls have found their ways into (and more importantly, out of) the shower caddy spaces, and they seem to be having fun exploring. I've got some tiny dwarf livebearers (Heterandria formosa) in there with them, but they're too small for my camera to pick up.

My other tank looks far more natural and pretty, but I've overspent my budget for animal accouterments, so it will be a while before I can do any more with this tank.

Oh, if anyone was wondering, the shower caddies and spice racks have plastic place-mats fixed in place with silicone sealant, so that the salamanders can get more cover to hide in. (I soaked all of the fixtures for a few days, on the off chance that they would seep anything out into the water). It was all fairly inexpensive... but I'm not (yet) pleased with the look of the tank. Maybe that will be next summer's project.

WOW your tank looks amazing i wish mine looked that good!!! and the shower caddy idea was a really good one it looks like your baby axies love it!

I love it, looks so unique but it must be a real pain to clean the bottom.

Nah... just need REALLY long arms.

Sadly, I'm only 5'1", so it is a royal pain to reach in and vacuum the tank. I wind up with my arm in up to my shoulder.

There are also some RCS and baby Heterandria formosa in the tank, but they're all so small that my camera doesn't want to take their pictures.

I'm actually thinking about breeding some galaxy rasbora to go into that tank, along with the Heterandria formosa (all of which will be treated for parasites beforehand, just in case). My adults are so used to the pellets that they don't hunt the fish in their tank, so I'm wondering if the same will be true of these babies. I'm getting overpopulated with guppies and Heterandria formosa, so they've got to go somewhere. (Actually, my LFS said they might take some of the latter for store credit, so that's my back up plan.)

The coolest part of the shower caddies is that I can drop food into/on them so that the axolotls have to swim around and find it, (which also gets them going in different directions and fighting over food less). If I do anything new with the tank, I'll be sure to post updated pictures.

I almost forgot to add in a few more pictures of these adorable little guys enjoying their shower caddies.

they are two good looking axies! very beautiful! not like these poor neglected things i saw in a pet store today grrr