Photo: Black tank, black sand, black background, white axie :)

If you follow my other thread you'd know the story but basically I've recently put my beloved Axie Fred into a new 160 litre Juwel tank and have kitted it out black on black.

Juwel Rekord 1600
Juwel 3D bark backing
Juwel Internal Filter (temp)
CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand
Driftwood
Log hide
Green Plants
1 x bubble disc, 2 x bubble walls

You can follow the build from grotty old unloved tank bought for £63 off ebay to new tank here: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...-read-plenty-now-diary-freds-new-owner-8.html

Anyway, over to the pics:

I think it looks great! Does Fred like it?

well he was in there last night and seems pretty happy today (well this morning).

I'm sure it'll take him a while to scope it all out but I'm sure he will appreciate the new places to hide and of course the "lookout" where he can plonk his belly on and hang off looking into the room.

Time will tell, hopefully when I get an external and free up the space the filter is taking he'll like it even more.

Should get a marketplace on these forums...

Looks great. Is that a Live Moss Ball? :happy:

It isn't mac, just a prop, was in the previous tank too. The only new bits are the driftwood and they came with the new tank. I'm a recycler me I've actually got 3 huge pieces of prehistoric rock now, I just didnt want them in there, a) because they take up so much room and b) Fred has a habit head planting things. I've already seen him smash straight into the wood, luckily it's been submerged for so long it's actually softer than his hide (which is plastic).

However since getting it I have looked into Live Moss balls, I think providing that they don't mess with water chem they would look cool in a tank.

However Live Moss balls tend to float about, and so would look pretty weird, although I'm sure that would drive axies crazy (In a good way).

I've always thought live plants and axies were kind of frowned upon, but I suppose providing you know what you're doing you can get lots of nice plants for the tank that would work well.

Very snazzy, I like it. I hope Fred appreciates his stylish new home x)

Yes!!!

I love black on black aquascapes. I had a 20 L with a breeding pair of Rams in one and the contrast was amazing! The live plants would almost glow around the edges.I made mine out of a foam sheet and spray foam on top. Then it was coated with a can of Krylon Fusion ( high gloss black ) for a bubly Obsidean look. Kinda like the look of malten lava after it has hardened under water. The tad bit of natural sparkle in black 3M color quartz sand looks amazing if you guys are gunna do something like this. The one thing I couldnt find was actual Obsidean rock to add in but some of that Krylon worked great on some river rock.

A white Axie is something thats gotta be a good looker in one!

Congrats, he is glowing!

dazkeirle said:

I
However Live Moss balls tend to float about, and so would look pretty weird, although I'm sure that would drive axies crazy (In a good way).

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I've got a few. They never float. They only require you to roll em' over every week or so and they seem to be quite hardy... even under low light. I like them.

dazkeirle said:

I've always thought live plants and axies were kind of frowned upon, but I suppose providing you know what you're doing you can get lots of nice plants for the tank that would work well.

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I have a few types in my tanks. Water Cabbage (cool but not worth the effort of removing them from the filter), Anubias, Elodea (I always eventually kill it), Pothos Vines, and Java Moss. I really like Java Moss because even I can't kill it.. I like live plants I guess.

Yay finally got to see him in his new tank which is looking GREAT im sooooooo jealous, i hope i can get a tank like that soon just a case of finding one .... Oh and thanks for being so quick on the pics could'nt wait to see fred in is new home He looks to small for that big tank and lonely got any friends for him in mind

Mac Myers said:

I've got a few. They never float. They only require you to roll em' over every week or so and they seem to be quite hardy... even under low light. I like them.

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Some chain shops get fake ones in. Its basically Moss, often not even Java, literally glued in some cases to a foam or a rubber ball. I had to sell the stupid things when I worked at a undisclosed location. They have to be tied to a anchor with fishing line. One distributor sent them attached to racket ball balls. I used to just bounce them around the fish Dept. when it was dead at night:uhoh:

They never once sold but they kept rotting away and we kept them on auto reorder when stock diminished to lower quantities.

Real ones are pretty cool but require physical contact like you said by rolling them around and squeezing them free of debris. In nature they are a more colder water moss that bounces and rolls around by under currents and propagates by splitting.

That is a fantastic tank. How many litres?

And Fred looks like he loves it. Very cute leucistic

daz the tank looks fabulous....Fred is a very lucky axie.

Thanks to all for the lovely comments

I'll just answer any questions people have raised:

deliriah

I think it looks great! Does Fred like it?

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Yes he certainly does. I think he was a bit miffed at the current for a bit as the filter is more powerful so I put the shaker grid from a protein shaker in front on the spout to break the flow and he's now very active and happy.

Jamie Werner

Thanks for your inspiration, I also found Black aquascapes captivating, especially with white axies hence the build. I wish I had live plants but I only got my first aquarium and aqua-pet 1.5 months ago so am a real newbie. While I've read up and received plenty of advice on good keeping her for axies, I'm sure plants are another thing entirely (but I'll get there.

Mac

I've got a few. They never float. They only require you to roll em' over every week or so and they seem to be quite hardy... even under low light. I like them.

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I'm sorry Mac, I was obviously misinformed. I had read they were these mystical algae driven plants that floated across the surface of the water, sometimes almost as if they had a mind of their own. However now I've read a bit more, that's only if in direct light, which in an axie tank there wouldn't be.

I love the look of them so so long as your happy for me to pester you for plant advice I'd love to go all natural

Hayley

Yay finally got to see him in his new tank which is looking GREAT im sooooooo jealous, i hope i can get a tank like that soon just a case of finding one .... Oh and thanks for being so quick on the pics could'nt wait to see fred in is new home He looks to small for that big tank and lonely got any friends for him in mind

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Thanks Hayley, glad you like it. I actually got this tank for only £63 on ebay with cabinet, filter, driftwood and even fish. Sure it was dirty and took hours of work to get right but I'm a fan of recycling and so long as you're happy to pick up you can get some great deals.

The backing was also an ebay bargain (Although I bought too much) and the sand was probably most expensive bit.


I actually am considering raising a female from juvenile in my smaller tank as a future mate for Fred. It's very hard to find a mature axie for sale (I wonder why )I'm considering a Golden or a Melanoid. I just need to find a really nice example for him.

Neo

That is a fantastic tank. How many litres?

And Fred looks like he loves it. Very cute leucistic :

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Hi Neo, it's 160 litres and is a Juwel Rekord. Cute? Maybe, I'd say Pesky.

He's actually a very inquisitive troublemaker always trying to go where I least want him.


leanne

daz the tank looks fabulous....Fred is a very lucky axie.

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Thanks Leanne, was worth all the effort



Now what do I do with my time? Maybe another tank? another Axie? A white on white aquascape with a Black Axie????

Oh no, I think I have the bug.

Great looking tank, leucistics and albinos look great against black sand. A wild type would disappear!

Live plants are fine with axolotl's, but they do tend to uproot them if just planted in sand. My plants are all stuck between some river rocks, so they can't get at the roots to move them around, but some stalks do get broken off occasionally.

Floating plants do well, I have some in my tank and they quickly take over the top couple of inches. Provide good cover but my pair of axies hide when the lights on if I take some of the plants out. Have to remove some every few weeks or it would take over the whole tank!

I recently installed a java moss wall across the back of my tank, its a slow grower so will take a while to grow through but I reckon it will look great when it does.

Can you remove the internal filter in that tank? I have a Juwel Rekord 800 (180l) and it appears to be glued in. Don't want to try and force it off in case I break something but didn't look to be easily removed.

Can you remove the internal filter in that tank? I have a Juwel Rekord 800 (180l) and it appears to be glued in. Don't want to try and force it off in case I break something but didn't look to be easily removed.

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It was glued in, but I soon removed it, no damage done just left some nasty plastic stuck to the back. That's been covered by the backing anyway.

I actually relocated to the left side anyway for aesthetics, hopefully I'll get a deal on an external at some point soon, but for now I need to get another cooling fan setup for the larger tank so that i can get the small inhabitable again for perhaps axie number 2?

I'm still going between ehaim and fluval and Tatratec atm, just not sure which I want.

Killer Profile Pic too.

haha, cheers mac