Accidental axolotl owner - am I doing this right?

[monkeh]

Hello! As the thread title suggests I have recently acquired a pair of axolotls from someone who was no longer able to care for them.

I read up on them after bringing them home and realised they hadn't been kept as well as they could have been. For one thing, they'd been housed on gravel - as far as I can tell this has been the case for at least a year. They also had a fairly strong current from the filter. The albino's gills are curled forward quite a bit. I don't think their previous owner had paid any mind to the tank chemistry either.

Yesterday, a week after acquiring them, I changed their tank around. It's a 75 gallon tank with the pair of them, which I think is enough? I've put in sand substrate, kept around 50% of the original tank water and the rest new. I've also removed the partition between the two - their previous owners told us they used to fight but I wanted to see if they'd get along better in a happier tank.

So, after changing things around - they're a lot more active! I don't know if this is a good or bad sign? Before, Vivi and Quina would plod around a little but mostly stay put. Now they're exploring the tank, climbing the rocks and generally moving around a lot more. They also seem okay with one another's presence - occasionally one will alarm the other and they'll shoot off, but they've been together all night and they don't appear to have bitten one another, nor have I observed them fighting. I fed them a prawn each, which they ate quite happily.

Before changing the tank around, the levels were: ammonia 0.25, nitrite 0.25, ph 7.5, nitrate 120. I'm going to test it again when I get home from work. (Also, the water temperature had been sitting at 23c but seems to have reduced to 19c after moving it.)

Sorry for the long post! I'm just very nervous about doing this right. I want to be a good 'lotl parent! Should I be concerned about the increase in activity or is that actually a good thing?

 

[ChristineB]

I think the activity increase sounds normal for exploring a new home. It sounds like you've made excellent improvements, your lotls are lucky to have you now. I'm sure we'd all love pictures. The only concern to mention is that your new tank will need to be cycled, if you haven't read up on that yet. I agree with you that not enough attention was paid to water chemistry in their previous tank; even diluted the nitrates are much too high. Since few beneficial bacteria live in the water (mostly they live on surfaces), there's no benefit to keeping the old tank water in your case. I suggest you do daily partial water changes (25%-50%) until you get the nitrates down to 40, and make sure to keep the ammonia under .5 and the nitrites as low as possible. You have a lot of water volume, but still will likely have to change water every couple days or so to keep the water in the healthy range. It typically takes 4-6 weeks until you are fully cycled, meaning beneficial bacteria is built up to the point it breaks down waste. Live plants will help reduce both ammonia and nitrates. Good luck!

 

[monkeh]

Thank you for replying! I'm keeping a close eye on the water chemistry. Yesterday, ammonia & nitrite were down to 0, PH still 7.5 and nitrates down to 40, which I'm pleased with. I'm going to monitor this and make sure it doesn't change. I think keeping the old filter media has been beneficial.

One thing I've noticed - they seem to be passing quite a bit of gravel! On one hand, at least it's not blocking them up, but on the other - I'm so glad we got them off the gravel.

This is Quina - her gills are a little forward-turned but I'm hoping that will ease off now the current & water chemistry have improved

And this is Vivi. She's taken to climbing the plants recently.

Current tank setup

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[emmaie892000]

Thank you for replying! I'm keeping a close eye on the water chemistry. Yesterday, ammonia & nitrite were down to 0, PH still 7.5 and nitrates down to 40, which I'm pleased with. I'm going to monitor this and make sure it doesn't change. I think keeping the old filter media has been beneficial.

One thing I've noticed - they seem to be passing quite a bit of gravel! On one hand, at least it's not blocking them up, but on the other - I'm so glad we got them off the gravel.

This is Quina - her gills are a little forward-turned but I'm hoping that will ease off now the current & water chemistry have improved

And this is Vivi. She's taken to climbing the plants recently.

Current tank setup

Thanks again for the advice!

Big and happy looking already!
What size tank were they in, in their last home?

 

[monkeh]

the tank is the same one their previous owner gave us. We just spruced it up a little bit!

Quina's gills are still forward turned, even though the ammonia & nitrites are down to 0 and the nitrate is 40, and the current from the filter has been blocked off. I don't know if this is just the way she'll always be?

 

[Rupert]

How's the water temperature? High water temps could also lead to stress.

 

[monkeh]

It's hovering between 18c-22c. We try to keep it cool with water changes and ice cubes, and it mostly works. Hopefully now winter's coming the tank should cool down (it's weird because I've always considered my flat to be quite cold!)

 

[Isabella]

It's hovering between 18c-22c. We try to keep it cool with water changes and ice cubes, and it mostly works. Hopefully now winter's coming the tank should cool down (it's weird because I've always considered my flat to be quite cold!)

Try using an aquarium chiller instead. Ice cubes, even though they do cool down the tank, tend to make the temperatures fluctuate from high to low when they finish melting and this can really shock your axolotl. Also, were you using purified/dechlorinated ice cubes? Tap water contains chemicals that could be harmful to your axies. Frequent water changes are also not the best main cooler. It also appears that you have a hood over your tank. I would suggest replacing it with a meshed lid or just removing it completely. Lids trap the heat inside and don't allow proper ventilation. Meshes allow evaporation to cool the tank, as well as preventing your axolotl from hopping out of his/her tank! (I learned that the hard way :/) Aquarium chillers can be expensive though, so your best bet would probably just be your run-of-the mill fan. Point it down at the tank and this will hopefully keep the tank cooler. Works wonders for me! Since winter is coming for you, you probably won't need this yet, but for the future, avoid using ice cubes unless you REALLY have to, and get that hood off of your tank. Good luck!

 

[monkeh]

thanks for the tips! Chillers are quite pricey, aren't they? If they're a safer method than ice cubes and water changes, though, then I suppose it's worth the investment. Perhaps I'll aim to save up for one, or possibly hook up some USB powered fans or something.

I've been thinking of getting rid of the hood - my only issue is that I have three cats. Mostly, they leave the tank alone but I'd be concerned one of them might jump up on the mesh and collapse it. I'm not entirely sure where to go about getting a mesh lid either.

 

[Nano]

Aquarium chillers are a bit pricy but if you shop around you might be able to get quite a good deal. Also look out for them on gumtree or ebay. I think I got mine for £180, it's a Hailea hc-100a, it says that it's for tanks up to 100 litres (Mine is almost 200) but it can keep my tank at 20ºc in the summer months.

Mesh lids are more of a DIY job, you should just be able to get some strong mesh from somewhere like homebase and attach it to the black part around the top of the tank which the lid sits on, it'll just be a little more difficult to open and close it because of the hang-on filter. Although if you are planning on getting a chiller by next summer it's probably not worth it.

 

[cabbysarus]

I have a cat who is constantly on top of my mesh lid watching my little axies. It has never collapsed just get the wire netting stuff from a home improvement store, and you should be good.

 

[monkeh]

to tell you the truth my cats aren't especially interested in the lotls unless I'm feeding them, but I just don't trust them! They can be sneaky...