My lotl tank.

[Hthecvt]

This is my 20 gallon lotl tank. I have 2 wild types in there.

I just need ideas for spicing it up - it looks so sad, haha.

Thanks!

*H, CVT*

 

[Kilolotlkeeper]

This is my tank, try adding some rocks and live plants even some random bottles can look cool tucked in the rocks. I love the looks of floating plants such as aquatic banana plants! Rocks will definitely add spice though and it's better for your axie as they can get soars from walking on bare bottom tanks. Hope this helped ?


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[Kilolotlkeeper]

I now see you have live plants haha personally I have never liked the look of pvc pipe unless it's for raising baby axolotls


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[Hthecvt]

I have large river stones that I had in there initially but how do you go about cleaning the bottom of the tank? My siphon is small.

*H, CVT*

 

[Kilolotlkeeper]

I make it a point to do it once a month, a lot of people would argue that isn't healthy but it's fine really, especially since that filter you have is really nice, so once a month take all the water out and all the rocks, I would even go once every two months as long as your filter is being changed


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[Kilolotlkeeper]

This may be stupid but I am also completely against bloodworm cubes unless for babies, they are so messy with rocks, babies tanks I keep bare bottom until they are big enough not to get trapped under rocks, and then I feed them goldfish and earthworms


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[Kilolotlkeeper]

Bloodworms will cloud your tank in a matter of hours


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[Hthecvt]

They are both large enough to get earthworms. I cut them up and feed with tweezers.

*H, CVT*

 

[Kilolotlkeeper]

Good! Hope I helped, sorry if I bothered, would love to see the pics if you decide to use river rocks! Good luck!!


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[AxolotlChris]

I make it a point to do it once a month, a lot of people would argue that isn't healthy but it's fine really, especially since that filter you have is really nice, so once a month take all the water out and all the rocks, I would even go once every two months as long as your filter is being changed

I would not advise removing all your water or removing all rocks once a month. This could disturb your nitrogen cycle, potentially crashing it. Normal cleaning via a siphon ( I use the Fluval Edge: EDGE Gravel Cleaner | 11057 | Maintenance | Fluval ) is sufficient, but rocks do make it harder to keep clean.

Large rocks are okay to use as a substrate as long as they are larger than the Axolotls head. Axolotls are gape-limited, meaning they will eat anything they can fit into their mouths.

Kilolotlkeeper, I can see you have many rocks/pebbles which could be ingested, it would be safer to replace these with larger rocks to prevent any accidents. Smaller rocks/pebbles when ingested could cause death.

Caudata Culture Articles - Aquarium Substrates





Are you both aware of the Nitrogen Cycle? Do you own liquid test kits?

 

[Kilolotlkeeper]

Axolotlchris, I truly appreciate your concern, I use rocks this size from when they are born so they know it isn't food and can tell it's just another part of their habitat, plus I try as best as I can to get the bigger rocks. I use all natural well water which is very low in any harmful substance, I do test my water it's fine every time


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[Kilolotlkeeper]

This is currently the babies tank


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[Kilolotlkeeper]

This is the baby


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[AxolotlChris]

It doesn't seem like your following the Nitrogen Cycle from what I can tell.

Using well water doesn't mean your exempt from harmful substances, well water can still contain contaminants which you generally can only be aware of my contacting the authority that manages your water supply and asking for test results of what substances your well water contains.

Also the Nitrogen Cycle is one of the most important factors of keeping your Axolotl healthy, its imperative that you test your water as often as possible, usually every week or so. The water will develop harmful toxins as your Axolotl excretes waste. Your Axolotl's waste and any decomposed food in the water will create Ammonia. Ammonia is a deadly toxin that if allowed to reach high levels can cause stress, fungus, disease, and potentially death. You need to 'Cycle' your tank.

The cycling process can take from 3-6 weeks.

For your tank to be cycled, a beneficial bacteria needs to grow and colonize your tank to convert the toxic Ammonia into Nitrites then these Nitrites into Nitrates. Ammonia is lethal to Axolotls and is produced from your Axolotls waste and decomposing food. Nitrates are slightly less toxic and created from the Nitrites being converted by the beneficial bacteria.

During cycling the beneficial bacteria will colonize your tanks surfaces such as substrate, ornaments, filter, and first begin to feed on the Ammonia turning it into Nitrites, then bacteria will break down the Nitrites into Nitrates. The bacteria is known as a 'biofilter', as it filters the ammonia and nitrites into less harmful nitrates. Then you can lower the Nitrates by performing weekly water changes.




Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling
Caudata Culture Articles - Water Quality

Your juvenile Axolotl does seem to be suffering from poor water quality, the fimbriae on the gills look quite shriveled and small, in comparison to an image like this: http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/axolotlchris/albums/axolotl/37846-back-legs/

Can you test your Ammonia, Nitrites, NitrAtes, and PH, then post the exact results?

 

[AxolotlChris]

I would even go once every two months as long as your filter is being changed

Also, I forgot to mention that you should not be 'changing' your filter. Your filter holds the beneficial bacteria that filters the harmful toxins:

Bacteria will feed on the Ammonia converting into Nitrite, Nitrite converts into NitrAtes.

Once you start seeing an increase of NitrAtes you know that all the beneficial bacteria exists to complete a full conversion (cycle) of Ammonia > Nitrites > NitrAtes

Your filter media holds a large portion of the colonies of bacteria that you need to keep alive for your 'Cycle' to function, filter media should be never be changed all at once, and usually doesn't require to be changed for a long time. It does depend on what type of filter you are using though.

 

[Kilolotlkeeper]

That's a picture of the day I got my Juvie, I'll update you with more he is a lot healthier, I should have been more clear, by changing the filter I meant cartridge as I use a sponge filter


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[AxolotlChris]

So you don't follow the Nitrogen Cycle? I only assume since you haven't responded or acknowledged anything I've mentioned regarding the cycle or posting your water parameters.

Do you replace your entire sponge? If you do that will easily crash your cycle since replacing the sponge removes the main colony of bacteria that creates your biological filter. So you would have to start your cycle again since the bacteria would be removed when you remove your sponge.

I use a Fluval U2 submersible filter, this has 2 sponges and a cartridge in the center. This way if I need to replace the sponges I can do this one sponge at a time, rinsing the new sponge with the old sponge using tank water, this helps to transfer some bacteria to the new sponge. I then wait a few weeks until I change the second sponge, following the same rinsing method as before. Performing the sponge changes like this means i keep my bacterial colony intact and do not crash my cycle.

Best to use a siphon, or turkey baster to remove any waste or left over food as soon as you see it, rather than leaving it months to build up.