Question: New Axolotl Owner

[sboughton1995]

Hello! I am a fairly new axolotl owner. They, I named them Phantom and Olive, are about 4 inches old and a little over 4 months old. I feed them black worms, sometimes with frozen blood worms mixed in. Recently I've been putting a guppy or 2 in and they really seem to enjoy chasing them around the tank. I was wondering what else I could give them asides from Earth worms, they are still a little to small for that, they won't even eat them cut up. I would also appreciate any tips anyone would be willing to give me on tank set ups as they get bigger. Right now I have a 10 gallon and I am planning on putting them in a 40 gal in a few months. I have flat rocks covering about 75% of the bottom and a lot of soft tall leafy plants they like to sit in. They are arranged in 2 small circles surrounding a flat rock, they form small hide outs. I have a filter, and it is isn't on a lot setting and it sprays up and at the side of the glass and trickles down so there isn't to much of a current. The filter doesn't seem to bother them, but I only leave it on for maybe 6 or 8 hours a day. I have a food dish that I only put the worms in, and they know where to get the food and they sit in it an hour or so before I feed them waiting.
Any tips would be really helpful! Thank you!

 

[c81kennedy]

You can try frozen bloodworms. Also they should eat pellets at that size also.

 

[sboughton1995]

I've tried blood worms they only eat them if they are mixed with live black worms. And sometimes they pick them out and won't eat them. But what kind of pellets do you suggest?

 

[Skudo09]

Are you aware of the nitrogen cycle and is your tank cycled? You should leave your filter on at all times as turning it off all the time for extended periods may interfere with the cycling process and affect the beneficial bacteria colony.

Start looking at upgrading now as axolotls grow quickly and ten gallons is too small. They will outgrow this very quickly. You should also allow time to get the bigger tank fully cycled.

At four inches, small earthworms of pieces of earthworms should not be an issue. You will need to move to more nutritious food options than bloodworm and blackworm so good quality newt or axolotl pellets or earthworms are good options. You may need to be persistent with the earthworms as they may take a bit of time to accept them. What type of earthworm are you offering? It may be worth trying a different type of earthworm. I personally am not a fan of feeding fish as they are not overly nutrititious and carry the risk of bringing parasites and illnesses with them. Make sure you quarantine the fish before adding them if you do wish to feed them.