New to axolotls, new tank.

[idontknow]

Hello, I recently brought home a small axolotl. I just set up a tank. it has a bare bottom, and a waterfall style filter, and a large decoration for a hide for him. what do i need to do to the tank before i move him in? thanks for the help

 

[idontknow]

Oh, and the water i used is out of my homes well

 

[allied123]

Not to be rude but when people mention that water is from their well they usually mean they don't dechlorinate it...Please do use a dechlorinator as this also removes any other things (dissolved metals and what not, sorry I can't think of the exact examples at the moment, just understand that a dechlorinator is important!) that could be harmful to the axie besides just chlorine.

You might also want to baffle the waterfall filter as they usually disturb the water a little too much for an axie's liking. You should also probably get a water testing kit as you're going to be fish-in cycling for a while! (if you don't know what cycling is please search the forum for it and read up! it's super super important!!)

Best of luck and please feel free to ask any questions, everyone here is usually happy to help!

 

[idontknow]

Thank you for the information would it be okay to leave the fish i use for cycling the tank in when i introduce my axolotl into it, or will they bother him? I really want to do this the right way and not stress the little guy

 

[Cacique]

There's no such thing as a fish for cycling. For fish-in cycling, you pick whatever fish or aquatic critter you will have and you monitor the water daily or twice daily. You then do a water change whenever the ammonia reaches .25 ppm, which could be once a day, every other day, or could be several times a day depending on the creature and the size of the tank. This could take several weeks for the cycle to build up and hold. If you do not monitor the ammonia closely it could harm or kill your critter.

Some people recommend keeping the axolotl in a plastic tub, like a sterilite tub, food grade preferred. Something that's easy to change the water daily, not as much water. It's also easier to have 2 containers, and just move your axolotl from the dirty one to the new one instead of changing the water in it's tub.

A liquid freshwater testing kit is recommended for reading the parameters, and Prime is also recommended as a water conditioner, especially while cycling.

 

[idontknow]

I have a few guppies in the tank for the cycling process.

 

[Cacique]

The guppies, just like any other critter, can still be harmed by the cycling process and the excess ammonia, so you should still do all of the water changes and water testing.

The problem with using a "cycling fish" is that you're putting that fish in a bad environment and in the end you don't know if your tank is actually set for your axolotl, since they poop more than guppies and the tank will have the bacteria for the guppies. Whenever you put your axolotl in, you will have to monitor the water for a while and to water changes when needed until the bacteria is all set.

Guppies are also tropical fish, so they will need to be removed to bring the temperature in the tank down for the axolotl.