No sand, no bare bottom - large aquarium update

[Tephra]

So a while ago I had this idea. I'd read tons of discussions about axolotls on sand vs. axolotls on bare bottom. I had seen my axies swallow sand before and I worried about any possible future impaction. I wanted to try bare bottom.

Unfortunately, I couldn't quite stand to see my axies slip on the slippery bottom all the time, particularly my Dilly... she came from a very bad pet store, I rescued her just in time. I have absolutely no idea what happened to her, but clearly her legs had been bitten off. They never fully regenerated, so she walks around on stumps. Needless to say, she had even less grip on the bare bottom than my other axies, and seeing her stumble around like that... I just felt so sorry for her. Large river rocks were no option because she had no grip to climb them.
(side note: not to worry, her legs may be stumps, but she doesn't seem to be in pain at all and is in fact quite healthy)

So I set out to try and come up with something to put on the bottom that would be heavy enough to stay down, would be removable (you never know what you might want to do with an aquarium in the future), would provide grip for my axies and would be aquarium safe.

I finally came up with something, but I hadn't seen people do it before... so it was kind of experimental.

I bought a bunch of river rock tiles, these are basically pretty river rocks glued to a strong net. They are used in bathrooms, kitchens, etc... Here's a picture to show you what I mean.

I used the netting at the bottom of these tiles to tie them together with fishing wire and made sure everything would be at the correct size to fit in the aquarium.

Next up, coated the bottom of the entire thing with aquarium safe silicone to make a stable base. Then I put silicone in between the river rocks and put a bunch of (washed & dried) sand on there. Another small layer of silicone at the top to prevent any sand from getting loose. I used a rough brush to put this last layer of silicone on there to try and create a rough texture.

And ta-daaah! I was finally finished. It took me quite a while but I did it. I put it in the aquarium after it had completely dried and I had "tested" it in the bathtub.

And it works! It provides complete grip for all of my axolotls! It's removable and flexible, so aside from its weight it's quite easy to put it in and take it out of the aquarium.

Of course, not working with sand anymore meant I also had to change my setup somewhat. You can't quite stabilize any items in the sand anymore, so you'll only be able to add items that can stabilize on their own. But since I only added driftwood and plants, no problem.

I fastened all of my plants to driftwood with fishing wire to give them a stable place to grow. This can leave the roots quite bare, but honestly... I kind of like that rough, natural look that comes with it.

In any case, I'm very happy with the entire thing, and so are my axies.
And now time for some pictures! (I increased the lighting in photoshop, my aquarium isn't that bright)


A picture of the entire aquarium

I love these roots... <3

Oops... Derpy kinda snuck into the picture there

A closer look at the way the bottom looks. And more roots!

And then of course, Dilly's awesomeness... she deserves some bottom grip love, don't you think? :happy:

So yeah... there you have it. I'm really pleased with how it turned out

 

[auntiejude]

That looks fab! We considered adding rocks to our siliconed-down-sand base but decided they may gat dislodged too easily, but your tiles work very well.

We may well consider a variation of this for our smaller tanks - thanks for sharing your experience and ideas!

 

[ladygodiva35]

Your axolotl's face looks soooo friggin cute! Ahhhh I need help. I can't take any more cuteness on these forums!

 

[EmbryH]

Nicely done! A safe solution that allows traction for your axolotls, and it looks great!