Question: substrate: im confused

[Nattles88]

When I first got my Axie I had little pebbles in my tank, they were about the size of my little fingernail. Within the first day he'd eaten a few so I took him out and put him in another container and he proceeded to puke up a few more overnight so I took all the pebbles out and replaced them with some river rock type things that are bigger then his head and Ive had no problems since.

Ive recently been looking at all the wonderful tank setups people on the msgboard have. I see some people have sad, some have pebbles the same size that I used, some have larger rocks and some dont have any substrate at all. I have even seen one or two with mud at the bottom. I bought my Axie from a breeder and his didnt have any substrate at all.

I also see that some people have mnimal decoration in there tank while other have heaps on tunnels and rocky type things and plants and everything.

So whats the best option? I thought small substrate would be bad cus the axies swallow it but I like having the rocks so he has something to grab footing on. And then someone told me not to heaps of stuff in the tank because they might injure themselves. Anyway, im confused any opinions will help!!

 

[IanF]

People with gravel in there tanks change it, although some ignore other people and do what they want. I was one of the people who changed to a bare floor from gravel, most of my photos have gravel at the bottom because I took them back when I first got them. They actually died recently because of that gravel they were in.
Most people use fine play sand, or as you said have nothing but the tank bottom. Both of these work well, and are easy to clean.
Decoration wise all that's essential as such is alot of hides, other than that it's really up to the person keeping them wether he/she wants it to be astheticly pleasing or practical. Although in my opinion some tunnels or rocks help keep them active and stop them becoming bored. That's just my opinion though.
Aslong as there is nothing sharp or has a potential to injure the Axolotl, it's fine.

Also, Axolotls don't really use their feet for gripping so a substrate is not essential.

 

[ferret_corner]

Decoration, tank ornaments - are a matter of personal choice. The axies don't care much as long the items aren't dangerous to them, lol.

I've had river stones, slate bottoms, bare bottoms w/slate or rainbow rock accent, fake tree stumps/logs, fake plants, sand, real logs & live plants. I can't redecorate my house but I can redo the tanks for a pittance! When I see an Axie balance on a leaf gazing into space, just cracks me up. some sort of zen buddha thing.

Sharon

 

[Zeeman3000]

Hahaha, I very much like your idea of an enlightened axolotl Sharon, and I agree with removing the gravel in favor of many other substrate, or even no substrate (such as I currently use), I don't find either of my axolotls have a problem getting around the tank without anything to "grip" on, and keep in mind having no substrate in your tank can make cleaning it much easier! Hope my two cents was worth it, good luck with whatever you decide :happy:

 

[Nattles88]

I think I will keep the large rocks, so the silly bugger doesnt try eat them again. I christened him Hoover this afternoon because of that. They have a pirate skull in there they like to sit in and I stole a back massager thing out of the bathroom in the shop of an octopus for them to hid in too. I will prob get some plants too but i havent gotten there yet

 

[mitchell101]

I used to use river rocks for a while but having three axolotls it got extremely hard to clean
as all the food, leftovers and poop fell through between them.
I now use a bare bottom tank as it is a lot easier to clean.
You can also use sand if you want it to look nice and this is also easy to clean.
You need a few hiding places and may put in other decorations of interest if you would like
to make it look more pleasing.
Also get some plants that don't need a light to live and are hardy and won't rot or die.
Get a moss or something that doesn't need any light.
If you do get a plant that needs a UV light, provide more hiding places for your axolotl
to get away from the light and it stresses them out and they get scared.
I hope this helps.
I'm new to axolotls too but Caudata.org has helped me along with it.

 

[Jennewt]

These are your "basic" substrate choices:

• bare bottom
• fine sand
• large stones (larger than the axie's head)

I suppose there are a few other options, but they difficult to find and/or require some time and DIY skills. For example, I have tanks with rounded gravel stuck to the bottom with aquarium silicone - it's a perfect solution, but it's more trouble than most people want. All options have their pros and cons (and their advocates and detractors).

You can put as much "stuff" in the tank as you like, as long as it cannot be swallowed and has no sharp edges to hurt the animal.

 

[Nattles88]

With plants, what are examples of some hardy plants? I heard axies can sometimes damage whem when they go crashing around in there. The pet store in town isnt exactly largre and extensive but Id like something the can mooch around in

 

[Jennewt]

Silk plants are the most hardy Good live ones include java moss and anacharis/elodea, both of which can grow floating. Be careful not to overload on live plants; if they don't do well, you end up with a bunch of rotting material in the tank, and this can make water quality problems worse (often at the worst possible time during the cycling process).

 

[Nattles88]

thanks! I'll go and check out the pet store after new years and see what they have

 

[pete]

Be careful not to overload on live plants; if they don't do well, you end up with a bunch of rotting material in the tank, and this can make water quality problems worse (often at the worst possible time during the cycling process).

Ugh...I'm dealing with exactly this at the moment...