Question: Vacation care

[Kc0olm]

We have never been on vacation since we got our axolotl. Not sure what to do when that time comes. We might be gone for 10 days.

1) Babysitters. For our dogs, we have a great outdoor kennel, run by a breeder/trainer. Great. Are there similar things for axolotl? We have a local aquarium dealer who is really great - a devotee, not commercial, kind of a “freak”, who would dote on our axie - I think.

2) I saw this feeder on Amazon. Anyone ever tried it?

FREESEA Aquarium Automatic Fish Feeder: Vacation Timer Feeder for Fish Tank Electric Adjustable Auto Fish Food Dispenser 0.05 Gal & Two Fixed Methods​

Any other ideas, suggestions? Thank you!

 

[wolfen]

I do a water change the day before going on holiday, I also load the tank up with live shrimp then tape the lid on to prevent inquisitive hands.
if you tank is a bare base/scoop the poop then you may have issues unless your axie sitter is also prepared to scoop the poop, if your tank is a natural weekly water change only then should be fine with a feeder or adding live food to last them.

 

[Kc0olm]

I have read that it is possible to set up a self-sustaining environment wherein the shrimp re-populate themselves. That is my ultimate goal, overall - to tune the environment to something self-sustaining. I will create another post about that. Surely someone on this site will have some thoughts on it, given the high degree of expertise. Thank you!

 

[wolfen]

although gammarus shrimp (hyalella azteca) will breed quite readily and are small enough that axolotls barely take notice (they do make up a good clean up crew though) other larger shrimp such as cherry, ghost, river etc.. tend to be out eaten and unable to breed fast enough, the same also applies to fish such as guppies, platys etc..