What to put in the new tank?

[smiley1996]

Hello all as promised I got a new tank for Christmas. its much bigger than mine (don't know exact measurements/gallons till I fillit up and measure it myself the box is in Chinese :S ) with the old tank I have a tunnel and 2 plants 1 which calms the water flow. not much in there as its only a little tank. ive had Yonty for 2 months now and the least he deserved was a new tank.

in the new tank at the minute I have huge pebbels a lot bigger than what I have now and they were big enough. but that's it. once I put the tunnel in there and maybe the 2 plants (he keeps trying to eat them so not sure and their plastic so want to get him some real ones) then I don't have anything else to put in there?

just thought you guys could help tell me what your Axies like and what plants (live) are best to get thankyou in advance!

 

[auntiejude]

My axies like to sit in plants, sit on rocks, hide behind and under ornaments and tunnels, bite at plastic plants, sit at the corner of the tank and watch telly, surf in the bubble stream, climb up the filter inlet and wedge themselve behind it.

If you know the dimensions of the tank you can get a rough idea of the capacity:
length x width x height (in cms) gives you cubic cm
1000 cubic cm is one litre
so my little tank is 50 x 30 x 40 cms, thats 60000 cubic cm or 60L.

 

[smiley1996]

Oh thats helpful thankyou il get onto measuring it now! and okay cool thankyou for your input! Hoprfully will get some more ornaments for him and maybe another axie in the little tank till it gets to the right size of being with Yonty thankyou!

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[stitchpunk]

I've just redone my tank completely and I think my guy may just about have stopped sulking :happy: I got some Driftwood from the aquarium shop and arranged it to make a nice big cave for him to hang out in plus a couple of smaller pieces he can sit on or hide behind. The live plants are an experiment - I bought java moss, java fern, anubias and something called a twisted val. I also have a moss ball that he plays with sometimes. The first night with the new plants Dude dug them up and rearranged them into a clump! I have left them like that and he seems ok with them now.

 

[smiley1996]

Awww hehe bless him! I think mine may do a bit of sulking once hes been moved into the new tank but just want it set up so he doesn't have to go through alot of movement before hes srttled in ... I was thinking about moss balls it will be a nice add to the tank I think! I havent seen any driftwood in any of the pet shops as of yet I may have to venture out abit more! Thankyou for replying!

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[stitchpunk]

There's different kinds of driftwood - some if it will float and needs weighting down for a while. I was lucky to get some kind of Indonesian hardwood that is heavy enough to sink and forms a nice natural cave.

 

[sphynx]

I've got some big pieces of driftwood kinda resting on top of each other to make a big cave in the middle of my tank, and off to the side I have 2 rocks supporting a piece of slate to make a small hide out.
In terms of plants, I have some hornwort floating in my tank to provide extra shade from the light

 

[layna]

Hey my wood is called mopani wood and as a bonus, wood leeches tannins into the water which help with axies slime coat
I also have some plastic caves and some real rocks, some fake plants and some real.
This is an old pic of my tanks, they have changes around a bit now but you get the general idea hehe


Plastic shower caddies are also great as it gives the axies more 'levels' to hang out on.

Anubias, elodea, marimo moss balls, moss in general and water lettuce does well in axie tanks, if you search the forums there are lists of axie friendly plants

I personally wouldnt use stones no matter how large they are as all the food and poop just falls in between the gaps on the rocks and makes the water quality harder to maintain

 

[smiley1996]

Thank you guys for all the replies Layna your tanks look rather cool and your axies look gorgeous! Driftwood is something il definitely look into! My axie loves his new tank at the minute he doesnt stop swimming ... ive also got at one end of my tank some slate and Yonty always seems to be on it he loves it! Now hes got a bigger tank he dont really pay that much attention to his little log hide out hes more upfront of the tank always watching me in my room lol! He seems alot happier! Thankyou for all your inputs! ^^

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[smiley1996]

Oh and sphynx I didnt even think of the idea of added shade great thinking haha thanks again! .... oh one more question for you all my axie seems to look agitated when the light of my tank is on he starts moving as if hes startled and goes into his hide out ... I know they donf need light and ive left it off since day one because of that reason but does anyone else have/had that problem?

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[layna]

Axies dont like lights.
They dont have any eyelids, so they like darker places hehe.
You dont need a tank light with axies, unless you have a lot of floating plants ect, to shade the floor for your axie
He is startled as he was probs sleeping/resting then all of a sudden he was blinded haha, think of yourself being asleep then someone taking a pic of your face with the flash on the camera

 

[smiley1996]

Yeah thats so true thankyou very much!

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