Would a 40"x12" tank work for 1 axolotl?
I’ve got 3 in a 36x18, so one should definitely be fine in that!
whichever you prefer. I have medium grit black diamond coal slag sand with mine right now, and they really stand out. I’ve had Kirby on pool filter sand before though and he did fine. He did blend right in though.
Does it need to be a planted tank or can it just be a hardscape tank?
I have dragon stone in mine and they like to crawl over the top of it, sometimes my golden albino sits inside a hole in one of them. All of them like to sit on my giant anubias and Amazon sword leaves closer to the surface, though I’m sure you could replicate it with one of those corner hammock things. And like Colin said, they CAN injure themselves on anything sharp like wood or rocks. I personally haven’t had an issue with it, but that could be because I give them plants to hide in too, as opposed to just hiding in the rocks lol. That question did spark some interest though. I just saw the movie Dune and (no spoilers here, the trailer shows this much) there’s basically a sand desert inhabited by giant worms, but there are these massive rocks that look JUST like dragon stone, and axolotls look somewhat like worms lol. It would be fun to replicate it with a tank haha.
Can they have planted substrate or can it only be sand?
I would stick to fine sand or flat tiles. Bare bottom is a bit controversial, so some people will put tiles in so it isn’t as stressful. I have seen some people use fake grass mats and it looks epic! I can link the brand I’ve heard people use if you like.
Is there any wood, rock, plants, etc., that's toxic?
If it’s aquarium safe you shouldn’t have an issue. Keep in mind if any rocks will raise your GH or anything like that. If you do plants, I have some anubias, Amazon sword, umbrella palm, Italian vals, and red swords doing ok in mine. I was originally going to go lightless, but decided to just get a couple of nano planted lights just over where the plants are.
- How much does an axolotl cost at first, then weekly, monthly, etc?
- What's the best place to buy them (online)?
The cost depends on where you get them, what color you get, how big it is, and how much the place charges for shipping. I bought all three of mine at Gillywater Aquatics. The owner is nice, the axolotls came perfect and beautiful, the prices were great, and shipping was free. Unlike some breeders who simply list “golden albino” and then give you a random golden albino baby because they don’t have the time to take individual photos, GillyWater lists every individual axolotl and you get to pick it out. It’s pretty awesome! This I what I paid for mine
Kirby - 3 inch Lucy $55
Ponyo - 4 inch bluegill Lucy $85
Wobbles - 3 inch amber golden albino - $85
I buy mine axolotls pellets and black worms, I spend about $6 a month per axolotl on black worms, but once I transition them to worms I can start a worm culture and it’ll cost me nothing.
