New To The Forum - Axolotl Questions!

[rb6k]

Hi all, new to the forum and wondered if you could help me out.

I signed up because I had a few questions about keeping Axolotls. I am preparing to buy my first, I have a 3ft by 1ft tank which from my research seems the right sort of size. I read that they need larger stones to prevent swallowing so was wondering what the best sort of thing to use would be. Would smooth rocks or some kind of flat style stone be worth looking into? I am trying to consider when it comes to cleaning them, if I had fewer larger stones it would be quite simple to remove them 1 by 1 and wash them then replace them, where as lots of smaller (but bigger than you'd do for fish) would take longer to clean perhaps.

Re filters, I have been looking on Amazon (mainly because I have a few vouchers so I thought why not invest them in this?) and saw the Fluval U2 Underwater Filter 400LPH - I was wondering if that would be suitable for an axolotl as I read they don't like too much flow, nor too much noise. This one seems quieter and the reviews suggest it is less forceful than a lot of filters, with one person saying their fish are much happier with the light flow it provides etc.

Lastly aside from reading they like dull lighting, and seeing some in an aquarium that were basically living in twilight/darkness with some kind of luminous glow around the tank - I can't find any reliable information about the lighting conditions. Does the tank need a light? Or does the light of the living room it'd be in suffice? Temperature too, it seems as though too high and they become stressed, too low and their metabolism suffers, do I buy a heater to maintain the heat or would a thermometer on the side and maintenance of the conditions help best? Ie the temperature of the room (be it summer/winter) will affect the temperature of the water so the practicalities of maintaining these conditions is slightly lost on me.

Hope I don't sound too moronic here, I've tried to put in as much prior research as I can. I've kept fish before but not for a few years and of course with them it was simpler, I had the heater maintaining the heat, etc. I just don't want to buy the pet thinking it will all be fine and then harm him/her.

Thanks in advance, sorry for the long opening post!!

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

The best substrate would be a bare bottomed tank, or sand. Large stones will work well (but in my opinion they'll be hard to clean with the dirt falling between the gaps).

Axolotls are fairly messy things so you'll need a decent filter; get one suitable for the size of the tank, you can always then get a spraybar attachment and angle it towards the wall of the tank if it's too much for them. I have an overhead filter in my axolotl tank (came with the tank) and I have it directed into the corner of the tank with plants surrounding it to help reduce the flow (I don't think the flow bothred them before to be honest).

I personally would get a light for the tank so it'll be nicer/easier to see into the tank. However that is my opinion. I have a light on my tank, and I do use it. But it's not on all the time. They do sometimes get a shock when it turns on (although our fish do too - different tank), try them with a light; if they hate it; then don't use it, if they don't mind it use it.

Tank temperature will depend where in the world you are; if you are somewhere cold a heater might be useful for winter months (set to 18 degrees or something), if you are somewhere hot a cooler might be needed. Me; I just monitor the temperature (thermometer in the tank) and take it from there - my axolotls have been in an empty house with no heating over winter and their tank dropped to about 16 degrees at the lowest - any lower and I would have put in the heater (to about 18 degrees).

As you've just joined I don't want to go sending you off elsewhere - but check out caudata (in my footer) - they have loads of axolotl information on there. However there are lots of axolotl keepers on here who will be happy to help

 

[rb6k]

The best substrate would be a bare bottomed tank, or sand. Large stones will work well (but in my opinion they'll be hard to clean with the dirt falling between the gaps).

Axolotls are fairly messy things so you'll need a decent filter; get one suitable for the size of the tank, you can always then get a spraybar attachment and angle it towards the wall of the tank if it's too much for them. I have an overhead filter in my axolotl tank (came with the tank) and I have it directed into the corner of the tank with plants surrounding it to help reduce the flow (I don't think the flow bothred them before to be honest).

I personally would get a light for the tank so it'll be nicer/easier to see into the tank. However that is my opinion. I have a light on my tank, and I do use it. But it's not on all the time. They do sometimes get a shock when it turns on (although our fish do too - different tank), try them with a light; if they hate it; then don't use it, if they don't mind it use it.

Tank temperature will depend where in the world you are; if you are somewhere cold a heater might be useful for winter months (set to 18 degrees or something), if you are somewhere hot a cooler might be needed. Me; I just monitor the temperature (thermometer in the tank) and take it from there - my axolotls have been in an empty house with no heating over winter and their tank dropped to about 16 degrees at the lowest - any lower and I would have put in the heater (to about 18 degrees).

As you've just joined I don't want to go sending you off elsewhere - but check out caudata (in my footer) - they have loads of axolotl information on there. However there are lots of axolotl keepers on here who will be happy to help

Hey, thanks for writing back. I'm in the UK - Completely forgot that piece of info! Will check out the site now.

By bare bottom do you mean just letting it live on the glass? Never thought of that before. I think Sand might prove a bit messy hehe.

Thanks for the feed back, I appreciate it!

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

The best substrate would be a bare bottomed tank, or sand. Large stones will work well (but in my opinion they'll be hard to clean with the dirt falling between the gaps).

Axolotls are fairly messy things so you'll need a decent filter; get one suitable for the size of the tank, you can always then get a spraybar attachment and angle it towards the wall of the tank if it's too much for them. I have an overhead filter in my axolotl tank (came with the tank) and I have it directed into the corner of the tank with plants surrounding it to help reduce the flow (I don't think the flow bothred them before to be honest).

I personally would get a light for the tank so it'll be nicer/easier to see into the tank. However that is my opinion. I have a light on my tank, and I do use it. But it's not on all the time. They do sometimes get a shock when it turns on (although our fish do too - different tank), try them with a light; if they hate it; then don't use it, if they don't mind it use it.

Tank temperature will depend where in the world you are; if you are somewhere cold a heater might be useful for winter months (set to 18 degrees or something), if you are somewhere hot a cooler might be needed. Me; I just monitor the temperature (thermometer in the tank) and take it from there - my axolotls have been in an empty house with no heating over winter and their tank dropped to about 16 degrees at the lowest - any lower and I would have put in the heater (to about 18 degrees).

As you've just joined I don't want to go sending you off elsewhere - but check out caudata (in my footer) - they have loads of axolotl information on there. However there are lots of axolotl keepers on here who will be happy to help

Hey, thanks for writing back. I'm in the UK - Completely forgot that piece of info! Will check out the site now.

By bare bottom do you mean just letting it live on the glass? Never thought of that before. I think Sand might prove a bit messy hehe.

Thanks for the feed back, I appreciate it!

By bare bottom I did mean leaving them on the glass. I have sand in with mine and it's not too bad, the dirt stays on top of it and its really easy to remove .

 

[rb6k]

The best substrate would be a bare bottomed tank, or sand. Large stones will work well (but in my opinion they'll be hard to clean with the dirt falling between the gaps).

Axolotls are fairly messy things so you'll need a decent filter; get one suitable for the size of the tank, you can always then get a spraybar attachment and angle it towards the wall of the tank if it's too much for them. I have an overhead filter in my axolotl tank (came with the tank) and I have it directed into the corner of the tank with plants surrounding it to help reduce the flow (I don't think the flow bothred them before to be honest).

I personally would get a light for the tank so it'll be nicer/easier to see into the tank. However that is my opinion. I have a light on my tank, and I do use it. But it's not on all the time. They do sometimes get a shock when it turns on (although our fish do too - different tank), try them with a light; if they hate it; then don't use it, if they don't mind it use it.

Tank temperature will depend where in the world you are; if you are somewhere cold a heater might be useful for winter months (set to 18 degrees or something), if you are somewhere hot a cooler might be needed. Me; I just monitor the temperature (thermometer in the tank) and take it from there - my axolotls have been in an empty house with no heating over winter and their tank dropped to about 16 degrees at the lowest - any lower and I would have put in the heater (to about 18 degrees).

As you've just joined I don't want to go sending you off elsewhere - but check out caudata (in my footer) - they have loads of axolotl information on there. However there are lots of axolotl keepers on here who will be happy to help

Hey, thanks for writing back. I'm in the UK - Completely forgot that piece of info! Will check out the site now.

By bare bottom do you mean just letting it live on the glass? Never thought of that before. I think Sand might prove a bit messy hehe.

Thanks for the feed back, I appreciate it!

By bare bottom I did mean leaving them on the glass. I have sand in with mine and it's not too bad, the dirt stays on top of it and its really easy to remove .

Will bare bottom cause any negative issues for the axolotl or myself? It makes me wonder why more people don't just do that - perhaps they do and I just don't notice it.

I really appreciate your feedback, thanks.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

A lot of people on caudata seem to do bare bottom tanks. I personally prefer some substrate.

I've never done it before so don't know about any impacts.