Tt's Axolotl Adventure

[TallTree01]

I've spoken to the guy I'm getting them off, and he feeds his live fish. I'm going to need to put some feeders in the tank so that the axolotl can eat them if he doesn't take the worms right away. I'll pick up 5-6 feeders today and if the levels remain stable I'll get an axie on the weekend or next week.
Wish me luck!

 

[Supraman]

ok back onto feeding, I highly recomend you stay away from earth worms unless your breeding them yourself. ones at bait shops and so forth are no good and have parasites, its like feeding your fish feeder fish its just not smart. I feed mine everyday yes, they get two cubes of blood worms in the afternoon and thats it unless I am treating them to some good veggies or hatches and aged brine shrimp that I hatched.
 
the aquaclear filter is amazing and its the only filter I have ever used on any of my tanks for HOB filters, I have easily had over a dozen in the past year not because I have problems but I sell them with tanks so the tank sells faster. then I just buy a new filter and seed it. if that is the aquaclear filter you can set it ( depending on size of filter ) around the middle and the axi wont be bothered at all. 
 
never feed them feeder fish either I have personally witnessed 3 axi contract parasites from them and none survived, and axi are very hard to treat beacause of the cold water they require.

A reputable dealer told me that you can have 2 per 10 gallons, and also i plan on feeding bloodworm/earthworm sticks because in florida earthworms arent all that natural haha

 
 
Sadly this is not the case at all even one for a 10 gallon is way to much. these guys easily get over a foot long. I myself have 3 that are all over 7 inches and still considered small. My GF's axi are well over 12 inches head to tail.

 

[sawickib]

Alight, yea id have to agree with you, because i just got a 7" in and its hard to imagine that i can have 3 more in there, of course i am adding 3 more but im upgrading soon for them.

 

[TallTree01]

Nah my earthworms are home grown and completely natural. They been living in my compost heap for years.
The feeders are also bred by the dealer and he's never had any problems with parasites etc.

I feel my filter is too small... Is the aquaclear 50 a good size? Even on full flow the water is almost stagnant. I know that's a good thing but I'm worried that it's just picking up the same thing over and over.

 

[Supraman]

these are my GF's axi, the tank is a 95 gallon and one of her smaller tanks. look at how big they are in the 95
 

 


that filter is fine TT you will wind up picking more of the poop up then the filter will anyway.... oh yea geat ready for nice big lumps of coal

oh here is a tip, a healthy axi can easily poop a black coal bigger then its head... if your not seeing this, its time to switch your diet

 

[sawickib]

Wow, that sounds like some big poos, what chiller do you use for that bad boy?

 

[TallTree01]

Good lord, those look like mighty beasties alright. How long are they?
Picked up some feeders and moved some media across. The axolotl dealer won't have any in stock for a couple weeks so it'll be a big wait. Lots of time for me to get everything sorted.

 

[Supraman]

for a chiller I use the canadain air we have thats free

 

[TallTree01]

for a chiller I use the canadain air we have thats free

Wish I had some of that... 40 degree australian heat might not cut it....

These light timers driving me nuts! Probably gonna be a few weeks before I get them properly sorted.

 

[TallTree01]

Wasn't happy with the clarity of the water.
So I called in reinforcements...


Big internal stuffed with carbon. Tank should be clear in a few hours now.

The feeders ate flakes this morning, which is a good sign. There's no ammonia either which is also a good sign, though 10 tiny fish probably don't make much ammonia.

 

[Baccus]

What sort of feeder fish have you gone with? A friend of mine tried having guppies with her axies and from memory it didn't work out as planned. But that could have been down to other issues with her keeping of them. She also ended up getting a heap of rams horn snails off me, I don't know if the axies ended up munching on the snails but I would think they would be part of their natural diet, that and possibly shrimp. If you do decide to try freshwater shrimp please go with cull cherry shrimp and not native shrimp, many of our native shrimp can not be bred commercially (thanks to plantonic and saltwater stages of their development) so the bulk of native shrimp sold as feeders have been wild caught.

 

[TallTree01]

I'm not entirely sure about the species, I'm fairly certain they're some sort of minnow or barb though. They're little 0.5-2 cm white things with a spot on their tail. Definitely won't feed native shrimp, way too expensive lol. Their main diet will probably be earthworms and fishes.

This tank just isn't clearing! 12 hours later with the power filter and it's not noticeably clearer. I'm gonna leave it in there til either the tank is clear or the axolotls arrive.

 

[NadeZ]

I've kept axolotls for a bit over a year and they are very rewarding but they do have some important care criteria. You've already heard about the lighting, which needs to be low or at least used in conjunction with plenty of shade. Impaction is the next problem. Axolotls will try to eat virtually anything they bump into so stones, gravel, and snails should all be avoided as they will get stuck in the axolotls stomach. I risked snails for a while but they kept getting snapped at and it was only a matter of time before the axolotls swallowed one. Feeder fish are very hit and miss. Many people told me that the axolotls would eat all guppies or minnows by the end of the week, or that the fish would nibble the axolotls gills. But a month later and the species completely ignore each other and the fish really liven up the top of the tank!
I feed earthworms (from my worm farm) and axolotl pellets personally Oh, as for how many you can have, generally one per foot of aquarium since they spend most of their time at the bottom. Any axolotl questions, feel free to ask. Love your tank so far, should make for some happy lotls!

 

[TallTree01]

Ooh, haven't updated this, thanks for reminding me nade.
Yeah I was wondering about keeping snails with them, seems like they're not worth the risk According to you and several other sources I've read online. I'll keep away from all tankmates bar the feeder fish I think.
Tank has cleared now the lights don't seem so bright now, I don't think They'll be much trouble. All the levels remain zero so I'm on track for an axy hopefully by the twentieth of the month.
Naturally, I've attached a picture.



You may notice some paper axolotls stuck to the front of the tank, my young nephew was interested in axolotls and found some pictures online. He wanted to print them out and put them inside the tank. Thankfully I caught him before he went and made a mess.

 

[NadeZ]

What size/age axolotls are you getting by the way?