Advice?

[Sugarcake263]

I’m planning to get axololt next year, was gonna get it this month but because of circumstances I had to change it.

First I want to buy the bit like the tank, api master kits and all that it does cost a lot!

Just curious, as I've been wanting to get axololt for ages! And now that I live alone, I though it be a nice thing to get to keep myself bit busy, and a distraction from anxiety and depression,negative thoughts...anyway my questions are

Is it hard to take care of an axololt? Does it cost a lot to get everything?

But is it easy to care for axolotl? I’ve seen few people saying it’s so stressful, and most of them they end up rehoming or stop caring for them which honestly breaks my heart.

Amy advice you give I appreciate thanks!

 

[wolfen]

unfortunately some people tend to surrender their axolotls due to peer pressure ie.. they go on sites like reddit asking for help only to be told that they are abusing their pets and should re-home.
the hardest thing if everything is set up right (after cycling) is doing water changes, most stressful is equipment maintenance ie.. replacement impeller shafts and air-stones, there is also the seasonal temperature worries.
I make up and use 50% holtfreters + 0.1g/l magnesium sulphate (I tend to use 2g/l salt rather than 1.75g/l) and haven't had any instances of gill fungus since I started using it (two of my axolotls are siblings and were prone to fungus, third is unrelated and is seems to be unaffected by fungus).
my axolotls eat either live or frozen, live tends to be.. fish, worms, shrimp, maggots etc.. , frozen tends to be.. bloodworm, brineshrimp, krill, mysis, chopped cockle, chopped mussel, chopped prawn, beef heart, turkey heart, main thing to remember axolotls need a varied carnivore diets not just worms (worms provide most of what axolotls need but not all)
I like to know whats going in the tank so I now tend to use sodium thiosulphate as a dechlorinater rather than bottled dechlorinaters which hide ingredients.
I do a 75 litre water change weekly (around third tanks volume) ie.. three 25 litre buckets, I don't do spot cleans, I don't play hunt the poop (mine have to many hiding places to even attempt that), I never take my axolotls out of the tank.

 

[Sugarcake263]

unfortunately some people tend to surrender their axolotls due to peer pressure ie.. they go on sites like reddit asking for help only to be told that they are abusing their pets and should re-home.
the hardest thing if everything is set up right (after cycling) is doing water changes, most stressful is equipment maintenance ie.. replacement impeller shafts and air-stones, there is also the seasonal temperature worries.
I make up and use and haven't had any instances of gill fungus since I started using it (two of my axolotls are siblings and were prone to fungus, third is unrelated and is seems to be unaffected by fungus).
my axolotls eat either live or frozen, live tends to be.. fish, worms, shrimp, maggots etc.. , frozen tends to be.. bloodworm, brineshrimp, krill, mysis, chopped cockle, chopped mussel, chopped prawn, beef heart, turkey heart, main thing to remember axolotls need a varied carnivore diets not just worms (worms provide most of what axolotls need but not all)
I like to know whats going in the tank so I now tend to use sodium thiosulphate as a dechlorinater rather than bottled dechlorinaters which hide ingredients.
I do a 75 litre water change weekly (around third tanks volume) ie.. three 25 litre buckets, I don't do spot cleans, I don't play hunt the poop (mine have to many hiding places to even attempt that), I never take my axolotls out of the tank.

Wow so much much information I appreciate that! And yeah I’ve been on Reddit and half of them did say why bother getting axolotl if I don’t know anything about them, or ever had a fish. Even though I’ve been doing research throughly and still learning as I’m buying bits by bits. I want to have everything ready and cycled before getting the axi home. I’ve seen few people saying they got their axi home and didn’t cycle their tank and now they stuck in a tub

With the filter, would a sponge filter be better? I’ve seen on YouTube that some tend to drop a bag full of Aquarium Bio Filter that has Ceramic Rings, Activated Carbon, Bio Balls for Fish Tank Filtration wondering whether that would help too? And they use one of those aqua ball


Do they sell that as a liquid version or? 50% holtfreters + 0.1g/l magnesium sulphate (I tend to use 2g/l salt rather than 1.75g/l) I’ve never heard of this tbh even after taking notes never seen this coming up. The most I see is the Indian almond leaves, or methylene blue for axolotl.

You can feed them beef? And prawns? Like from the store? I know they need variety of food, but never knew you can feed them that, which would make it easier for me as not many option are here. Been going to pet store, and where they sell all those fish equipment they have few worms but not many, at least there’s something

Is there a different when you cycled your tank with sodium thiosulphate and seachem prime? With the sodium do you pour half in it or? Do it cycled the same way as the prime and takes a while?

I’ve seen few who takes their axis out to do a deep clean and one of them manage to break her tails while moving her to a tub accidentally dropped her back in tank, which is heartbreaking honestly,

I appreciate you answering!

 

[wolfen]

air-sponges do tend to be used in axolotl aquariums due to low water movement,but people do struggle with the tanks cycle due to the low biological filtration, this problem is that axolotls don't like water pressure although this can be dealt with on most filters by using spray bars or placing objects into the flow of water to reduce pressure, they don't seem to mind a gentle flow and will often be found near outlets flicking their gills, if using external filters or high flow internal filters care should be taken to ensure that they aren't harmed by the inlets, this can be dealt with by using shrimp guards or sponges over the inlet.
biological filtration works best with water flowing through which is why using a filter to house the media is more effective than just dropping a bag of media in the tank.
you can get a modified holtfreters solution online (similar to johns solution) where as I just mix the salts and minerals up as I need them, info here.. Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity
almond leaves release beneficial tannins which can help plus over time gives the water a more natural tint, also good for food for any clean up crew.
methylene blue is a good treatment for fungus and nitrite toxicosis (spikes or high levels of nitrites) although should be done as baths as it will destroy the biological filtration.
beef heart is normally sold as a frozen food for discus, turkey heart is for piranha, both are mostly a treat and are quite fatty, beef liver used to be more commonly fed to lab/university axolotls.
axolotls will eat most aquatic food sources although shouldn't be fed a diet solely of fish as it can lead to thiamine deficiency (hypovitaminosis B ie.. lack of vitamin B), a diet solely of worms (annelids) should be refrained from as it can lead to hypovitaminosis A (lack of vitamin A) and should have eyed food included in their diet.
sodium thiosulphate is a dechlorinater (a common ingredient is most dechlorinaters brought in shops), because it doesn't affect ammonia etc.. it can be used when cycling if water changes are required, I use 1.8 grams per 25 litres (1kg treats over 12500 litres) which I dissolve into the water before adding to the tank (as with all dechlorinaters sodium thiosulphate uses oxygen in the water so an aquarium should always have air stones), prime is meant to lock/detox nitrogen compounds which can affect cycling if used as a required water change, cycling is done to grow a large enough bacteria colony to cope with the amount of waste an adult axolotl can produce, this is done by feeding large amounts of ammonia and nitrites, by locking/detoxing the ammonia/nitrites you are depriving the bacteria of food.

 

[Sugarcake263]

air-sponges do tend to be used in axolotl aquariums due to low water movement,but people do struggle with the tanks cycle due to the low biological filtration, this problem is that axolotls don't like water pressure although this can be dealt with on most filters by using spray bars or placing objects into the flow of water to reduce pressure, they don't seem to mind a gentle flow and will often be found near outlets flicking their gills, if using external filters or high flow internal filters care should be taken to ensure that they aren't harmed by the inlets, this can be dealt with by using shrimp guards or sponges over the inlet.
biological filtration works best with water flowing through which is why using a filter to house the media is more effective than just dropping a bag of media in the tank.
you can get a modified holtfreters solution online (similar to johns solution) where as I just mix the salts and minerals up as I need them, info here.. Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity
almond leaves release beneficial tannins which can help plus over time gives the water a more natural tint, also good for food for any clean up crew.
methylene blue is a good treatment for fungus and nitrite toxicosis (spikes or high levels of nitrites) although should be done as baths as it will destroy the biological filtration.
beef heart is normally sold as a frozen food for discus, turkey heart is for piranha, both are mostly a treat and are quite fatty, beef liver used to be more commonly fed to lab/university axolotls.
axolotls will eat most aquatic food sources although shouldn't be fed a diet solely of fish as it can lead to thiamine deficiency (hypovitaminosis B ie.. lack of vitamin B), a diet solely of worms (annelids) should be refrained from as it can lead to hypovitaminosis A (lack of vitamin A) and should have eyed food included in their diet.
sodium thiosulphate is a dechlorinater (a common ingredient is most dechlorinaters brought in shops), because it doesn't affect ammonia etc.. it can be used when cycling if water changes are required, I use 1.8 grams per 25 litres (1kg treats over 12500 litres) which I dissolve into the water before adding to the tank (as with all dechlorinaters sodium thiosulphate uses oxygen in the water so an aquarium should always have air stones), prime is meant to lock/detox nitrogen compounds which can affect cycling if used as a required water change, cycling is done to grow a large enough bacteria colony to cope with the amount of waste an adult axolotl can produce, this is done by feeding large amounts of ammonia and nitrites, by locking/detoxing the ammonia/nitrites you are depriving the bacteria of food.

I appreciate you answering all these questions, and not judging me for it. With the low biological filtration, are they loud? I mean even with the spray bar? I have sensitive hearing, especially in the night. does someone the sponge filter have the bio at the bottom,of the sponge, I've seen few..

thank you for the link! so may information I didn't know I needed to know about. I have bough the almond leafs as I've read it has beneficial, when you mention the clean up crew, can I add a shrimp or? if I'm honest I'm bit worried when I start cycling the water once I get everything. I would be paranoid and be checking it daily.

I've heard that many tend to feed nighcrawless or earthworms, including pellets. Is it alright to feed dry freeze worms? I've seen a lot of it in the pet shop and when I ask the seller I was told that they can eat those too if someone is squishy ? about feeding a live worms, which if I'm honest I think I am...you did mention before I can feed the frozen ones? there's no vitamins to feed right? I was looking through online and saw someone saying that they pour it in for the taxi to get their daily vitamins? with the beef heart, they sell a frozen one too that says its only for fishes, but I can feed that as a treat right? not everyday


Just gathering all this information so I know what I'm doing, I appreciate all the help honestly I felt so stressed with the informations I found online as half of them doesn't make sense, there are some that says you can feed them fish flakes and other are saying not too as they are dangerous or something

 

[wolfen]

most noise from sponge filters come from either the bubbles breaking the surface or the air pump itself, sponge filters and bio-media containing sponge filters were initially designed for shrimp tanks or for tanks which hold a low bio-load with low waste, when set up right there should be no noise from external filters and with a lid on the tank most noises emanating from the tank are minimised.
I have gammarus (hyalella azteca), river shrimp, bladder and ramshorn snails as well as blackworms as the clean up crew, plus every now and then I might add a few fish although they aren't as tolerant of the cold temperatures so I mostly refrain from buying them (platy's and swords are native of mexico so are most suitable).
it's fine to feed frozen worms although freeze dried do tend to lose some of their vitamins and goodness, discus frozen food is mostly beef heart with some plant included which is fine as a treat.
unlike with reptiles that require some food to be dusted or vitamin drops added to water (including the use of calcium-sand) axolotls should be able to get all the protein vitamins salts and minerals from their food and water (water needs to have a certain level of salts/minerals).