Question: Are there *any* Axie safe tank cleaners?

[richardtheb]

Hey all, I have two young axolotls in a 46-gallon tank. They are thriving, and I have recently added some greenery that they like to sit on (see photo). To help the plants, I am running the lights for longer than I used to, which means more algae.

Rather then scrub my rocks every week, I would love to put something in there that would eat the algae. I know that most snails are a no-no for an Axie tank, but are there any creatures that I could put in to help keep the algae down?

 

[Swag]

Basically anything you put in will get eaten but if you put tons of ghost shrimp in they'll be able to clean pretty well before they all get eaten. Amano and bamboo shrimp get pretty big so maybe they could manage to not get eaten. I've never kept shrimp with adults.

 

[KombatVirus]

Basically anything you put in will get eaten but if you put tons of ghost shrimp in they'll be able to clean pretty well before they all get eaten. Amano and bamboo shrimp get pretty big so maybe they could manage to not get eaten. I've never kept shrimp with adults.

Not necessarily

I bought ~50 red cherry shrimp. 30 of them got eaten immediately within the first 48 hours because they just weren't the brightest. I would see them crawling over the axies face, all they ahd to do was open their mouth for a snack.

However its been about a month and the smart 20 are still going strong. I have even see some baby shrimps in there so they are breeding!

Depends on your axies though, if yours are some super-hunters then they will probably eat them all. My shrimp run behind then and out of their field of vision and are fine. I say buy a bunch and try your luck

 

[richardtheb]

I bought ~50 red cherry shrimp. 30 of them got eaten immediately within the first 48 hours because they just weren't the brightest. However its been about a month and the smart 20 are still going strong. I have even see some baby shrimps in there so they are breeding!

Hah, talk about survival of the fittest! That is quite surprising. Mine are fairly good hunters, but they often seem to like to stand on their food rather than eat it. That might be worth trying, especially if I put in some places where the axies can't go...

 

[KombatVirus]

Hah, talk about survival of the fittest! That is quite surprising. Mine are fairly good hunters, but they often seem to like to stand on their food rather than eat it. That might be worth trying, especially if I put in some places where the axies can't go...

I should mention that I do have quite a lot of plants and decorations for the shrimp to hide in. I bought the 50 for like 20 bucks and just threw them in there.

I have another tank where I'm breeding the shrimp out myself. Once their numbers are up there, I'm going to dump another 50 or 100 and see how it goes in round 2.

 

[Swag]

I've never heard of shrimp, especially cherry shrimp, breeding in cold water. I thought it had to be up towards 80 degrees for them to breed.

 

[Axoxo]

Hey there, I know this is not quite shrimps but I believe Fluval Biological cleaner will clean your aquarium ornaments and substrate even filter with no harm to your Axolotls. I personally use fluvial products in my Tank and *touch wood* have not encountered any problems.:happy:

 

[richardtheb]

KombatVirus, I understand that you have a lot of hiding places. I am currently waiting for more plants and some cholla wood to arrive. I definitely want to enrich the environment for both the Axolotls and any possible other inhabitants

 

[richardtheb]

Hey there, I know this is not quite shrimps but I believe Fluval Biological cleaner will clean your aquarium ornaments and substrate even filter with no harm to your Axolotls.

Interesting. Does that deal with Algae? I was under the impression that it was just added nitrogen fixing bacteria, and my ammonia/nitrite levels are pretty low.