axies

[vickipeer]

Could someone please give me the correct levels for my axies tank as i am trying to eliminate what is causing my axies to have no furry things on their gills. I clean their tank once a week. I do routine sample testing of the water. They dont look stressed at all. they appear to be perfectly happy in their enviroment should i have plants in their tank if so what should i be putting in I have gravel on the bottom the tank and half a flower pot to hide plus lime stone rock and some river bank rocks also to hide under. they are very fussy in what they eat which is strips of meat, which they eat alot of, community processed food for axies, sometimes pieces of fish that we eat. They wont eat worms. any other suggestions.

 

[kapo]

You may clean it once a week, but doesn't mean it isn't water quality, hence the need for regular testing and any daily spot cleaning, using a turkey baster.

Water parameters on a cycled tank are usually round the following:

ammonia 0 (anything over 0 unsafe)
nitrite 0 (anything over 0 unsafe)
nitrate 10-40 (this can vary depending on if you have live plants or not)
pH 6.8-8.0 (with pH if your water is 8.0+ and you have any trace of ammonia in your tank, it becomes more toxic to your axie/s).

Ideal tank temperature: cool rather than warm ( basically below 18-20C) - they can live in temperatures down to 5C, obviously if its that low they won't eat as much. Two of ours are currently sitting at 10C but axies are still eating every 3 days.


What have you tested for in your tank? If there are any ammonia/nitrite levels above 0 then you'll need to do more frequent waterchanging than once a week. You'll probably have to test daily and if amm/nitrite are above 0, then you need to do 20=30% waterchanges.

Do not add any chemicals to your tank, other than a waterager to treat tapwater for the waterchanges.

what is the tank temperature?

Do you add any other chemicals to your tank, ie: something that clears ammonia, nitrite, lowers/raises pH etc....

Do you have an UG filter?

Gravel, even when you clean with a gravel cleaner will still have a buildup of gunk beneath it (as will river rocks), which can effect water quality.

If you have a UG filter, the gunk falls beneath the plate which in turn also effects water quality.

If they had no gill filaments when you got them and they're adults it may take longer to regenerate. On the other hand if they've lost their gill filaments completely and only have the stubs, then there is something (possibly water quality) that is causing it.

I'm not a great fan of gravel for axies, after our 4 adults have been pooing out the gravel they had ingested in their old tanks, with previous owners, for the past 15-16 months. Previous owners handfed and also said they never swallow it, always assumed his were fat and healthy.

 

[pavlor]

How on earth do you get you aquarium water down to 10C?!

I have my new aquarium cycling at room temperature here, although the water reads at 27C (room temperature is about 23C). The axies are in a tank in the kitchen, which is of the coolest rooms in the flat, and I still have to put bottles of dechlorinated water in there to keep the temp at about 22C, although the water has been at 25C for a few weeks and the axies did not seem to be stressed at all.

I do remembering reading a post on this forum where someone in Australia had kept his axies at 31C all summer with no problems...

Paul

 

[Abrahm]

I do remembering reading a post on this forum where someone in Australia had kept his axies at 31C all summer with no problems...

Animals that are slowly acclimated to higher temperatures can often last longer than those that are immediately brought up to that temperature. Gradually increasing the temperature increases their maximum temperature. There is a huge but to this and that is that the animal is still in a stressful situation. It is operating outside of its optimum environmental parameters and this affects many, many things.

The person who kept his axolotl the whole summer at those temperatures got extremely lucky (if it occurred.) With a stress like that heat present almost any disturbance to the animal can be fatal. Infections spread more rapidly and can overcome a more taxed immune system, water quality has a more dramatic impact on health and psychological stress can have devastating physical results. Mistakes can have fatal results.

While it is possible to keep animals in extreme conditions, we must than accept that we are gambling with the animal's life.

 

[kapo]

Paul-Mark, it's winter here, the tanks in our spare bedroom (coldest room in the house) are 10C, the others having checked a few minutes ago are 13-15C .

I remember that post and I agree with Abrahm, they were very lucky. On the other hand, how do they really know they were okay? They may very well have been stressed, they just didn't recognise it. I think the person in question did have several problems later on regarding their axolotls' health.

 

[nzaxie]

Vicki - limestone is not the best option for your Axies. It leaches into the water and changes its parameters. I use limestone in my African Cichlid tanks but it is good for them.

Just my 2c

 

[Kaysie]

Limestone will only leach into soft water, increasing the carbonate hardness. This will then act as a buffer in wild swings in water parameters. It's not necessarily a bad thing.