Been gone a while

[rheann]

Hi all

I've been gone for a while. I'm incredibly busy right now making a game called Water and Metal - http://axolotl-mafia.deviantart.com/. I don't have time much to take pictures of my tank or to post on the site, but I am keeping busy with my axolotls as well =D.

As a few of you know my axolotls had babies over the winter. I have managed to find homes for a few but I still have a few left. Boy they grew up so fast! It was fun raising them. I'll post up some pictures of the wee ones later.

Here is a pic of my tank in its current stage. I had some HUGE sword plants in there but I recently removed them because they were #1 getting way too big, and #2 it was hard to keep the tank so clean with such big swords in the tank. The roots were deep and it was hard to uproot them.

My tank is 60 gallons and I currently have 5 grown axolotls in this tank.

Thanks for viewing!

 

[jeff]

looks great Rheann, I love the huge bright light in the background!

 

[rheann]

Oh lol that's not a light, it's an ice cream bucket with some baby axolotls inside. The light and my bad camera makes it look like a light lol. The bucket method for the babies has worked wonderfully for a few

. I attacked the handle over the middle bar in the tank and the bucket has a lid on top with a small hole. The bucket has holes poked cut into it for water circulation.

 

[ali]

Rheann, is that a pleco in your tank?

 

[teesha]

i see u also have some little fish at the top right, what are they? do they get along with ur axies? Can't wait to see ur babies! ur tank looks. *AMAZING* btw...also if u have some pics i'd like to see how ur tank has looked like in the past...mine's pretty bare atm...i'm off to buy some java moss ( i have really low lighting! )
also what is this bucket method? u just pop the babies (how many) in a bucket, suspend them, with cirulation holes? that's brilliant. i had a similar idea to plastic cups but ur idea rocks more!
also what degrees is ur tank kept at, arent plecos tropical?

excellent tank!

 

[teesha]

hatchet fish, mollies??? platys? those are my guesses!!! how many feet is ur tank?

 

[rheann]

Sorry all I'm slow to responding because I am busy most of the time.

Ali - Yes it is a Rubber Mouth pleco. I have a 60 gallon tank and over the summer (When the light was not on because it was too hot) Brown algae grew like crazy. I don't know if it was from the heat here which the temps reach 110 degrees F. here or if it was from something else. Scrubbing, snails these things were not taking care of the job so I had no other choice but to get a small Pleco.I am very well of the dangers of Plecos however right now the Pleco is very small and is fed on cucumbers green beans and algae tablets and when he gets a little bigger he'll be removed and housed in another axolotl free tank. I do not intend to leave him in there but for now it is a personal choice for the hygiene of my tank and so far has proven to be the best method of dealing with thick brown algae.

Teesha - I have three little fish in my tank. A male Sail fin molly, a female guppy and a platy. They were meant as treats and to help keep the tank clean but amazingly enough they have survived in the tank for somewhere around 7 months I think it has been. From time to time there are also little ghost shrimp in the tank to help take care of the dead plant matter.

 

[rheann]

Oh Teesha I forgot to mention that there are are three baby axolotls in the bucket lol.

 

[ali]

Hi Rheann. Oh! I couldn't tell that it was a rubber mouth. I don't think those get very big, do they?

I figured you knew the risks.

The only thing about rubber noses is that I think they're the ones with the sharp spiney things in them.

I'm super jealous of that piece of wood in your tank!

 

[teesha]

thanx Rheann!! i was just wondering! What temp is ur tank at?
...i meant top left (lol! ) 2 of my guesses were right!!!!
i'm looking at putting white clouds in my tank, just a few, as a snak and to eat scraps. ( ive herd they are good tank mates and they are also cold water)

 

[rheann]

Ali - No, from what I know they don't get very big and they are very shy. They just adore cucumbers

I do worry about the spines so I keep a close eye on my tank so hopefully I won't have any problems because I really do need a pleco in my tank lol.

Teesha - right now in the summer time I keep my tank between 69 - 72 degrees. However my axolotls are used to the warmer temps and I do float ice bottles and when the bucket O' babies is no longer int eh tank then I can start floating chunks of frozen tank water like I have in the past. This has worked wonders to keep the tank cool. I just drop them in teh bucket with holes poked in the sides for circulation. I don't keep the light on and if I do it's so rare during the summer. My plants aren't suffering too badly from it though lol. During the winter the tank can drop down to 60 degrees or at least it has a few times lol.

White clouds are very friendly gentle fish and do make good tank mates, but so do molly's and guppies

. And I still have the three little fish lol. I don't think they are ever going to get eaten. If you do get guppies or little community fish make sure to get types that aren't too brightly colored. Axolotls seem to pick off the brightly colored ones the fastest.

 

[ali]

I think that Mollies appreciate warmer waters.

 

[tom]

hello i am new, i am a knowledgable fish keeper and i just thought i would mention that, if your plec is a 'rubber plec then yes it will only attain 12cm however to me it looks like a common plec or possibly a sailfin plec, these can get to over a foot longm i own a common plec measuring 10 inches. I have seen pictures of plecs getting to over 60cm.

A rubber nosed plec is more grey and has a large head with a very rounded face. I used to have one but my polypterus ate him.. oops