Can I change the decorations of my Axolotls Tank?

[Invadetor]

I have a tank with mostly Fake plants and Fake trees, where they can hide and do whatever an Axolotl does... said that I discovered that they much more prefer live Plants and in general live decoration instead of fake one, so my question is if I can change the decorations in my tank, and remove the fake plants/decorations and change it with live plants/decorations that is similar to their natural habitat.
I've heard that if you change decorations too quickly than the fishes can die of shock, so what can I do to not make them die? And will the change in the Environment scare or stress them?
Thank for the help in advance! If you know what are the Axolotl's favorite plants than I would like to know!

 

[fishkid]

I have a tank with mostly Fake plants and Fake trees, where they can hide and do whatever an Axolotl does... said that I discovered that they much more prefer live Plants and in general live decoration instead of fake one, so my question is if I can change the decorations in my tank, and remove the fake plants/decorations and change it with live plants/decorations that is similar to their natural habitat.
I've heard that if you change decorations too quickly than the fishes can die of shock, so what can I do to not make them die? And will the change in the Environment scare or stress them?
Thank for the help in advance! If you know what are the Axolotl's favorite plants than I would like to know!

there is a small amount of beneficial bacteria on the ornaments that help to sustain the cycle so yes, if you take it all out at once the cycle may crash, killing the inhabitants. I would slowly take them out over the course of a few weeks or even months, replacing them one at a time so the cycle has a chance to recover after each small loss. The change of environment will not stress the axo so don't worry about that. Best plants IMO are things like java ferns, java moss, annubias, water lettuce or duckweed, these also don't have to be buried so you can tie them to hides etc. anything low light, no CO2 that can survive cool temperatures will do well.

 

[WaterLily05]

If you are replacing them with live plants, there should be nothing wrong with switching them all out at once. Do you have some kind of filter? The majority of your beneficial bacteria grows in your filter media, such as filter sponge or bio media. It is true that there will be some growing on the decor, but the live plants will be much more beneficial. The change will be stressful for the axolotls because it is a new environment, but they will quickly adjust and it won’t cause them harm.

Some great low light, cold hardy plants that can withstand your axolotl would be amazon Sword, Java fern, Anubias, duckweed, azolla (fairy moss), frog bit, anacharis, hornwort or maybe water hyacinth and water lettuce. I have found water hyacinth and water lettuce to have higher lighting needs than the others though.

 

[Invadetor]

If you are replacing them with live plants, there should be nothing wrong with switching them all out at once. Do you have some kind of filter? The majority of your beneficial bacteria grows in your filter media, such as filter sponge or bio media. It is true that there will be some growing on the decor, but the live plants will be much more beneficial. The change will be stressful for the axolotls because it is a new environment, but they will quickly adjust and it won’t cause them harm.

Some great low light, cold hardy plants that can withstand your axolotl would be amazon Sword, Java fern, Anubias, duckweed, azolla (fairy moss), frog bit, anacharis, hornwort or maybe water hyacinth and water lettuce. I have found water hyacinth and water lettuce to have higher lighting needs than the others though.

Cool, I already have some of those Plants in my Shrimp tank, so once they grow I'll add some to the Axolotls' tank.
I will still remove stuff slowly, because I'm still a little scared that I might destroy the bacteria or scare the Axolotls to much.
But anyway thank for the help!

 

[Invadetor]

there is a small amount of beneficial bacteria on the ornaments that help to sustain the cycle so yes, if you take it all out at once the cycle may crash, killing the inhabitants. I would slowly take them out over the course of a few weeks or even months, replacing them one at a time so the cycle has a chance to recover after each small loss. The change of environment will not stress the axo so don't worry about that. Best plants IMO are things like java ferns, java moss, annubias, water lettuce or duckweed, these also don't have to be buried so you can tie them to hides etc. anything low light, no CO2 that can survive cool temperatures will do well.

I really like that Water lettuce, do you know any place where I can buy it? I couldn't find it on my Pet Shop, I will try to check in others tho.
Thank for the help!

 

[WaterLily05]

Cool, I already have some of those Plants in my Shrimp tank, so once they grow I'll add some to the Axolotls' tank.
I will still remove stuff slowly, because I'm still a little scared that I might destroy the bacteria or scare the Axolotls to much.
But anyway thank for the help!

Every time you do or change something in the tank it will cause some amount of stress on the axolotls. The less times you mess with it, the less stress you will cause. If you are scared of crashing your cycle, put all your plants in then two weeks later pull your decorations out. The amount of beneficial bacteria growing on your decor is not enough to matter to the cycle. The majority of it grows in your filter, if you don't have a filter then on your substrate, if your tank is barebottom then on the sides and surfaces of the tank itself. Honestly if you have no filtration, you might have bigger issues than pulling out the decor.

 

[Invadetor]

Every time you do or change something in the tank it will cause some amount of stress on the axolotls. The less times you mess with it, the less stress you will cause. If you are scared of crashing your cycle, put all your plants in then two weeks later pull your decorations out. The amount of beneficial bacteria growing on your decor is not enough to matter to the cycle. The majority of it grows in your filter, if you don't have a filter then on your substrate, if your tank is barebottom then on the sides and surfaces of the tank itself. Honestly if you have no filtration, you might have bigger issues than pulling out the decor.

I have a filter (one of those with sponges of different colors), So than it is no problem to remove stuff, right?
Thank again for the help!

 

[WaterLily05]

I have a filter (one of those with sponges of different colors), So than it is no problem to remove stuff, right?
Thank again for the help!

Should be no issues!

 

[Lyv3wyr3]

I have a filter (one of those with sponges of different colors), So than it is no problem to remove stuff, right?
Thank again for the help!

how lond did it take to cycle with the sponge filter btw? (love ur pfp))

 

[Invadetor]

how lond did it take to cycle with the sponge filter btw? (love ur pfp))

It took around 2 weeks, 13 days if I'm not wrong.
I used those powder bacteria once every two days to start the cycle, they are called Aktivedrops in Italian.
Glad you liked Monokuma, I usually use a bad drawing of Mondo from the anime as pfp (like on my YT:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBd8fHhlcjRJvi3g0sUWJgg) ahahahahahah!

 

[Lyv3wyr3]

It took around 2 weeks, 13 days if I'm not wrong.
I used those powder bacteria once every two days to start the cycle, they are called Aktivedrops in Italian.
Glad you liked Monokuma, I usually use a bad drawing of Mondo from the anime as pfp (like on my YT:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBd8fHhlcjRJvi3g0sUWJgg) ahahahahahah!

ah, cool! Next time I gotta cycle ill look into it. Honestly, any pic of mondo is amazing idk what ur talking abt XD

 

[JM29]

Some great low light, cold hardy plants that can withstand your axolotl would be amazon Sword, Java fern, Anubias, duckweed, azolla (fairy moss), frog bit, anacharis, hornwort or maybe water hyacinth and water lettuce

For Invadetor :
Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is forbidden in European Union since 2018 (invasive plant)

 

[WaterLily05]

For Invadetor :
Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is forbidden in European Union since 2018 (invasive plant)

Oh goodness, I did not know that! Sorry.

 

[Invadetor]

For Invadetor :
Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is forbidden in European Union since 2018 (invasive plant)

Oh, well there are other options in this case, I really didn't want that plant anyway...
But thank, I'm not sure if there is any bad consequence to own one of this forbidden plants, but in case you saved my ass lol, ahahahahahah!

 

[Invadetor]

Oh goodness, I did not know that! Sorry.

Don't worry mate, is normal not to know every continent's law ahahahah!