Completely confused on set-ups!

[littleonyxguppy]

I have had my Axie (Spyro) for 3 years now. She was about 3 months old when I got her and remains as beautiful as ever. However I have recently got a new tank for her (24"x12"x12"). With her old tank I was recommended to get an undergravel filter so naturally I went with this. Now, finding this forum, I realise this isn't a good idea. This forum is so enlightening but it has made me feel like I know nothing about the best aquarium set-up!

At the moment my set up is;
-Substrate of pebbles about the size of her head on top of the undergravel base.
-One uplift tube with a small airpump and small air stone in the tube.
-One 'hiding' cave.
-A couple of plastic plants.

It seems to me that Axie's prefer a sand base. If I go with this what sort of filtration should I use (please bear in mind I know nothing about other filters and how to set them up!). My concern with a sand substrate is the cleaning of it and Spyro grubbing about in it sending up clouds of sand.

I also tried her with a live plant before but she just attacked that!

Her gills seem to be doing the 'stressed' pointing forward thing. Could this be to do with water quality as there is no discernable water flow problem. Or could it be to do with new surroundings?!

Any help will be more than welcome!

Griff.

Here are a couple of pics (the tank is ctually longer than the picture shows)

 

[blueberlin]

Hi Griff,

I like my external (canister) filter. My new one is pretty strong so I connected two spray bars with tubing. The bars run along the back of the glass above the surface of the water, with the water spray angled diagonally so that it hits the glass just below the water's surface. This works great for me and my axolotls - no water flow to speak of but still plenty of oxygen and surface action (or how do you call it?). It's similar to the setup here:
http://www.axolotl.org/housing.htm

except that my aquarium is fuller and I used the hard spray bars instead of soft tubing.

If you just put Spyro into the new tank, maybe the "move" freaked her out and that's why she could be stressing? Poor water quality can also cause stress, but as you are experienced already you probably know that. I'm not sure if there is a light in the cover of your aquarium but that might also be a source of discomfort. You might want to give her more places to hide, too - I also use plastic plants, which my axolotls like to climb.

Nice aquarium, by the way.

-Eva

 

[Kal El]

Hello Griff,

I have had my Axie (Spyro) for 3 years now. She was about 3 months old when I got her and remains as beautiful as ever.

Indeed. She is a very beautiful axolotl.

However I have recently got a new tank for her (24"x12"x12"). With her old tank I was recommended to get an undergravel filter so naturally I went with this.

I'm afraid you did make the wrong choice in terms of filtration. Undergravel filters (UGF) have a plate that is notorious for trapping debris underneath it and causing problems with water parameters. It also has a combination of both biological and mechanical filtration systems which more than often clash with one another. I would recommend that you re-model your tank starting by:

1. Removing the water and placing it into buckets (which will be emptied back into the tank later on)
2. Removing Spyro and putting her into the fridge.
3. Remove the pebbles.
4. Remove the undergravel filter plate. If it does not come easily, try using those individual razor blades to remove the glue. Be careful though.
5. Remove the tubing for the uplift tube.
6. Replace the filtration system with either: an external canister (preferably) or an internal power filter*
7. Place play sand into the tank. Create a dome or place a bowl into the centre and pour the buckets of water onto the dome or bowl. This will reduce the amount of mess/cloudiness
8. Let your tank "cycle", i.e. allow the nitrifying bacteria to colonise the filter media within your newly acquired filtration system.
9. Introduce Spyro to her new home.

*You will have to purchase a new filtration system first of course

OR​

You could fit the uplift tube with a powerhead and see how that goes in terms of filtration. But in order of effectiveness: UGF < internal power filter < external canister filter.

Her gills seem to be doing the 'stressed' pointing forward thing. Could this be to do with water quality as there is no discernable water flow problem. Or could it be to do with new surroundings?!

It is mostly a combination of all these factors. Just out of curiosity, what are your water parameters?

Jay.

 

[michael]

I have had my Axie (Spyro) for 3 years now. She was about 3 months old when I got her and remains as beautiful as ever. However I have recently got a new tank for her (24"x12"x12"). With her old tank I was recommended to get an undergravel filter so naturally I went with this. Now, finding this forum, I realise this isn't a good idea.

Under gravel filters are o.k. but they are notorious for crashing because of debris under the plate. I've successfully used reverse flow under gravel filters. For a quick fix you could get a reverse flow kit but would probably do better with a hang on outside filter or canister filter with good biological filtration and low or diverted flow.
At the moment my set up is;
-
It seems to me that Axie's prefer a sand base.

Axies don't prefer a sand base. The thing is to have a base that either the axolotl can't swallow or will pass through it's digestive system.

If you kept the underside of the plate clean your old set up would be just fine. I prefer bare bottom tanks.

 

[littleonyxguppy]

Thanks for the info everyone. Interesting about the under gravel filter answers. I have got used to cleaning the underside of the plate over the years while doing water changes so if this is the only problem then I'll keep it going. I was more concerned about water flow problems but reading around this seems to be fine! I will monitor the water parameters closely. At the moment the parameters are;

Temp - 19 degrees stable at all times
PH - 7.4
Water Hardness - Hard (No testing kit to find out how hard but our area is a hard water area!)
Ammonia - Less than 0.1mg/l
Nitrite - No testing kit for this
Nitrate - Around 20mg/l - I thought this was fairly high but reading around seems to be perfectly safe. (Thoughts?)

Spyro has settled in to her tank completely now and is enjoying swimming around exploring (She particularly enjoys investingated the out flow from the uplift tube and slowly being swept backwards by the small current of bubbles!).

I also intend to get another hiding place and a couple more plants for her. I don't want to over clutter the tank though as she seems to like swimming in the open spaces!

Also getting tempted to dig up some Earthworms for her. When she was a baby we tried her on small ones which seemed to wriggle out so changed to bloodworms/beefheart. With Earthworms do you feed them alive and washed?

Again... I can't believe how great this forum is... thanks and well done to everyone!

Griff

 

[gr33neyes]

Yes Griff, go dig up some nice tasty worms for her. Wash them off under the tap and you can either handfeed them to her or do as I do and just drop them into the tank one at a time near to where your axie is. Then just sit and watch as your axolotl spots the wriggly meal and goes in for the kill. I wait until mine have eaten the first I threw in before I add any more. You can chop them into smaller pieces if your axie finds them too large.

 

[Jennewt]

We used to have a mod here who just LOVED undergravel filters for axolotls. So I wouldn't say categorically that they are bad for axies. The problem you will have with this tank is that dirt (and food) will fall between the pebbles where it's impossible to clean out. Uneaten food is the worst thing for water quality.

When you posted, had you just done a total clean-out of the tank? This would account for the curled gills. When you do this, you should keep buckets of the tank water and return the old water to the tank so that the change is not so drastic. I have tanks that have been running for 5+ years without ever completely cleaning them out; I do partial cleanings and partial water changes and never need to disassemble. This creates a more stable environment. But it may be impossible with an UG filter, as you have to get the crud out of there somehow.

 

[littleonyxguppy]

It was a complete clean out but now she is very happy (after 1 week of cycling). Her gills have assumed their normal happy position.

With the uneaten food I feed her by hand and make sure I remove any food that drops from her mouth so their tends not to be any uneaten food. When doing a water change I use a gravel vac/pump to get in between the pebbles. Once a month I remove the undergarvel board and give it a quick clean underneath. Slightly more hassle than if I had a different filter but it doesn't seem to affect Spyro. I did get into the habit of doing a complete water change every 6 weeks but after learning a bit more if I need to do a substantial change I will do about 50%.

I've also just fed her some worms and she loved them. Very funny watching her slurping them down like spaghetti. My daughter was in hysterics watching her!

I'm learning slowly but surely!

 

[blueberlin]

There's such a thing as a gravel vac with a pump???

 

[littleonyxguppy]

It's just a standard gravel vac that you pump by hand. I had no idea what to call it or how to describe it! Sorry if you thought I had found some lovely new tool!

 

[blueberlin]

Oh haha OK. Was all excited there. Maybe I'll get them a little rake for the sand; they can work on their Feng Shui...