Question: First axolotl - does my tank look alright?

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abbzt

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Hey everyone! Recent lurker, first time poster. I just recently got my first axolotl from a reptile expo and I've set up the tank yesterday. Just wanted to make sure everything's a-ok before I put my little guy in:

I have a 10 gallon tank, I added caribsea super naturals sand (really really fine sand), an internal whisper carbon filter and a large ornament so there's plenty of places to hide. I added tap water and didn't have any conditioner that's slime-coat-free, so I'm waiting out 24 hours until the chlorine takes care of itself, as well as letting the sand completely settle down. I've attached a photo.

I've been seeing posts on here about cycling the tank. The guy I bought my axie from didn't mention it. He says as long as I have the filter and keep to 20% water changes once a week, I'll be okay. Is this right? Do I need to worry about anything else like water chemistry?

Thanks!
- Abby
 

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Hey abby! That looks like a home fit for an axolotl, BUT the tank does need to by cycled. The water change instructions the vendor gave you are for a cycled tank. For an uncycled tank you'd have to do 100% daily water changes (which is difficult to do in a tank with sand).

My advice? Get this tank cycle started and keep your little guy in a plastic container in the meantime. How big is he? If he's no larger than 4" he's probably be fine in a shoebox sized container. If he's bigger, find an adequately sized container.

Now, heres what I'd recommend. Buy two identical plastic containers. Fill them both up and treat them with dechlorinator (I don't think slime-coat enhancing dechlorinator is a problem... it's just unnecessary. Also, you should call your local treatment plant to see if they use chloramines because those do not evaporate and can only be removed with dechlorinator). Then put your axie in one and leave the other one be.

The next day, simply move your axie into the second container, rinse and change out the water in the first, and let it be. Then repeat the switch the following day. By setting up two containers, you will never have to wait for the temperatures to be the same and avoid causing shock to your axie if you get impatient. If there is enough room in the container, I'd suggest adding a hide so that he's a little more comfortable, but it isn't necessary.

If the container is shallow, you need to add some sort of lid. This could be a screen or simply some books (leaving a little crack so there can be oxygen exchange). Otherwise, he might jump. If the walls are a few inches higher than the water line, I wouldn't worry about it.

The cycle shouldn't take more than a month if you do it right!
 
Thanks so much for the response!
My axie is a little bit over 4inches and he's been kept in the box he came in - I'll look into finding a bigger box.
About cycling: does it just mean leaving the filter on for a month? Do I need to do anything else? Some people have been talking about adding fish - should I add my beta to the tank to speed up the process then take her out after a few weeks? 1/3 of the water in the tank is from water that's been filtered for at least a week - will this cut down my cycling time?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions. The concept of cycling boggles me.

- Abby
 
Thanks! I actually just read that. It's a lot clearer now.
I'm an impatient person and I want my axie to live in his nice big tank instead of the small container it's in right now. I was browsing through some petstore websites and saw many products that can "instantly cycle the water". It's a concoction of bacteria that will eliminate ammonia and nitrite...etc. Has anyone used anything like this before? Its sounds too good to be true.

Examples:
Nutrafin Cycle Supplement

Topfin Bacteria Supplement

Caribsea Ready-Water

Any help is greatly appreciated!
- Abby
 
tank looks great, set up is awsome! ur axie should live happy in there
 
Chlorine will dissipate by sitting (although it usually takes more than 24 hours). However, most water treatment plants have switched to using chloramines, which must be chemically removed. You need to contact your municipal water supply to verify what they use to sanitize your water.
 
I LOVE that ornament... where did you find it?
 
that tank looks awesome :)
wish I had a piece of driftwood that nice!!
as for cycling the tank, it doesnt require 100% water changes every day, in fact that would be a bad thing for the cycle process
I have a 20 long tank and was doing daily water changes of 10 to 20%, around 5 gallons
I did a test before the water change and ammonia levels were 0.5ppm, after the water change they were not registering on the test (test kit is liquid based, not strips)
Even waiting 2 days to do the next water change the ammonia level hit less than 1ppm

If you put your axie in the new tank before cycling it complete just do 10 to 20% water changes every day, after a couple weeks back it off to every other day and check ammonia levels
after 3 or 4 weeks the cycling process should be complete

As for the instant cycle products it isnt exactly instant, you still need to watch ammonia levels for the first couple weeks
Ive used the API Stress Zyme additive and it reduced cycle time from a month to 2 weeks
Ive also used a product called Biospira, it isnt made anymore but I used to get it from a local fish store. They kept it refrigerated and it had live bacteria in it, using that the cycle finished in about a week!! cant find anything like it anymore... it has since been replaced by safestart i beleive, the company that manufactured it was bought out by tetra
I have never used safe start before
 
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Thanks. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone else who responded to my post. I ended up going to the store and bought bacteria supplement and all kinds of other stuff, ready to cycle my tank. I tested my water with my new testing kit before adding anything in, and it turns out that my water was already cycled! All levels were normal (I'll bet this was due to the old filter I was using with my betta) and so I returned all that extra stuff the next (saved me a pretty penny). I put Norman (my axolotl) in the tank and he seemed just fine. It's been about a week and a half since he's been transferred to the new tank, and everything is going great.

Thanks for your help, everyone!
 
cycling is not just clean water
cycling refers to the life cycle that takes place in your filter
your filter needs to have several types of bacteria living in the biological media
those bacterium will eat up ammonia and convert it to nitrites and those to nitrates ( i think thats the order)
The bacterial additive is used to jump start the process

Did you add the bacterial additive?
if the tank hasnt had anything living in it while its been up and running then the tank is not cycled and you are going to have ammonia and nitrites/nitrates build up in the water
keep testing your water and for the first couple weeks its a good idea to do a 10% water change every day
dont do full water changes or more than about 25% of the water or else you will stop the cycling process and you may have to start over again
eventually you can get down to 10% water changes every week
 
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