Question: Getting Set Up!

I personally think that having sand as substrate is too much of a hassel to clean. Also, your axies might accidentally eat some sand when they snap at their food. I bought large rocks from the petstore that are about 2" long. There is absolutely no way my axie could ever fit any of his rocks into his mouth. You don't need them to be that big though, I'm just very cautious. Axies also like to have somthing to hide out in. The guy I adopted my axie from suggested using hamster tubing. You also need a filter. I use a small box filter with filter fiber and filter carbon. I have also heard that sponge filters work good too. Axies don't really need lots of stuff in their tank, its mostly for us to look at.
 
tmorgan said:
Mac,

Thank you for letting me know! :) I will have to try that! I think I might get natural sand at first because I like that look. :)
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Caribsea makes a really fine white sand that you can see footprints in. I have it in one of my tanks and it's very funny to see the footprints. They can swallow a little sand. It's not a danger as they pass it easily. As far as clean up goes I just spot clean with a cheapo turkey baster. Simple and safe. The problem with stones is that food falls down in the cracks and you loose food. It also causes water quality problems if you can't get the Axie Poop, pellet or bloodworm residue out of the cracks daily..... and the cracks make it harder

tmorgan said:
Would you know a good place/ breeder by any chance? I'd like to find a good place to find some. I don't know if there are any located in Oregon. :(
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I like the FS Section on here. I used Michael Shrom in PA for my animals (I'm in Florida) and they were great. Packing was well done too with an Ice Pack etc. He's a decent guy, kept in touch.. and answered all my dumb "They're here! What do I do now" type questions even though I thought I had all that stuff figured out.
The four I got are beautiful and came right out of the shipping bags looking for foods and eating. :happy: He also had some A. andersoni that were awesome.
 
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Mac Myers said:
The problem with stones is that food falls down in the cracks and you loose food. It also causes water quality problems if you can't get the Axie Poop, pellet or bloodworm residue out of the cracks daily..... and the cracks make it harder
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From what I gather this can be a problem, as Mac says, about water quality. Many people seem to have found that big stones work okay as long as you have a good 'clean-up' routine.

As for the sand I referred to in an earlier post, just avoid reptile sand, marine sand, etc. that's sold in pet-shops. Silica-based sand, sold in pet-shops or as 'play-sand', once thoroughly rinsed is the way to go on the sand front.......unless you have money to spend on such delights as Tahitian Moon sand (lol!)

Good luck with the axies :cool:

EDIT: Sorry, I just realised I was repeating myself there!
In a previous post you mentioned about snails? What type of snails are these? (Trap-door snails might not be appropriate, I imagine)
 
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Mac,
Thank you I think I will be getting the Caribsea white sand! Maybe Petco can order it for me? Or is there a better site to order from? I know that I would love the little footprints! :D I have heard very good things about Michael and I imagine I will be contacting him once everything is all set up!
The turkey baster is a great idea! Very innovative! :)
 
Ken,

It is always appreciated though! I imagine that this will be a good post for others who are just starting out to read! You guys give such great info!
As for the snails, I am not sure what kind they are. They were from the river attached to a rock that my brother brought home. There are two different kinds: one is the round kind of snail (the normal looking kind I guess??) and the other one is more pointy... kind of spherical... like a unicorn horn sorry I'm not describing this very well!
 
On another note: I went to look for Caribsea products at our local pet store (our Petco doesn't have any) and I found a couple different types but I was a little bit confused on what to get. They had some made up of aragonite but it said "for marine aquariums" so I steered clear of that. What type exactly do I need to get? They didn't have the moon sand kind. :(
Maybe I'm repeating myself, but better safe than sorry!
 
I personally think that having sand as substrate is too much of a hassel to clean
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Its actually the complete opposite. It is your opinion but with sand detritus sits on top and has a better chance at getting sucked up the filter if your using good mechanical filtration or its easier to suck out with a routine water change.

Rocks can be messy cause the detritus can get down in between and with larger rocks it can work its way further down. Also, some people say that sand builds gas under it but to all my experience rocks are more prone to build up and release it before you get a chance to stir it up and suck it out at once.

Sand in most cases can be passed a lot easier than stone as well.

I would suggest regular play sand. Make sure its not the Pave stone brand cause its dyed with some weak dye and takes months to clear the dye out of the water. I loved how it was such a bright bleached white but that went away almost immediately. I was doing water changes on my cichlid tank every 2 days for weeks to get the nasty cloudy water out.

Also, I love Estes brand sand. I use black in almost all my tanks and it really looks good. Estes, at least the bags I bought, has always been very very clean and easy to wash before setting up the tank.

Also, Im not sure if you can find it any more but I have used a product from 3M called color quartz. It comes in different shades including some very natural ones and a very very fine grade that I have never seen in any brand of sand before.
 
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Jamie,

Thank you for all of the great info on the sand. :) I have heard of the 3M sand, but not sure where I would be able to get some? My main problem is locating all of the resources because of where I live. :( I think I might look into the play sand after all. Our pet stores only have marine sand and gravel...

After searching around a bit for the 3M sand all I found was sand paper? But I hear that it is hard to find.
I won't get the Pave Stone brand. That's really good to know!
Thank you!

Tahnee
 
Success! I found the play sand at Home Depot! I still would like to get some white sand to mix in with it though! This kind says that it is pre-washed, but I'm still going to rinse it really well. So now it's time to start looking around for a magnet to remove any iron that may be in it! :)
 
Your still going to have to wash it like crazy and even then your gunna have a bit of cloudiness. I get two buckets handy. I fill one up with about quarter the bag ( if that ) and I wash it in the bath tub. I churn it around and just allow the bucket to over flow so that it lets all the dust out. Doing it little by little goes faster in the end cause I find that the more sand you have the faster it settles on top of the dust forcing teh dust back down. Once the water is clear dump the cleaned stuff in that other bucket and set it aside and start over with more sand from the bag.

Estes brand aquarium sand comes in white. Try to get someone at one of those shops to order it for you. Other than that you run the risk of getting something dyed if you search for it outside the aquarium trade.

The marine sand would be fine also as long as its not the crushed coral or live sand.

I already went as far as getting sand from the beach where I live and just rinsing it over and over. Its actually very clean that way so long as you can trust the water being chemical free. The ocean acts like a giant water changing machine. its just the salt that needs t be rinsed out. I havent used it on amphibians though.

I never heard of a single person ever running into problems with iron either.

Good luck!
 
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Hey, just another note about the play sand. You will want to sift this sand before rinsing as it does, most likely, have some stray gravel in it.

A slight variation to Jamie's method above. Use the bucket, but instead of doing it in the tub, use the hose. Force the end of the hose down in the middle and turn it on. This churns up the sand and encourages the floaties to the top. Plus, when you dump out the water, the escaped sand doesn't wreak havoc on your plumbing - sometimes that's a pain in the a** by itself. Rinse until it runs clear and you should be good (maybe a little cloud, but shouldn't be bad). Keep in mind, this is a time consuming process any way you choose. ;)
 
Shannon,

Thank you for the tips! I will try that! I think the time will be well worth it though because I would much rather have good, clean sand for my future axies than a murky tank! Thank you for the gravel tip! I honestly hadn't thought of that! I will be sure to remove any bits of gravel even if they are pretty small. :)
 
Jamie,

Thank you! I will look into them ordering Estes for me. :) All our pet shop had was the live/coral sand. I love the ocean idea! Would I need to boil it though to prevent germs? Just a thought. We have some great sand here at the Oregon coast.
Oh I think I had read somewhere that there was iron in some of the play sand that can change the pH or something? Maybe I'm just crazy. ;)
 
Another odd question... has anyone tried having baby tears growing in their tank? Also, does lava rock affect pH?
 
My Petco has baby tears growing on lava rock and I thought it was adorable, but was unsure if it was ok for the axolotls?
 
They might trample them actually.

One type needs Co2 and one type can get away without but they both need pretty high wattage.

Google has lots of info.

They probably wont last long at Petco and if I remember they get stuff like that from Segrest Farms in Florida so they have most likely been given a great start out doors in a tropical pond.

I personaly have the best results growing it as a marginal plant just above the water line. Most people that play with the plant are die hard planted tank people and go the distance to plant all the grass's first and only fill the tank with enough water to just cover the substrate. After the grass's grow and fill in across the substrate floor they begin filling the tank up the rest of the way and plant the rest. This is called emersed growth.

Anytime I do something like that without the use of C02 and other nutrients my emersed plants rot.:wacko:
 
Jay,

Thank you for letting me know! :)

I have my tank almost set up! I might get some java moss today to add to the tank. :) Going to see what they have available.

I'm ordering some axies!!! Getting two! :D
 
Where are you getting the axies from?
 
I am ordering some from Michael Shrom. :) He's got great reviews and feedback.
 
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