Getting there slowly

[argray90]

My tank is finally in the final stages before getting my axolotls. I have added the hides I made, then the PVC hides, the moss balls, and the filter (not pictured these are before the filter). I have kept the tank at a solid 68.3 F which I think is good. I am still debating sand vs bare bottom, heard good and bad from both. Anyone have some ideas for some plants to add that would not need a sand base if I keep it bare? Just looking for small additions as I will go bigger (looking into a customer 240 gallon now) later. No lights or lid on the tank for the pictures as I was just taking them quick while working on redoing the basement. Of course I had to add one of our puppy pitbull interested in the tank.

 

[jessicaanne]

Oh your puppy is so cute!

Back to the tank.. I like your DIY hides, they look good. I reckon you should go for a sand bottom because it isn't that hard to clean and as long as it's less than an inch deep you shouldn't have any problems (Unless you find that your future axolotl's are constantly eating the sand even when you're not feeding them..) If you decide to do bare bottom then your only options would be floating plants or plants that wrap around objects; such as frogbit, duckweed and java moss. Anubias and java fern can also be attached to driftwood and such. Of course these are all hardy plants that require low light/low temps.

 

[argray90]

Filter is up and cycling, used all water from another aquarium as well as the media. I also got a few white cloud minnows they were on sale for $.10 so they should help with the cycle. Hoping the cycle only take a short amount of time.

How often do you change the water on your cycling tank? I am going to keep my axolotls in sterile tubs for the time being since I get them on Sunday. How often do you need to change the water in the tubs for the mean time? Obviously it needs to be dechlorinated. Last question how often and what volume do you do water changes with a canister filter?

 

[ilomilo]

How often do you change the water on your cycling tank? I am going to keep my axolotls in sterile tubs for the time being since I get them on Sunday. How often do you need to change the water in the tubs for the mean time? Obviously it needs to be dechlorinated. Last question how often and what volume do you do water changes with a canister filter?

With my 40 gallon breeder I did a fishless cycle of sorts by adding the waste from my two axies daily. once I got past the ammonia spike and started getting nitrite readings, I added a ton of plants. my cycle took just about five weeks to cycle completely, and during this time I performed one ten percent change a week. Although since you're doing a 'fish in ' cycle, you're going to have to do considerably more water changes at higher volumes to keep the minnows alive and healthy.


As far as the size and regularity of water changes done with a canister filter, I think it boils down to bio-load, water parameters and personal preference. I'm running a canister with 180 GPH
turnover (which is a little less than 5x an hour for my tank), so I typically do one 10 % change a week.

it also bears mentioning that I have 15 plants growing, a population of around 20-30 ghost shrimp working as my little janitorial crew (they even eat axie poop) and two young axies that are hand fed young night crawlers, so I don't have any food sitting on the floor, and between the shrimp and my filter I rarely see any waste, so I could probably just do a water change every other week. However, I choose to play things safe and keep my parameters pristine with little worry of issues thanks to my routine.

as I said, some of it really does come down to personal preference.

 

[argray90]

With my 40 gallon breeder I did a fishless cycle of sorts by adding the waste from my two axies daily. once I got past the ammonia spike and started getting nitrite readings, I added a ton of plants. my cycle took just about five weeks to cycle completely, and during this time I performed one ten percent change a week. Although since you're doing a 'fish in ' cycle, you're going to have to do considerably more water changes at higher volumes to keep the minnows alive and healthy.


As far as the size and regularity of water changes done with a canister filter, I think it boils down to bio-load, water parameters and personal preference. I'm running a canister with 180 GPH
turnover (which is a little less than 5x an hour for my tank), so I typically do one 10 % change a week.

it also bears mentioning that I have 15 plants growing, a population of around 20-30 ghost shrimp working as my little janitorial crew (they even eat axie poop) and two young axies that are hand fed young night crawlers, so I don't have any food sitting on the floor, and between the shrimp and my filter I rarely see any waste, so I could probably just do a water change every other week. However, I choose to play things safe and keep my parameters pristine with little worry of issues thanks to my routine.

as I said, some of it really does come down to personal preference.

I will go with a fishless cycle if it makes things easier. I will use your advice at 10% a week to get past my ammonia spikes and nitrates reading. My turnover is just about 6x an hour for my tank, I wanted to go big. I really like the idea of the ghost shrimp. How often do you find them missing? Do you breed them yourself? I planned on hand feeding to cut down on food sitting on the floor. Thanks for the advice on water changes.

 

[argray90]

With my 40 gallon breeder I did a fishless cycle of sorts by adding the waste from my two axies daily. once I got past the ammonia spike and started getting nitrite readings, I added a ton of plants. my cycle took just about five weeks to cycle completely, and during this time I performed one ten percent change a week. Although since you're doing a 'fish in ' cycle, you're going to have to do considerably more water changes at higher volumes to keep the minnows alive and healthy.


As far as the size and regularity of water changes done with a canister filter, I think it boils down to bio-load, water parameters and personal preference. I'm running a canister with 180 GPH
turnover (which is a little less than 5x an hour for my tank), so I typically do one 10 % change a week.

it also bears mentioning that I have 15 plants growing, a population of around 20-30 ghost shrimp working as my little janitorial crew (they even eat axie poop) and two young axies that are hand fed young night crawlers, so I don't have any food sitting on the floor, and between the shrimp and my filter I rarely see any waste, so I could probably just do a water change every other week. However, I choose to play things safe and keep my parameters pristine with little worry of issues thanks to my routine.

as I said, some of it really does come down to personal preference.

What live plants do you keep in your aquarium?

 

[ilomilo]

I will go with a fishless cycle if it makes things easier. I will use your advice at 10% a week to get past my ammonia spikes and nitrates reading. My turnover is just about 6x an hour for my tank, I wanted to go big. I really like the idea of the ghost shrimp. How often do you find them missing? Do you breed them yourself? I planned on hand feeding to cut down on food sitting on the floor. Thanks for the advice on water changes.

The fish in vs. fishless cycle debate is one that rages perpetually on, and I actually think that while it takes longer, the fishless way is easier in terms of less water changes being needed, and also more humane as no 'throw away ' fish have to endure the toxic conditions of the cycling process.

another case of personal preference, though. And since you already have the fish in, you should probably just stick it out.

As far as the shrimp go, because I have so many and they're all pretty much identical it's hard to really say if any have gone missing or not. especially because my tank is so heavily planted and while some are out the rest are hiding in / on the plants or driftwood.

I'm pretty sure they are breeding though, because I've noticed berried females on more than one occasion, and I've seen shrimp substantially smaller than my original stock scuttling around every so often. I'd probably have more success with breeding them if I kept the prefilter sponge on my intake to avoid the larval shrimp getting sucked up, but it clogged too quickly and I just don't enjoy getting my arm in the tank up to the pit once a week to remove and clean it during a pwc.

What live plants do you keep in your aquarium?

I have four bunches (containing 3 stems each) of water wisteria, two Amazon swords, five Java ferns, four anubias, and some anacharis all growing and thriving in my tank. I don't use any lights other than the ceiling mounted CFL above the tank and the natural sunlight the room receives for the first couple of hours out of the day.

 

[argray90]

Awesome thanks. I am going to look at some live plants today. I have 3 huge moss balls right now so I will add some more plants though. I think once I get the cycle complete and more plants added I will add a bunch of ghost shrimp they are super cheap online like $.50 each so might as well add a bunch and see how they work out.

 

[ilomilo]

Awesome thanks. I am going to look at some live plants today. I have 3 huge moss balls right now so I will add some more plants though. I think once I get the cycle complete and more plants added I will add a bunch of ghost shrimp they are super cheap online like $.50 each so might as well add a bunch and see how they work out.

I actually got my shrimp from petsmart for 33 cents each. Also avoided shipping costs by going that route. aquabid always has really good deals on plants, but I'm paranoid about the conditions that they're grown in and potential snail hitchhikers, so I actually got my plants from petsmart as well. the ones that come in plastic tubes. a lot of people dislike / don't trust them, but mine have been thriving for months.

 

[argray90]

I actually got my shrimp from petsmart for 33 cents each. Also avoided shipping costs by going that route. aquabid always has really good deals on plants, but I'm paranoid about the conditions that they're grown in and potential snail hitchhikers, so I actually got my plants from petsmart as well. the ones that come in plastic tubes. a lot of people dislike / don't trust them, but mine have been thriving for months.

Really I didn't think of petsmart for either. I'll check them out this afternoon. Thanks!

 

[ilomilo]

you bet. just make sure you go with a list if specific plants you want, because a lot of the plants in the tubes aren't truly aquatic.

 

[Olivia97]

Have you considered some plants in pots? that way your axxies can hide in them and still have a barebottom tank