Gravel, eating problems?

F

fidel

Guest
Ive got gravel which is 1mm-2mm and I give them bloodworms or something like that, I dont know how they do it in mexico but they try to eat and they have to spit it out most of the times because of the gravel...I know theres floating food too but I saw on the site that they dont often eat from surface so ... what should I do? Get rid of the gravel? Arent they used to these problems in nature?
 
Get rid of the gravel. In nature they live on sandy/muddy bottoms, not gravel bottoms.
 
if you want to drop food in rather than hand feed them, the simple answer is: don't use gravel! get bigger rocks they can't swallow, or use sand - though sand will still get eaten. i'd recommend river stones, or maybe slabs of granite/slate.
 
Castro get rid of th sml gravel in favour of larger. But try a few slate platforms for them to lay on and feed on.

I'd post piccy of my current large tank set up but don't ant to disturb them at all, Gizmo's vent is wide open and I'm hoping that he can get Psylocke in the mood. But here is a similar set up I have now. The axie in the pic is moonpie approx 150mm long.
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Whats it mean when their vents are open? is your male or females vent open?
 
Thx for the advice, i think ill use sand, sand shouldnt be a problem even if they eat it right?
 
I have 0.2 - 0.5 mm grain quartz sand in my tank and I never had probs with my axis swallowing sand.

Most of the time (if not always) they would spit it back out anyway ... I guess its in their instinct
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i have just changed to sand and large river stones, the sand seems to be easier to clean aswell. I did have gravel the same as yours - but switched because one of my axis in particular was filling up with stones!!!! She couldn't swim to the top to gulp air - the furtherest she got was putting her front legs on the glass and trying to push up with her back legs.
 
omg lol srry but this is kind of funny did he get stoneless again? I hope it isnt too late for my lil friends...
 
no she's fine! but it was funny and sad at the same time to watch! i lowered the water level so she could make it to the top ok.

stones in their little bellies can cause problems - but usually they unblock themselves with little difficulty - but to be on the safe side, get sand!
 
mik, do axys vents open when they are ready to breed?

male or females vent?
 
CPR: You dont need to ask the same question over and over. Mikki hasnt even responded back to the thread yet. Your animals will breed when they want to, quit pushing it.
 
yup ... its getting annoying to find the same kinda question spread all over this forum, cpr.

To put it bluntly, what really sux is that your questions don't even have anything to do with the thread's title(s).

(Message edited by jamc on August 30, 2004)

(Message edited by jamc on August 30, 2004)
 
Thx guys, back now to chk the threads. Yep CPR please try and stick with the main direction of the thread or open a new one if you want to ask about a specific item off the main line of the discussion.

Yep when the males ready his cloaca will swell and will open. But it doesn't mean the female's up for it. Please please listen to what everyone is telling you...relax and let nature take it's course. You don't need to leap on every hint that breeding's going to happen. It may have escaped your notice but axies can't read and so tend to work things out for themselves as they go along.
 
Bought sand, planning to change it this evening or first thing in the morning, ive just fed them on a plate so they wont eat to much stones...
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Ok got a couple of piccys of tank without disturbing them Castro. You can see flat areas and gravel is hidden well below rocks. Just needs a lot more plants.
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21507.jpg

This last one is just cos it's cute
21508.jpg
 
Hey Mary, i'm in Melbourne, where did you get your sand from and what kind did you get? I've got gravel at the moment, not causing too much trouble, but sometimes hard to keep clean, was wanting to change it to sand.
 
Abit off the subject but WOW mik, just gotta say - love your tank/setup.
And yeh, more plants would top it off
Very nice
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