Holding Tank/1st Tank

[fraustdemon]

So I initially had this tank setup so i could grow some plants for when I got my 55 Gallon tank at the end of the month. I was scouting around today, getting a feel for places i could get axolotls from and what their pricing was, when i was informed that Repticon is in town this weekend. There's a possibility that my timetable will be advanced on getting some Axolotls. Most of the tank was already in place when i found this out, so only needed a few additions.

The Breakdown:
White sand substrate covered in large pieces of slate. Even though i washed the sand pretty thoroughly, the water is still a bit clouded. Hoping it'll settle out before long. if not, water changes will help.

Largish black river rocks. I pulled any that i thought could reasonably get sucked in. Depending on the size of the axolotls i get, i may pull more out.

Bubbled Glass Paperweight.

Elodea planted in the crevices and freefloating.

Small Java Fern tied to a large piece of quartz with fishing line.

Terracotta pots for hides.

Tetra 20i In-tank Filter, not ideal, but it should do the job til I get the larger tank setup with a canister filter. Added a PVC endcap that I drilled a number of holes in to the outflow of the filter to kill the strong current it was creating.

Ice bottles for temperature control. Got 2 in right now, going to see what they get the temperature down to. will adjust size/quantity as needed.


Query:
How suitable would glass shrimp be for tankmates? I know the axies will eat them, but if i can get a colony going that should help with cleaning anything I miss after feeding and provide some food to go with the earthworms.


Thanks guys, looking forward to hearing what you think.

 

[helobed]

your tank looks good for axies, I don't know much about glass shrimp, but cherry shrimp do well in my axie tanks - I have 2 separate colonies (1 overrun by java moss so I can't get any out :| ) and I've had cherry shrimp even breed in previous axie setups at 18C although they did have masses of hiding places.

As long as the shrimp wont die immediately due to the temperature they ought to be fine

 

[mogs9999]

tank looks good but the cracked plant pot on the right looks sharp and a possibe danger??

 

[fraustdemon]

No worries on the pots, all the broken edges are filed down.

 

[totallyrad]

totally looks better than my first tank haha. how large is this? 10 gallon?
i'm sure it will be happy there. I wish repticon would come to jacksonville!
it came to tampa i think a few months ago but it was too long of a drive for me.
good luck with finding a new axie, post pictures of him/her when you get one haha.
and yeah your cloudiness should disappear within a few days. sometimes sand settles
right away some times it takes a day, I have a pretty good method down to washing my sand
so mine is hardly ever cloudy when i add to new tanks. anyway, good luck.

and i was just thinking about adding some ghost shrimp to my axie's tank. i have to make sure
they'll survive in colder temps first though.

 

[fraustdemon]

Thanks! Its a 20 gallon tall.

One vendor had some leucistic and gfp wild types at repticon, but they wanted a bit more than i wanted to spend on them, so i passed. Hoping to get some in the next month.

from what i've read, ghost shrimp do okay down to about 65 degrees.

Playing with water temperature currently. Its tough getting the temp down. Definitely going to have to switch to a different filter on that tank, and change the lighting i think (need something for the plants). Looking into making a DIY tank cooler too.