New Ax man

[adam]

Looking for general hints and tips to help me out with my first axolotl! Had him for a day now and he's a cutey!

he's called steve and is only a baby (3 inches).

he's in in a 70 litre tank thats has been cycled for a week, i've got a little fluval filter that sticks to the inside, he's got a log to sit under and some live plants that he has already spent time sat half way up! i'm feeding him blood worms that come vacum packed in jelly (he seems to really like them).

Only prob i've had so far is that i was told by the pet shop to put gravel down, but now after doing a bit of reading on t'net and watching him chilling about, it appears he may accidently eat it.

i'm going to swap it for something a bit more course but whats the best way to do this without upsetting steve. if i do change the gravel am i in danger messing up all my efforts so far with regards to cycling? I did think that i could just put a single layer of bigger pebbles over the top of my gravel, would this be alright?

(Message edited by hamplanet on November 05, 2006)

 

[kapo]

the tank takes longer to cycle than a week, or do you mean you cycled it for the 3-7 weeks, however long it took, and the good bacteria has been stable and established for a week?

If not, then see this article: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml


As he gets bigger, he will be able to swallow the pebbles too (think in terms of smaller than the size of his head will fit in his mouth - our adults ingested 1.5cm pebbles and smaller gravel; thankfully after many months most of them are out but the worse end of the scale is they could have caused a blockage, prolapse and died)

Also, gunk and waste gets caught under beneath pebbles, gravel and river rocks. Two alternatives are sand or bare substrate - the latter being easiest by far to clean, as you can see waste clearly.

If your tank hasn't cycled completely you'll need water test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate an will need to commence testing every couple of days to ensure tankwater is safe enuf for your axie.

 

[adam]

basically i know nothing about aquariums at all. i've always wanted an axie and had heard that their a good place to start because there easy to look after.
so far i have done exactly what the pet shop have told me to do. and the more i look into axies, the more everything they have told me sounds wrong. I'm really worried because i don't want the little guy getting sick.

What the pet shop refered to as cycling has so far meant setting the tank up with the filter and gravel and treating the water with aquasafe and easybalance and leaving it for a week for everything to settle and for the water to warm to room temp.
then steve went in yesterday.

how does this sound?

(Message edited by hamplanet on November 05, 2006)

 

[kapo]

Well, your tank is starting to cycle since your axie has been added. Did you read the article I mentioned? Which one is the water conditioner/water ager/dechlorinator of the two you mentioned? That should be the only one you use. See if you can take the other one back and get a refund. You don't need to add any chemicals apart from the dechlorinator to the tank. Also, no need to clean your filter until after your tank has cycled, and then only in tankwater not tap water.

Since you don't have a water test kits, you will need to get one to test your water regularly, otherwise you will have to take in samples of water to your petshop every few days to get them to test and make sure the water is safe enuf for your axie. Get them to give you the figures and keep a record. If unsure, post them here.

If you want to remove the gravel, it's pretty easy, you can either remove your axie and put him in a container of dechlorinated water and remove them completely (leave water in). Or leave him in and move it in sections (either 1/2 or 1/4 each day til its gone).

Another good tool to invest in is a turkey baster, this will be great for spotcleaning any poos and uneaten food or waste.