FYI: New Axie tank

[lindwurmx]

Hey all, I'm from perth and have just gotten my very own AXIE!!! I used to live in singapore and i remember as a kid they used to sell them all over but due to reasons they've stopped selling them.

Ever since i've been itching to get one of these guys again. I probably have ZERO experience when it comes to caring for them since my dad only bought them back in the day to feed his fish. I've only reccebtly come to realise thtas probably what happened to them when i see them one day and they're gone the next. Anyway to stress, this was a very long time ago and my dad's a nice guy!!!!

Anyway, I've kept fish (Asian Arowana, Redtail catfish, birchirs, Cherry shrimp, Red Crystal shrimp, CPO - a type of crustacean, african clawed frogs i think they were illegal but i found a local fish shop selling them) All in singapore by they way in case there's any confusion.

But when it comes to axolotls i don't really have a clue. SO before i bought them i've been reading extensively, Basic rules - small pebbles = BAD. Mixing fish with them = BAD. Hot temp 22 degrees over = BAD. Little or no current = GOOD. Hides = good. Dim light = GOOD. Food wise: Earthworms, an occasional cricket. Try not to offer feeder fish for a number of reasons. Pallets - haven't found any i trust.

So here's the lowdown. Tank size - 2ft, My water parameters are - P.H 7 temp 13 Nitrates both according to my test kit borders on 0. It seems to me my tank is still pretty much not settled as yeat as i can the water turning chalky. Also i'm doing daily 20% water changes is that too much for a 2ft tank? My smallest tank so far has been a 3ft. The readings i'm getting Seems weird to me too. But maybe its cuz the tank is in the first week of cycling. But it doesn't make sense as well when i think about. I haven't encountered this before with my previous tanks anyone has imputs?

I've attached a few pics so let me know what you guys think ya. Any suggestions for improvements would be greatly apperciated!!

 

[dazkeirle]

hey buddy,

Well done for the reading up, you've done the right thing and you're pretty much spot on

You're pebbles look ok, but you'd be amazed at how large a pebble they'll eat, just make sure that there are none less than the size of his head.

Fish are a bad idea, but you know that, they could eat your axies gills so gt them separated asap.

Do daily water reading to ensure that with the waste he creates doesn't affect the water params. 20% is right for the first week of cycling, but keep an eye on readings too for when the toxins start rising. Keep doing daily 20% until ammonia is at 0 consistently.

How you got your tank so cold?

Also I'd say the tank is big enough to start with, but be prepared for the next tank, as he will get bigger, and they like to swim, right now there's not a lot of room there. Do you really need the large hide on the right?

Looking good though, get us some photos of your critter!

 

[lindwurmx]

Hey, Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking of removing it if the tank seemed too crowded.

I guess i'll observe my axie when i get him and see if the tank seems too small with all the stuff in it. if i find he's haveing trouble getting around and has to keep contorting his body i'll remove it.

CHeers Mate

 

[Mac Myers]

What type of fish are those? I've kept guppies with my Axolotls with no problems except vanishing guppies. I use Ghost Shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus) in my tanks now as they are cheap and yet very efficient food cleanup crews (Axolotls ARE messy). Most of them vanish but a I have some that figured out how to say alive and they've grown to almost 5cm.
You have any idea where the animal will come from and how large it will be? :happy:

 

[lindwurmx]

Hi there, those fish in the picture are feeder fish which i got from a local aquarium. I don't know their scientific names or what they are actually called here as i'm very new to the aquarium culture over here in australia.

I'm gonna remove them once the tank has more or less cycled and i put puff in. (I'm gonna name my axie puff, after the 1980's toon called puff the magic dragon. Wonder if anyone here has seen it. Haha)

To answer a previous question -how i got my tank at 13 degrees- Its winter over here and the apartment i have doesn't get any direct sun so the temperature in here is always one or two degrees lower than the outside. Outrageous isn't it. 13 degrees is what i had a few nights ago in the day it goes up till 15-16.

Thanks all

 

[dazkeirle]

What type of fish are those? I've kept guppies with my Axolotls with no problems except vanishing guppies. I use Ghost Shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus) in my tanks now as they are cheap and yet very efficient food cleanup crews (Axolotls ARE messy). Most of them vanish but a I have some that figured out how to say alive and they've grown to almost 5cm.
You have any idea where the animal will come from and how large it will be? :happy:

Hey Mac, that sounds like a good idea, are there any issues with ghost shrimp being eaten? Any possible health issues for the Axie or is it pretty safe to put them in?

 

[lindwurmx]

Hi again,

I don't know if shrimps have any issues with being housed with axies but i do know from past experience from keeping shrimps, if the one you mention as ghost shrimps are the same type of shrimp we get back in singapore, that they do frow quite large if they manage to avoid being eaten and such. And that they are also quite aggresive for shrimps.

They ones i kept to clean my tank grew to gi-normous propotions as.. 1) They were no predators ie:Big fish to eat them. 2) Lots of food as it was a planted tank and it was also a coomunity tank so lots of watste and scraps. 3) Lots of hiding places for them.

I noticed that the bigger one actually actively chased down the smaller ones and ate them. Also i noticed the tails of my fish looked like they had been munched on. This was not caused by the other fish but by the shrimps. Yeah i saw it happening one day. And the smaller tetras i had the neons were being caught by the big shrimps and being chomped on to my horror. I had to manually remove the shrimps one by one with a pair of tongs. You have no idea how back breaking it was. Haha. Seriously.

To that extent i worry that any shrimp might actually pick on the gills of the Axies. But if eveything's been fine so far then i guess its no harm done.

Cheers!!

 

[Mac Myers]

Daz... YES. I put in 48 originally to start the tank cycle (12 for 1 dollar US). About 7 died within a day as they are sold as feeders here and are kept under lousy conditions in most places. About 8 more died during the cycling process as I wasn't great about water changes. I have about 9 left. The rest began to disappear after the Axolotls went in.
The remaining 9 are mostly female. All are adept at Axolotl avoidance techniques to the point where the little shrimp ninjas will swim right down and steal bloodworms from the Axies....sometimes right out of their mouths. 1 female even tries to drag away earthworms. None of them is any longer than about 5cm (2") as Palaemonetes paludosus don't get any bigger than that.
They are really neat creatures. Not aggressive at all. They don't eat algae...but they are good for food cleanup, dead plant matter and that sort of thing. I added 36 more... and they ALL vanished. They were much smaller than the original group however.
I now keep Cherry Shrimp in a Fluval Edge because of them.