New Axolotl owner here!

[Nyxx]

Hi there! I posted this info in the wrong section earlier so I am reporting this in the crore to section and I hope you guys have some feed back for me

In the past week I've received an axolotl due to a friend moving out of state. Let me give you a bit of background on me...
I've never had Axolotls before but I do have several tanks. 1 55gal goldfish tank, 1 75gal oscar tank and 3 betta tanks. So I do know a bit about fish keeping just not axolotl keeping.

Now for the axolotl I have. She is a girl, I've named her medusa (not relivent but fun to know), I'm not sure how old she is. She was being kept in a 10gal aquarium that wasn't filled to the top with water. I've heard some people keep them this way?? Well since getting I've upgraded her to a 30gallon tank with a hob filter. I'm using some water bottles to baffle the filter so I hope she isn't getting too much water current. Ive been feeding her a combination of frozen blood worms, a night crawler, and most recently some red worms (I like the size of these much better than the night crawlers. In the past all she was fed was a cube of brine shrimp every few days. I know she is a little older so feeding every other day is correct right?
I do water changes in my oscar tank every week so I plan on doing the same for medusa, their tanks are in the same room so it works out well. Sorry I'm still waking up so I'm trying to tell you guys all the info you may need to see if there is anything I'm doing wrong or whatever.

So her current set up is a 30us gal tank, with sand substrate, a few hiding places and some river stones bigger than her face. She also has a whisper hob I forget exactly what it is but it's for at least a 55. I've cut and taped water bottles around the outflow to baffle the water.
The tank is also filled with water.
So how am I doing? Any comments are welcomed please!

I'll be posting pictures is just a few minutes

 

[Xenurine]

You seem to have done your research and so far you seem to be giving her a great new start. I am not the most experienced keeper, I'm in the process of raising my first Axie as well, but as far as I can tell, you have already improved her living situation tremendously. What temperature do you keep the water at? Where do her ammonia/pH/nitrate/nitrite levels sit? And how is her behavior overall?
Oh, and welcome to Axolotl keeping

 

[Nyxx]

Here are a few pictures from when I first got her, so before I put sand in the tank and filled it up.

 

[Nyxx]

Thanks for replying Xenurine! Her temp is been staying about 69-70F. I put her in the basement where the air temp doesn't get above 70F so that's about as cool as I can get her in the summer right now. Her behavior is good. She seems very curious! But she was very leary about going back into the tank after I had put sand in it and filled it. I think she thought she was in a new territory. But now she is out and about walking around, and walks right up to the glass when anyone stops to look at her.

I haven't tested her water but I just filled it last night so there shouldn't be any ammonia, my ph runs....7.8 I believe. But I haven't tested a thing else. I did put established media in the filter to help it along. I can do testing if you guys think it's important at the moment. I have the api master kit so just let me know.

 

[keiko]

Seems to me that you're doing great. I bet she loves the 30 gallon tank and all the extra space!
In the pictures it looks like she's a bit on the skinny side so there's no harm feeding her even every day for now. But you're right axies don't need to be fed every day unless they're tiny. Some people even feed their fully grown adults only about once a week. It's really a matter of what the axie is used to and how much she likes to eat at one feeding. As long as the belly is about the same width as the head it's all good.

 

[Nyxx]

Ok and here is a picture of right after the remodel last night. The sand was still settling so excuse the blur.

 

[keiko]

About water testing.. Axies are more sensitive to ammonia and nitrites than fish so it's good to test it regularly and especially since it's a new tank. The old filter media will probably pick up the cycle nicely so there most likely isn't anything wrong with the water but it's always good to test just incase. Ammonia and nitrites should be at 0 and nitrates below 40 ppm.

 

[Nyxx]

Keiko, thanks for replying here too! You said stick to earthworms on the other thread, that's what I was hoping for because it's easier anyway but are a certain type of worms best? I am using red worms because she seams like she can eat them easier. The night crawlers just seem way to big for her. The red worms I have are about 1-2 inches long and skinner. But yeah I think at some times in her previous home she was fed 1 brine shrimp cube once a week to every few days I wish I could have gotten her even sooner.

 

[Nyxx]

About water testing..Ammonia and nitrites should be at 0 and nitrates below 40 ppm.

Right. I have a oscar in a 75 gal that I don't let his nitrates get above 20-25ppm so I'm doing a water change on it at least once a week so I was just going to put Medusa on the same wc schedule since their tanks are in the same room lol. But like I said I JUST put water in the tank last night so would you like a reading on the water anyway?

 

[keiko]

All kinds of earth worms are fine. But if you want to start your own worm farm then it's best to choose for example Eisenia fetida (red worms, red wigglers what ever you call them) because they will reproduce faster and easier in worm farms. Some other worms need for example deep cold soil to reproduce so those conditions are pretty impossible to get in a worm farm.

 

[keiko]

Right. I have a oscar in a 75 gal that I don't let his nitrates get above 20-25ppm so I'm doing a water change on it at least once a week so I was just going to put Medusa on the same wc schedule since their tanks are in the same room lol. But like I said I JUST put water in the tank last night so would you like a reading on the water anyway?

There most likely isn't anything wrong with the water if it's only been one day so I don't think it's necessary to test it right away. But for a little while it might be good to test a bit more frequently just to make sure the cycle is working like it should.

 

[Nyxx]

Good to know! I was considering a worm farm. I'm just concerned in how readily available these will be come winter. As for now I'm set, a friend of mine works at a bait shop so I have all the worms medusa needs at the moment thanks for your continued feed back! I want to do the best I can for medusa here

And ok I'll start testing hers pretty often. What I did with my oscar (Thor) was test it right before and after a water change until I got pretty good at knowing how long it took the nitrates to build up.

 

[Nyxx]

Ok guys I'm going to spam you with more pictures of Medusa I also found out today that she is 2.5yrs old.

 

[Nyxx]

A few more questions too, as you can see in the 1st and last picture her front right arm is..well...gimpy. I'm not sure of a better way to put it. But I know that her pervious owner had told me that when she was little her arm was bitten and badly injured by another axolotl she had and eventually a new one regrew and pushed the old one off. Which is cool and all I know these guys do that but I don't think it grew back correctly. It's a little shorter than her others and just has 3 small toes :/ is there anything that can be done or is it just now deformed?


Next question...there are some pretty bad storms headed my way. If the power goes out what do I do? I have one battery powered air pump for my oscar tank but that's all I have. Will medusa be ok for a while with out the pumps running? If so how long?

 

[keiko]

Sometimes the regrown limbs are a bit weird. But as long as it's not bothering her it doesn't matter. If there was something severely wrong with it a vet could amputate it and hope it grew back better.

She'll be fine if the power goes out. If the power would be out for days then you might need to do some water changes to make sure the water stays good. What you might have to worry about is the nitrifying bacteria. But as long as the filter media stays wet it should be fine if there's a short break.

 

[Nyxx]

Ok. It doesn't seem to bother her but it doesn't seem like it works quite as well as the others but she gets along just fine.

Thanks for the info on power outages too, one summer not too long ago the power went out for 7days so let hope that doesn't happen.

But seriously, thank you for all your continued help. I've never had these cool critters before and I want to do my best with her unexpected or not

 

[keiko]

Glad to help. I know what a pain it is sometimes to try to find good info about axies.

Woah 7 days without power is crazy! That would probably do some damage to the cycle. Here I was thinking 2 days without power after a snow storm was long (only happened once in the 20+ years I can remember).

 

[Nyxx]

Yeah 7days was crazy. It was the first week of July and the temp would only get down to about 70F during the night and was 90-100F during the day. And EVERYONE ran out of ice. We ended up driving 1.5hrs away to buy ice. Which I'll be sure to go stock up on to keep Medusa's tank cool if this happens.

But yes, good credible information on these are hard to find, which is why I'll probably end up talking your ear off with questions, so sorry in advance

 

[Nyxx]

Ok guys I've got another question, surprise surprise I know

How much should I be feeding medusa? When she came to me she wasn't eatting. She was offered a night crawler but wouldn't eat. Then once she came to me she still wouldn't eat anything but maybe 2 blood worms. I assumed it was from the stress of moving 3 times within 2 weeks. But now she is a hungry girl. As per Kiekos advice I've taken to feeding her everyday since she is on the skinny side. I'm currently feeding her red worms wich about about 1-2 inches long and some what skinny. She is always excited to grab and devour one. So I've been feeding her 1 in the am and 1 in the pm. Is this too little, what do you suggest?

 

[auntiejude]

Feed her whatever she can eat in 10 minutes, once a day. You'll soon get an idea of how much she wants.
My adults (9-10") get a large worm every other day, more if I'm conditioning them for breeding. Sometimes they get something else, like waxworms, river shrimp, or seafood such as raw scallops or squid.

As a rule, axies can eat worms as long as they are, so don't feel obliged to find small skinny worms for her - a fully grown axie will probably be able to take whole nightcrawler or lobworm (5" and fat). It might take a minute or two to get it down, but they usually manage it.