Question: New Axolotl owner, read plenty (now: diary of Fred's new owner)

[HMAxolotl]

No advice from me :happy:... Just cant wait to see it finished, want to see pictures as soon as fred goes in ... And i want your tank ....

 

[dazkeirle]

haha, no problem, I can't wait till Fred gets in it either.

He's a bit emotional at the moment. First he had some buddy fish in a massive tank, took him a while to get over that tank not being his but he got there.

Then they left and it was drained, he's been pining over the pufferfish ever since who he really did used to spend all day waving to.

Now he's upset that I've removed his aeration (while I'm deciding how to set it up in the new tank. And so to sulk he no longer is using his log and insists on sleeping, and spending all day under the moss ball.)

I think he feels he's being punished, little does he know that it's all for him and the big work starts tonight. I have sand in stock, backing, silicone etc.

Plan tonight is:

• Empty remaining water to builders bucket,
• put filter and ornaments in there to maintain bacteria.
• drain tank entirely
• give the back a really good clean and dry (for silicone) and also go over any build ups of algea or general filth i can see (not gonna scrub it clean though.
• Lay out and secure using suckers the airlines to the surface
• silicone backing to back
• while waiting for that to set I'll get on with cleaning out sand and maybe even adding it to the tank (depends if it gets the silicone wet really).

I'm gonna use my internal filter until I've decided what I'm shooting for in ways of external, considering how I may get a cooler and run that in line as well. Contemplating having the cooler in the attic and running the tubes down through the ceiling.

While I was preparing to raise some eggs for the other tank, I just am not at the right knowledge of raising them yet to be confident to do so and so am gonna give it amiss for now. I just don't think I know enough about eggs and would rather not try at all than pet any through a less than stella upbringing.... so......


I'm looking for Melanoid, Wild and Golden Axolotl Juveniles in the South West of England. If anybody knows anybody with some nice ones (preferably breeder and not shop) I'm there. Otherwise I could wait for stock at exotic-pets but just don't know how good quality theirs will be.

 

[dazkeirle]

Made some really decent progress on the large dirty tank last night, it's now looking really quite good.

As a reminder here's how it looked the beginning of the week, skanky, full of algae and poop and generally poorly maintained.

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I continued to empty out the remainder of the gravel, there was about 50lb all told.

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I removed all the rocks and the filter placed them in a big builder bucket with the tank water to try and maintain some bacteria:

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I then got to work with cleaning, I didn't use any fresh water, just tank water, but that had been cycled a few times due to refills so was actually pretty clean. Once cleaned I dried the back:

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I got to work with the backing, first I measured the tank, then the backing and then cut it to fit.

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A small line of silicone on all sides and some heavy weight on top to help the bond and a few hours later the backing is in, and looking great I think.

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Now tonight I have the sand to wash and then we're almost there

 

[dazkeirle]

OK last night's update.

I had bought some nice airline suckers and so now seemed a good time to position and secure the aeration.

My plan was to have a back wall of bubble (not in the middle due to freds log-house or behind the filter though) and so a short air wall was used for the filter side and a longer for the other.

These were secured to the surface with a sucker at the airstone end and one in the corner to keep the cables down.

I also added the air disk to the front middle, this is going to be basically Fred's lift and will sit just outside his frontdoor. The idea being when he want a swim he walks out and off he goes. He really loves this disc and loves to bath in the bubbles, especially his gills so i hope he likes the new position.

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Both air walls are on the same air pump outlet and both can be controlled via variable valve to ensure the output looks the same.

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With the bubbles in place I washed the sand in a bucket and added to the tank. I used about 30 lb of CaribSea Tahitian Moon sand, it's giving a good 1" to 1" 1/2 coverage but I imagine that will go down when the water is added. It leaves me with half a bag for spare, or to replace that lost in cleaning over time (or even to kit out the small tank).

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Right now it look pretty dark in there, which is what I want. The white of Fred's body and the green of the plants are gonna pop.

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Tonight I'll be filling with water (as silicone is now set) and will install the internal filter pump once any dust has settled. This is only temporary as i will be getting an external filter, but right now it's full of lovely back so should get the cycle started.

Fred is waiting patiently with excitement, staring into the tank.

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[Mac Myers]

Looks very nice. Excellent job. :happy:

 

[melfly]

Hey Daz

Just a quick one.
Exotic pets axolotls are good quality, they keep them well, Toms wild Leeroy was from there.
If they have any imperfections they will be stated on there before you order.


Mel

 

[dazkeirle]

Well the time has come and gone, Fred is now in his new tank!

Don't worry, in true Fred's diary fashion I caught it all on camera for you. Here's a Youtube video of the event (unedited - lights go on once he's in):

YouTube - ‪Fred the Axolotl - New Aquarium - Black on Black‬‎
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Everything went without a hitch, he adapted straight away to the new tank, and is more than happy his old hide is there, only now it's extended with more coverage a a cool new driftwood log to play on.

There's even a bubble launchpad right outside for him to use to get air for his night time swims. The back wall has bubbles all the way along it, but they are turned right down and didn't show in the pics.

The only thing I'll say is that internal filter is taking up a fair whack of the tank so am looking forward to getting an external replacement to reclaim that space.

So... here's a few pics of hour and day 1 in the tank.

The tank
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Fred 's first visit to his new home



Fred Playing



Fred's New lookout post


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[dazkeirle]

Well after great thought I've decided that I am now in search of a Adolescent golden Axolotl to eventually join Fred in his Tank.

The Juvenile I'm looking for should be mature enough to be sexed (so 6 inch and larger i suppose) and needs to be a female so that when at 10 inches she can join Fred for some sweet sweet love making.

I Also need to see pics of said axolotl before purchase and will be happy to collect (this will be the issue).

So, I think I have my work cut out finding a adolescent female golden axolotl, but you never know

If I can't then I may just take a gamble on a juvie golden and hope it turns out to be female.

 

[Gaius317]

You have a pretty big tank. Have you ever thought about purring a few "feeder fish" in? If you are concerned about them munching on fred's gills white cloud minnows wouldn't pose much of a threat.

Even if Fred wasn't interested in eating them, they would give the tank a little more life. I would just like your thoughts, because I am planning to have a few White clouds and Danios with my Axies.

 

[dazkeirle]

You have a pretty big tank. Have you ever thought about purring a few "feeder fish" in? If you are concerned about them munching on fred's gills white cloud minnows wouldn't pose much of a threat.

Even if Fred wasn't interested in eating them, they would give the tank a little more life. I would just like your thoughts, because I am planning to have a few White clouds and Danios with my Axies.

Hey, thanks for the suggestion. I googled the fish you mentioned and came across this wicked pic of zebra Danios. They apparently are GM to glow different colours so wouldn't be able to get them but it is nice to see lots of nice colours together which I'm sure you could probably get from natural feeder species..

They look really nice together, and would really add something to the tank.

What makes you so sure they wont much on my axies gills?

Will they not stress my axie out swimming about?

Edit: just found this article: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pretty-in-pink-but-dont-splash-out-on-glofish-1774630.html, certainly don't think I'll be messing with illegal fish, still interesting to know such a thing exists.

Edit 2: After reading about the way these fish were created, and what effect they would have on the envirnment if they got out, I have to state that i certainly am not in favour of owner these things. I'm sure there are more ethical alternatives (I do like the colours though).

 

[Gaius317]

Wow I didn't know they Gm zebra Danios. I saw some other colorful fish at my local pets store, but not danios.

I had about 4 fish with my axies before I placed them in my bigger tank to push along the cycling process (The fish not the axies). There was a posting somewhere on these forums which stated which fish could live peacefully with axolotls. It was Guppies, Danios and White cloud Minnows. There are probably more, but I don't know of any others.

Anyway, when the fish lived with my axies they stayed at the top of the tank, which is obviously not the axies normal swimming area. They are small, especially, the minnows, so are more inclined to stay away from the thing in the tank which could eat them.

I never observed the fish attacking the axies, nor the axies attacking the fish. I have seen other people use Giant Danios because they are larger and less likely to be eaten.

There are lots of different Danios you can use with different sizes and colors. They are also pretty cheap. You don't want to spend too much on fish they may be eaten.

 

[mkw]

What is the black sand you are using and where did you get it from? It looks amazing!

 

[dazkeirle]

What is the black sand you are using and where did you get it from? It looks amazing!

Hi, it's called Caribsea Super Natural Tahitian Moon Black Sand (20lb).

Google that and you will find what you need. It's great stuff and a lot cleaner than standard sand. Slightly larger particles but much less dust.

It's also a lot easier to see waste, or anything on the surface for cleaning.

 

[mkw]

I was hoping that was the stuff, i'm just looking into ordering some for my tank. I've heard its the blackest looking black sand about. Most "black" sand looks grey apparently.

I'll have to place my order tonight then!

 

[dazkeirle]

definitely not grey, black as ravens wing.

It does have a bit of a sparkle though as the edges are shiny and so sometimes catch the light.

Although usually just a very matt black,

Just be carefully when rinsing it, it is lighter than normal sand and it's easy to get carried away and lose product. Really just needs a very light rinse, it wont cloud up like regular sand.

 

[ted22]

Yo dude long time no... erm.... foruming! laptops broke and no internet at home so im abit limited on internet browsing and posting opportunities! Glad to see you got a bigger tank for fred and have plans to find him a missis! I would love to get gomez a friend but need to find another adult axie all I can find everywhere are juvies! (gomez is now 11inches and still growing, every axie i have seen for sale is about 4-5" so gonna have to figure it out!)

Fred's lookin happier than ever nice work!

With regards to a previous post about feeders (this is from my experience and knowing you are like me, meticulous with your axie care!)

Danios (I have used zebra danios they are fast moving fish that show no fear when confonted with an axie, hence why they all got eaten! Ive heard that danios can be fin nippers i do not know if this means they are gill nippers too but I have had no problems with em it just might be something to be warey of! also i know fred was abit of a scaredy pants the boistrous nature of these fish may be abit much for him)

WCMM (get some, beautiful little schooling fish, get about 10-15 or even more in a tank your size they will stay away from fred, so he may not even notice they are there and they will certainly liven the place up when freds in hiding mode!) Gomez manages to catch em at a rate of about 2-3 fish a week as they are fast moving little fish! also relatively clean!)

Guppies (unless i only put a couple in with gomez at a time I find they just produce too much waste to be a permanent feature in axie tank however they are great fun to breed lots of mad colored varietys and have alot of character a while back i put a group of 6 in with gomez and the next morning there was 1 left! this little guppy svurvived with gomez for a good 4-5 months then I got home on tuesday and he had gone! So sad!)

Seems you have a spare tank it seems silly not putting it to use, get a little breeding set up on the go! (if breeding go for guppies they just constantly have babies also have red cherry shrimp in same tank as they breed just as readily and eat the left over fish food, there will be very little work involved for you except for the usual tank maintenence!)

a few shrimp and fish ontop of ur worms, crickets, bloodworms, waxworms and whatever will be one hell of a varied diet for fred and im sure he will appreciate it!

Some minnows will liven the place up too, while they arent in ur axies belly that is!

After payday il try and get all my computer and internet sorted so can post up a gomez update and get involved with this great little community again!

regarding the black sand, do you not find that freds poo become invisible on the dark surface? or is it all good?

Glad to see that all is going well for you and fred!

take it easy dude!

 

[dazkeirle]

Hello buddy!

Glad you're still around, thought we'd lost ya!

Regarding feeders, you've got me interested I must admit. I spent a while in my local aquatics this weekend looking at the crazy feeders they had in there, I must admit it would make the tank look great, lots of nice colours and kinds of fish but I', just a little cautious that they'd irritate Fred.

There's always the option to use the other tank, and drop 1 or 2 in at a time for food, but tbh I just don't like the idea of Fred eating other fish right now, especially as I have his ice cream tub wormery working so well. The more food I'm giving those worms the healthier he's becoming.

I've found carrots are a favourite, you get them in the worms and Fred loves the flavour.

I have been chatting with me old mate Tom who is hooking me up with some decent breeder eggs in a couple of weeks, I've decided to rear some babys and am in the process of building my bbs hatchery right now (under Tom's advice).

So far so good an I now have a double hatchery on the go just awaiting the bbs eggs and of course the Axie eggs.

I plan to raise all to a few inches, choose 2 for myself and give the rest to freinds / sell / give to the good fish shop down the road to sell.

I'm hoping secretly for a light coloured wild and a golden from the mix, but I guess I'll have to wait and see. I had always loved Melanoids however you just wouldn't see him in my tank.

Gonna free up some space soon with an external filter. I missed out on two Eheims recently by going to make some tea (doh!) however in the mean time I've been talking with another aquatic mate who uses a Tetratec EX700, i must admit I really like it as a filter, almost silent with flow control so may just buy one of those new (as they are very well priced).

Still plenty of time for that, gonna be 1 year before any new tank mates hit Fred's tank.

 

[dazkeirle]

Forgot to mention, I've upgraded Fred's fan system to a 4 fan Axoo setup, which I must admit is quieter and generally better produced than the 2 fan system I was using from generic china.

Over this weekend though, I have been experimenting with a single Ice bottle int he tank to see the difference it can make.

Positioned under the fans the water movement and inertia keep the bottle stationary, blowing the air over the cold bottle and straight onto the surface.

On my 160l tank this will drop the temperature a further 1 degree over 30 minutes, which I feel is very impressive when it's already running at full potential with a cooling of about 3 degrees with the fan alone.

The tank takes about 8 hours to get back up to the previous settled cooling point with fans alone and so I plan to drop an ice bottle in every day before work, giving Fred a little more cooling while I'm at work and the windows are closed.

If you are struggling with the stormy weather and heat, I really do recommend a fan system. Just remember to seal up the lid except for directly under the fan on one side, and a smaller hole the other end of the lid for the air to flow out from. This creates an exhaust system and the air pressure forces the hot air out of the other side. Seems to work best this way.

 

[dazkeirle]

Well the next stage in Fred's spoilt axie saga is almost upon us.

Last night I went to pick up a brand new external filter for my little pet. I was holding out for a deal on an Eheim, however a brand new Rena XP2 came up at only £40 including all medium and the intricate collection of pipes and spraybars, unused which seemed like a pretty excellent deal.



The filter looks great, massive, well built and apparently with an easy prime feature (We'll see).

The only issue I have now is how exactly I'm going to fit it all. I didn't realise but with enclosed aquariums they don't really make allowances in the hood for external filter upgrades and so whatever happens I'm going to have to chop it up a bit to get the plastic solid hanging pipes over the top so the lid will still close (with these the pipes fit onto plastic pipework hangers which lets you make pip-mania style setups within the tank).



They also assume you're going to sucker the pipework to the inside back of the aquarium, however I can't due to the backing so it's either going to have to be secured on the outside back or inside side.


Oh well all makes for fun i suppose, the main bit of plastic getting in the way of the hood is the boxed housing for the large lamb, but i never actually use that, so may just remove the lamp and electrics and bore what i need out of the enclosure to get the plastic pipes hanging neatly without lifting the lid.

Of course for now I may just get lazy and secure the pipes to the back and just have the lid resting on them at the back instead of damaging a £70-odd quid lid.....

Hmmm any suggestions?

 

[chuckieee]

Forgot to mention, I've upgraded Fred's fan system to a 4 fan Axoo setup, which I must admit is quieter and generally better produced than the 2 fan system I was using from generic china.

Over this weekend though, I have been experimenting with a single Ice bottle int he tank to see the difference it can make.

Positioned under the fans the water movement and inertia keep the bottle stationary, blowing the air over the cold bottle and straight onto the surface.

On my 160l tank this will drop the temperature a further 1 degree over 30 minutes, which I feel is very impressive when it's already running at full potential with a cooling of about 3 degrees with the fan alone.

The tank takes about 8 hours to get back up to the previous settled cooling point with fans alone and so I plan to drop an ice bottle in every day before work, giving Fred a little more cooling while I'm at work and the windows are closed.

If you are struggling with the stormy weather and heat, I really do recommend a fan system. Just remember to seal up the lid except for directly under the fan on one side, and a smaller hole the other end of the lid for the air to flow out from. This creates an exhaust system and the air pressure forces the hot air out of the other side. Seems to work best this way.

Hey, could you tell me inn more detail how your fan system works, i dont quite understand it and ive got to get my soon to be axol tank temperature down.