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

[Mac Myers]

Glad to hear that. I like Fred even though we've never really hung out or anything.

 

[dazkeirle]

He likes you all too.

It's safe to say without the advice of you guys here i would have killed him by now. lol

Anyway latest newsflash from bumwatch 2010, a large amount of poop was just found scattered around the sand, it's safe to say Freddie Pink Bum is functioning as normal.

 

[Mac Myers]

Heheheh... cool. "Freddy Pink Bum". Awesome :lol:

 

[dazkeirle]

On Friday I was doing some routine tidying up and behind my faux moss ball i found 3 stones and the empty soggy exoskeleton of a cricket.

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They were all together indicating that it was perhaps from one trip to the loo and so I'm assuming this was the cause of all the issues, 3 stones and an empty floppy carcass is a bit poop.



Saturday morning I came into the room to find Fred swimming about the surface, he appeared to be doing a lot of floating for a few minutes I was watching. I of course paniced thinking this was indicative of impaction but after a few minutes he returned to walking around, it appeared as if he was basically trying to say, "hey look, I can swim because im 20 pieces of gravel lighter!"

I treated him with some blood worms and all was well. He stayed on the sand pretty much since.

I actually went away for the weekend and before i left i had noticed something weird on my filter and around the walls of the tank, there was what looked to be a build up of small lines, they looked a little like undeveloped bloodworms or some kind of weird algae.

I left them be as were not causing an issue but when i got home last night Fred was found looking a little annoyed clinging to the back wall. He was really reluctant to come down even when I switched the bubbles on. When he eventually did he was flapping his gills a lot, looking a little unhappy generally and was even resorting to kicking at his gills with his front legs. While it looked quite comical I sensed his frustration so acted quickly.

The flapping was more than the normal 2-3 a minute, more like every second so I knew something was up.

I had noticed that these little lines had spread, there were more over the filter now and could be seen if you looked really carefully on all surfaces.

I did a parameters test, nothing seriously out of whack there (bearing in mind i'm still mid cycle), so i did a large water change (30%). Putting 2 and 2 together i wiped all surfaces inside the tank with a sponge and wiped off the filter housing to reove these wormy things.

After the tank was refilled the flapping stopped and Fred looked happy again.

I'm no expert but unless they were some algae I'm willing to bet that what I was seeing was undeveloped red mosquito larvae, probably as it's Fred's main diet, and that the uneaten had began to spread in the tank, much to Fred's horror. I'll have to watch that in future and make sure I get ever little bit of uneaten food up in case it happens again.

I suppose the issue is while doing the cycle there are additional nutrients in the water for these things to thrive on, which is a problem is suppose as could slow the development of the bacteria I'm looking for to help remove the nutrients from Fred's waste.


I've also noticed the sand looking a little clumpy in places so I think tonight I'm going to be really meticulous and hoover all surface sand up and make sure that everything is looking nice and clean and granular.

These Axolotls certainly are high maintenance, especially ones like Fred who enjoys giving me symptoms of impending death at every opportunity.

 

[tomkeogh]

Have you found your way to this page Caudata Culture Articles - Aquarium Invaders: Algae, Snails, Worms and Other Critters I hope it helps some.

It is a bit of a long shot, but what conditioner do you use, I have heard about string algea in tanks due to stress coat, I know you said you think it is living creatures and not algae, but worth a shout I guess.

I always thought I was really good with cleaning sand...until I got pure white sand, I spend about half an hour a day syphoning muck up.

I hope all the stones are gone now, maybe it was the cricket that forced it out, two of my guys had impaction when I fed them mealworms they passed every stone

 

[dazkeirle]

Thanks tom, that's very useful.

Looks like they were probably Planaria although they didn't appear white, more translucent or cream/red.

advice is:

Reduce feeding. Leftover food can fuel large outbreaks of tank critters.
Remove them manually by wiping them off and/or siphoning them out. If they are snails, pick them (and their eggs) off and throw them away.
Do a better job removing all uneaten food and waste products.
Do a better job adhering to scheduled water changes: at least 10% per week, perhaps more until the critter epidemic subsides.
Be patient. In most cases, we only notice tank critters when they suddenly explode in number. If you wait, they will almost always decrease as their food supply dwindles. Over the long run, they may also be controlled by the growth and competition of other micro-organisms, both seen and unseen.

From my previous post it looks as though my gut instinct reaction to them was pretty much spot on and my actions were appropriate.

I'm glad I didn't over react and start cleaning mentally, I knew this would ruin my cycle.

I don't actually use any conditioners except a chlorine water conditioner but I cannot remember what that is called.

I'm sure it's down to food, I had been feeding a fair amount to get his weight up and had noticed some uneaten so it's my fault really,

The sand is something I'll have to investigate more / live with. It just appears some of it on the surface is getting clumpy / fluffy.

I'll just have to do a better job with cleaning and hopefully everything will be well again, i had been cautious to how much i cleaned because of the on-going cycle but I suppose there's a balance.

 

[Bellabelloo]

My tanks from time to time have produced extra beasties . Planaria, some tiny white worms, damsel fly larvae, some tiny leach etc. These tend to disappear with regular tank maintenance .

 

[dazkeirle]

I think I'm just a natural at over reacting.

I must admit I've had a terrible time today getting that bloody tank cool. It's been a real challenge and one I haven't enjoyed so may look for alternatives for the future.

Finally buckeled and bought a cool 1 to 2 adjustable valve system for the airlines. The great thing is i can have barely any air going to the stones now which Fred appears to like.

This leaves a full power line for whatever, so i bought a vacuum that attaches although i think this may take some practice, filled the entire bag up with perfectly clean sand very quickly.

 

[dazkeirle]

omg, was just about to go to bed and noticed Fred had left me a nice large pile of poop at the front of tank, I went to clean it up and after inspection realised it contained, wait for it, no less than 12 pieced of white gravel !!

They weren't all massive pieces but there are 12 all the same.

I've become paranoid that maybe I am introducing these to the tank so have gon through everything with my fingertips, every inch of sand and all ornaments. There's certainly no issue there, despite finding a further lump burried deep down that I'll assume are from a previous poop.

That's not 12 in total now, that's 12 in this poop. We're looking at 35-40 in total i reckon. It's fair to say that these things will eat anything. I'm starting to notice a behavior change when he's about to pass.

One issue I had (which is why i have only a blurry photo of this poop, is that if I'm not careful, Fred being the intelligent creature his is will try and eat the poop, gravel and all. To combat this we just had a bit of a battle as I walled off the poop with a small net while i removed the poop with the turkey baster and the gravel with my hands.

This has to be some kind of record now? How much gravel can one of these things eat?

 

[dazkeirle]

here's the amazing 13 stones in total I removed from the single poop last night, crazy:

 

[Mac Myers]

That's amazing. That ought to be a sticky about gravel.

 

[dazkeirle]

As I read back through this post it makes me laugh at how I had so much issue getting him to swim.

Little did I know he was effectively half stones.

Perhaps as time goes on that can be my area of expertise here, the "Gravel Impaction Consultant". lol

 

[dazkeirle]

Last night and this morning that I think Fred was showing the signs of normal relaxed and playful Axie behaviour.

There was lots of jumping, swimming, running and generally being playful and inquisitive.

It was so strange to see him so lively, I've become accustomed to the look of fear in his eyes and odd awkward spells.

To celebrate I spent quite a bit of time playing, he had his blue light on and I even left him with the bubbles on, all night on low.

While they appear stupid at first, it seams they can be taught to do things.

Fred has learnt now that if he stands on his bubble disc when i'm in the room I'll turn it on for him. He's now using it like a switch and as i walk into the room he runs from where ever is to stand on it.

My GF also noticed that my voice in particular makes him move, regardlesss of where i am in the house. She was with him in the living room while i was in the office and she said he was dead still. My phone rang and as soon as i started speaking he moved about, i stopped and he returned to statuesque form. I guess it's because my voice is so deep it penetrates the water!

 

[dazkeirle]

got the biggest surprise for Fred today, amazing deal.

Just you guys wait, biggest day in Fred's life guaranteed, will post pics tomorrow.

 

[melfly]

Oooo leaving us hanging like that!!
I will be tuned in tomorrow!


Mel

 

[dazkeirle]

ok, well it's been a month and my Axie fascination has been reaching new levels, Fred is looking healthy and energetic and I couldn't help but start looking for a larger tank.

With my birthday coming up and an allowance from the missus of £75 I was unsure that would be the reason to get a new tank, but thank god for eBay, for only £63 I ended up getting:

• A Juwel 160 litre Rekord tank (3ft by 1.5ft x 1.2ft)
• A shelved Cabinet
• Top end filter system
• Heater
• Lighting system
• Aeration system
• 3 large rocks and some wood
• Pumps and siphons
• Chemicals
• Food
• Books
• Nets

and in the tank there is:

• An Electric Blue Lobster (Crayfish)
• A Red Siemesse Fighting Fish
• 2x Green Spotted Puffer Fish
• A Baby Shark
• A Serpea Tetra

The tank is wicked and is going to make a great home for Fred, 160 litres and 3 foot long it's a vast improvement on his old tank.

It's had fish in it for a long time, and unfortunately the previous owners havent executed great cleaning skills, it's filthy, the gravel substrate is full of poop and lots of algea build up, but all critters seem healthy.

Now as the parameters are good I've got the tricky task of trying to clean the tank, with everything still in removing the filth and the gravel and replacing with sand without disturbing the cycle. What I plan to do is on a daily basis attack one surface or area of surface using the internal water and removing the build up and getting it looking cleaner.

By the time i finish I'm sure there will still be acceptable levels, especially with the large prehistoric rock and wood in the tank. Each day I'm also going to remove, wash and store the gravel until it's all gone and is bare bottomed, then I shall gradually daily build up the sand on the surface until I'm happy everything is how Fred would like it.

Then I'll send Fred on a fridging holiday, heat his tank up (60l) put the 5 fish in there (lots of room, they're only tiny) and then cool the large tank down. Do parameter tests until I'm confident everything is perfect for him and then give him the new larger tank. Does all that seam a sensible method?

So that's it, Fred's major upgrade, hopefully he'll be really happy with all that space. I may even get rid of the fish as I'm not that keen, but the GF seems to like them already. Can you believe i got all that, which is selling down the road in excess of £400 for only £63! bargain, and still change for the GF to buy me some whisky

Here's some pics of the critters:

The Crayfish (Mr Lobbo):

The Fighting Fish (Michelle Reux)

The 2 x puffers (Mr and Mrs Puffer or Martin and Judy) & The Serpea Tetra (George)

The Baby Shark (Sharky)

 

[melfly]

What a bargain!
Fred is gonna love his new bachelor pad. (will he be getting a girlfriend??)

All sounds like a good plan to me!
Keep up the good work!!

Mel

 

[Mac Myers]

I haven't gotten the caffeine going yet...but sounds good. :happy:

 

[dazkeirle]

What a bargain!
Fred is gonna love his new bachelor pad. (will he be getting a girlfriend??)

All sounds like a good plan to me!
Keep up the good work!!

Mel

hmmm, maybe...

Fred's already had a hard life, considering he's not A1 perfect condition (although perfect to me), i really like the idea of finding him a perfect breeder reared A1 mate, a real stunning female with long flowing gills the lot.

I think if he could already, he'd want to high five me, but if i get him a cracking supermodel spouse, I'm sure he would freak.

I like the idea of taking such a humble critter left to fester in a conservatory, full of stones and totally turning his life around, like he's won the lotto Gotta be worth some karma points.

He's making friendly with the two cool puffers in the tank next door, as they swim up and down he's doing everything he can to get their attention. bless.

Mac, what do you mean mate?

 

[dazkeirle]

Last night after coming back from the gym I found two puffer fish beating up Mr Lobbo the Blue Crayfish.

I got him out and put him separate but he shortly died.

1 days in my world and an ecosystem that's happily survived forever crashes. I must have ruined his environment, an very upset.

However this does make a difficult decision an easier one. Keeping fish is no longer an option, i don't really like them anyway and if i wanted to keep fish I'd have very few of a very interesting species.

These fish now will serve the purpose of keeping the tank cycling while i clean bits of it. After that, they're outta here, to a good home or two the fish shop.