New tank setup ideas and questions

[Duhend]

Hello all I'm steady learning from reading threads so I figured I would ask a few questions about a new tank setup before I get started.

I currently only have one Axolotl, he's about as long as a 3 inches still so fairly small. I have him in a ten which is fine for now, but I have someone who is giving away a 55 gallon tank so I'm hopefully going to acquire that so he has a home for life. The only downside being he will have to move to the kitchen counter because where I wanted to put it is a half a foot too short and my bedroom chest of drawers I don't think will support the weight, so I will have to sit in there and watch instead of the comfort of my bedroom.

My questions are, I'm looking into getting another Axolotl for the tank, but realistically how many could a standard 55 hold? I'm going to try to get a canister filter, my girlfriend has a Marineland for her turtle and I really like it and am accustomed to it so I have filtration ideas.

My next question is on plants, good idea or bad? I know my Tiger Salamanders dig and burrow so for them its a no, but I was curious if anyone had witnessed this with these guys. I'm assuming not, and I plan on hiding places galore, I also figured the addition of foliage would help in the hiding as well.

Also I figured I would ask for any other advice, its a large tank certainly bigger than I've ever taken care of. So if anyone out there had any unseen problems with their large set-ups originally that they can help a newbie avoid that would be great. I've delt with the 40 breeder for the turtle, but thats pretty simple.

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[iChris]

you could comfortably home 3 axies, 4 would be the max I think.

canister filters are great, provided that it does not make too much flow as axies stress in fast moving water, they need a still, dimly lit tank, and that takes me to my next point.

as axies don't like bright light, this limits your choice of plants, varieties of java fern are supposed to be great, but I have never had any luck keeping java fern in my axie tank. you attach it to rocks or wood with string or the like, and over time it will attach itself to the object, and you simply remove the string.

plants are good in aquaria, they help keep the water clean and absorb some of the nasties that your axies excrete. axies can uproot plants, not intentionally, but they can have sudden bursts of speed, and their thrashing tail can cause this. my axie is always on the move and night, and I have to re-adjust the sand every second day as it gets disturbed.

large tanks are generally easier to maintain, if you keep it under-stocked, you will find it will take longer for the water to go bad. the large volume of water dilutes wastes and helps to maintain a more constant temperature.

I assume you know that you should be cycling your tank too, and how this is done?

 

[Duhend]

Yeah I know to cycle it, I'm going to take my time getting everything together and cycling it all before I introduce things to it.