New To Axolotl..HELP PLS

Hi - just two things

Firstly: cpr153z, There should be (ideally) no ammonia or nitrite in your tank - these are the most toxic of the three you are testing, ammonia particularly so. You will only know that the bacteria have taken hold (reached equilibrium) by monitoring the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate over a couple of weeks. The ammonia should fall to zero first, followed by nitrite.

Secondly, in the UK at least, allowing your tapwater to stand to remove chlorine is no longer safe. Some water companies have moved over to chloramine, which is a much more stable compound, isn't lost on standing, and is toxic to a range of aquatic life (Edinburgh Zoo lost a fair amount of stock through this change). There was a thread in the Vivaria forum about this a while back, but to summarise, products like Aquasafe can clear chloramine, so if in doubt, Aquasafe your tap water.
 
Don't forget also that some Ammonia tests need you to read your PH levels as well for an accurate level...
 
My water purifier/ dechlorintor, says removal or chlorine, chloramine and flouride.


Are my ammonia and nitrite levels high?


From my results, is there indication that cycling is nearly done?
 
They're high enough, don't put anything in until they're at zero. Just be patient
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How long has the tank been set up? I'd say it's just started to cycle from that- I've had ammonia in my tanks peak at 3-4.0ppm before falling to 0, same with nitrite, though I guess it would depend on how much waste you introduced to the tank to start with.

You'll know it's done when ammonia and nitrite are 0, just keep testing
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What kept you from buying the axolotl? Sounds like a neat colour!
 
Most of the solid products that are on the market that remove ammonia are zeolite (usually a form of H mordanite) pellets. The spaces in the lattice allow the pellets to bind the ammonia inside the pellet. However ammonia does not have the highest affinity for binding (If I remember correctly I think Fe+3 might have the highest affinity) and can be swamped out by other cations. Also the bacteria tends to colonize the pores preventing further absorbtion.
Large tanks do not necessarily take longer than small tanks, the rate of cycling is dependent on a number of factors including temperature, availability of oxygen, water circulation and bioload.

There is an article on caudata culture that goes through cycling without fish or other animals but the method can be applied to cycling with animals.
Nitrite toxicity can be decreased through the addition of salt to the water as the ions then compete for uptake with the nitrite.
Ed
 
thanks for the help..

How long till my tank is finished cycling? about another 3 weeks?


Also, how frequently should i test for ammonia/nitrite and nitrate?
 
Also, im wanting to breed my axolotl when i get them, so i have a few questions -

Is it better to keep them in pairs or will they breed with say 4 of them in a 4ft tank?

Also, is it better to have say 2 males and 2 females or is it fine to have, lets say 3 males and 1 female or 3 females and 1 male?

Thanks for help.
 
You don't even have one axolotl yet. Make sure you're able to take care of that one before you consider breeding.

Take things one step at a time. You've gotta relax, kiddo.

Do you really think you can handle caring for 200+ eggs/larvae when you've still got a lot of questions about taking care of an adult?
 
Dont have problems taking care of an adult, just problems remembering water quality etc..i've bred frogs etc before, taken care of tadpoles etc.

Just not 100% on the water thing! although i understand the nitrogen cycle now..

How frequently should i check ammonia/nitrate/nitrite?

Also can u answer my question about the males to females ratio?
 
Frogs are not the same as caudates and axolotl larvae are not the same as tadpoles.

I still think you should get accustomed to owning one axolotl before you feel it necessary to start breeding them, especially if you don't have any experience with them, (keeping axolotls is not the same as keeping frogs.) If you were to get four, say, 1 male and 3 females and they all bred at the same time, and each female laid 300 eggs, that's 900 eggs to deal with. You'd need to separate the adults into a separate tank from the eggs and with that number of eggs, you'd have to separate the eggs into different tanks as well so they all recieve oxygen. You'd also have to keep the females separated from the males for at least two to three months to give them time to recover from all that egg-laying. Once the eggs hatch, you'd probably have to separate the larvae so they don't cannibalize each other. Do you really think you can handle all that work and preparation? This is no small task you want to take on.

And check the ammonia often. You're really worried about this ammonia thing, aren't you? Like everybody's been telling you, LET NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE. Before the animal is in the tank, check it every few days. Once the animal is in the tank, check it frequently. The first week or so you've got it, I'd check your levels every day - that's what I did when I got my two.

I suggest that you check out John's site:
http://caudata.org/axolotl
if you haven't already. You'll learn a lot there.
 
Thanks Dot.

Also im going for my driving test today wish me luck lol!
 
Each tank is somewhat unique in its rate of cycling. I have had tanks cycle in two weeks and I have had tanks take six weeks to cycle (irrespective of size, I have had 75 gallon tanks take 2 weeks to fullly cycle). Most fall between 3 and 5 weeks (hence the 4 week estimate).
Ed
 
i was going to breed axies but its really harder then just breeding any animals you have to do all sorts it takes a lot of your time up i think one or two axies is hard enough i could emagine having 100s of larvai axies thats got to be hard work
 
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