Question: Newbie Questions

[melbell]

I am planning on getting two axies and today I finally decided on, and purchased, a tank! 36 (or 38?) gallon bowfront, and now I'm working on getting all the stuff I need to get it running. I have eleventy-billion questions, but here are the four I can think of right off the bat.

1. What is the minimum amount of live plants I should have? I want the bright colors and ease of care of fake plants, but I understand from poking around these forums that most people recommend live plants, so what's the minimum I should do?

2. My plan is the put the live plants in the back of the aquarium in little pots or surrounded by big river rocks and then put the colorful fake plants in front of them. I understand some axies like to uproot plants, so to anchor the fake plants that will be in the front and more exposed, would there be any problem gluing them (with silicon) to little squares of plexiglass that will be under the sand? Has anyone tried this?

3. Do I need to get food safe buckets for water that's going in the tank? Or are the orange home depot buckets fine? I will probably let the water sit in the buckets overnight to get to room temp and let the bad stuff dissipate.

4. I have read that some people buy a pump to pump the water back up from the buckets into the tank, and this sounds like a desirable option to me. But how powerful does the pump need to be and what else do I need to consider? It's a 36 (or 38) gallon tank so I will be changing 8-10 gallons from the floor to the highest point about 50 inches to the top of the tank. I think I don't need something extremely expensive or powerful. Would something like this suffice? Amazon.com: Rio Plus 1400 Aqua Pump - 420 GPH: Pet Supplies

 

[HayleyK]

1. Plant as many real plants as you like! There is no minimum as some people only have fake, just make sure they are aquarium safe* and not too rough.

2. That's a great idea - just make sure the silicon is aquarium safe. Or you can always re plant the real/ fake ones when they up root them. My axolotl like to uproot them and play in the tangle of plants and make little floating beds out of it.

3. I always use BPA free plastic just to be sure!

4. No idea sorry


What kind of axolotls are you getting and do you have pictures?




* I bought a dodgy overseas plant that leaked it's coloring

 

[Jawdoss]

1. Theres not really a minimum, because you don't really need them. You just have to make sure you don't over crowd the tank.

2. That is a good plan. It is similar to mine. I have a few plants scattered around the back of my tank with rocks around them. I don't have any fake plants as with my experience, they have been uprooted and they get pretty dirty. (This was with my fish not axie)

3. Just make sure you use a bucket that is not going to contaminate your water. Its a good idea to get a bucket that is BPA safe, and use it as a designated 'fish water bucket'. This helps to eliminate the chance of contamination in the future water changes.

4. A Pump is a good thing to get. I have one, and use it to empty the tank. Its also a good idea to have one incase you want to get a fish tank cooler (you need the pump to send the water to the cooler). When you get the pump is should say on the box what is 'head' is. The head is how high the pump can push the water. So if you had your bucket 70cm below the tank, a pump with a 50cm head won't be able to push the water up to the 70cm tank. If i read Amazon correctly (the chart is a bit confusing) that filter can push water up 78inches so you will be fine. Just make sure that if you do use it for a cooling system, that its boot to powerful for the axies.

- Im new to Axolotls, but I'm not new to fish and tanks :3 Good luck with your axie and keep us posted! How many are you getting?

 

[auntiejude]

1. Plants - I have no real plants, the last one I had got egged and I removed it, and I havne't got round to replacing it. They are not absolutely necessary, but some people use them to control nitrates.
2. weighted down plants are fine, I use the aquarium pliable plant weight tape in my fish aquarium.
3. I use camping water carriers (10 and 15L) to top up my tank, and 30L plasterers buckets for waste water, so I have 'clean' and 'dirty' receptacles. The water carriers are just about light enough to lift up above the tank, the tap means I can trickle water in without scaring my axies.
4. I have a gravity siphon to take water out of my tank, I don't need a pump to put water in. Gravity is free, if you use a powered pump it will cost you a lot. Use a jug to put water in your tank.

 

[Jawdoss]

I have a gravity siphon to take water out of my tank, I don't need a pump to put water in. Gravity is free, if you use a powered pump it will cost you a lot. Use a jug to put water in your tank.

My 400L/H pump cost me $15

 

[melbell]

thanks for all the help guys, i ordered a bunch of stuff online tonight to get my tank cycling sometime this week.

keep the tips / hints / and answers flowing...it's always welcome!