I'm so confused now. I see many tank with jagged rocks or slate, branches, aquarium ornaments, plastic plants etc. I was told no jagged rocks or slate with corners because it could damage the axes skin. Also I don't see many aquariums with items restricting water flow. How are you cause keeping the water flow/current low? I thought they hated water movement and it caused stress. Especially water flow from powerful chillers. I had a heck of a time building in stuff to reduce water flow. Am I wrong on all these? Also live plants, don't they need a certain amount of lighting? I'm trying to keep the whole area around my tank dark. I'm so confused. Oh and how do you keep the sand clean without stiring it up making it cloudt. Plus my chiller pump is in the tank, dont want it to suck up sand. Please help me understand so I can make my tank more exciting.
Well it's because a lot of people are way too over the top about things. You can get rocks of any shape and (as long as it's big enough to not be eaten) size. Just sand down any sharp edges a little bit, it's no biggie. Water flow isn't really that big of a deal, so long as they aren't being flung around the tank constantly. I have lots of hides, rock caves/tunnels, barriers, plants etc and my canister uses a spray bar and a 991 gph pump, which obviously is a ton for a 50 gallon tank (like twice of what is needed) but with the spray bar and how many things are in the way of the current, it's very easy for my axolotls to find "dead spots" where the current isn't that bad.
As for plants, some plants do very well in low light situations. Rotala, anubius, crypts, java ferns, hornwort, crystalwort(riccia), and a bunch of others. These are the typical plants you'll find in an axolotl tank since they grow well without co2/fertilizer injections and don't need a ton of light.
With that being said, if you have as many hides in your tank as you probably should have, then light isn't the biggest deal. If you turn lights on and leave them on, the axolotls will hide when they need to, and come out when they're okay. They wouldn't just sit there in the light all day if it bothered them. Some axolotls get used to the light, some don't, either way they'll make sure they are okay.
And I don't know what kind of chiller can fit inside a fish tank but it sounds pretty crazy haha never heard of a submersible chiller.
