Soon-to-be-axie keeper

[z0mb1ek1tten5]

Hey I am looking into getting an axolotl, wanted to see if my current tank setup would work. I have a 10 gallon long (weird size, basically its got the footprint of a 15g) fully planted amano style tank, it currently houses some crystal black shrimp and 3 tiger nerites. It's planted with mostly mosses of various flavors, and its a cool water tank, since CBS like it colder than tropical temps, and mosses hate warm water. It's got many LARGE rocks in it, which provide caves/hideouts. I've had this tank for most of a year, it's fully cycled, plants grown in, etc. Lots of rock and driftwood for laying on and hiding in It's a cool water tank, very low water flow, since I was keeping shrimp in there... I've upgraded to a bigger tank for my shrimp, I'm looking for something to do with this one. A few questions: I have one of the substrates intended for planted tanks, the pieces are smaller than gravel but not as fine as sand, will that be ok? The pieces are super tiny, so likely even were they to get swallowed they should pass super easily. Next question: can I leave some of the c/b grade shrimp culled from my breeding tank in there and let an axie eat them? I mean, completely captive bred, parasite free, just not high enough grade to be worth keeping and allowed to breed with my s grades. I'm probably going to have to take out the nerites, right? Tiny snails= choking hazard? Is there any sort of cleaner crew I can have with an axolotl? Snails will get eaten, shrimp will get eaten, I assume otoclinus would as well? Thanks for humoring my questions, I'm new to this and don't want to get an axie if I can't keep it properly.

 

[Shizeric]

If you provide a picture, we can better assess whether or not the tank is suitable. Shrimp are fine, but snails and otoclinus are no nos. The substrate also seems fine, but if it has fertilizers for the plants, I would also suggest against it.

 

[dragonlady]

Your tank sounds nice but axolotls are kind of messy. I vacuum my tanks daily because of the wastes. Most use sand as a substrate (me too) just for the ease of cleaning. The more places you have for the axies to hide, the more places for wastes to hide.

No cleaning crew for these guys as they are little vacuums and will swallow ANYTHING. Otoclinus are particularly dangerous because when threatened, they expose spiny protrusions and can get stuck in an axie's mouth, throat, etc. Shrimp can be fine as a treat.

Hope this is helpful. I don't use live plants in my tanks beyond moss balls. Your tank sounds beautiful but the mosses may prove difficult to clean with an axolotl (big animal, big waste...).

As Eric said, a picture would be helpful...

 

[Martinice]

Every thing sounds fine!:happy:

I would have suggested apple or mystery snails but for the same reason I dont have them in my tank: temperature is way to low for those snails. Apple and mystery snails are to big to be eaten by an axoltl.

 

[dragonlady]

Apple and mystery snails are to big to be eaten by an axoltl.

Size is not the only issue, please read this

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[z0mb1ek1tten5]

Eh... maybe an axolotl, adorable as they are, is not the pet for this tank.... And I don't really have room for another tank at the moment. I've put a lot of work into the rockscaping/planting on this one, and if it won't work, it won't work... I'll just have to wait til I have space for a new designed-for-axies tank Thanks for the advice anyways