Question: Take out axolotls for water change?

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maynard

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I read something online that said I need to remove my axi for water changes?

Is it something you guys do? I feel like that just puts unnecessary stress on them.

I know that they hate strong water movement, so I have been using a small airline tube to siphon water out and back in.

Only problem is that it takes almost 2 hours after all is said and done, and I have to stack buckets and shelves to siphon the water back in.

Its kind of a pain. Lol and I really dont feel like spending another $75 on another python which is probably overkill for a 20 gallon anyways.

What do you guys do?
 
I don't -Zion stays in his tank while I'm changing the water, I just watch him and make sure I'm avoiding him.
 
I have never removed my axies for a water change. I use a wide-bore gravity syphon and plasterer's buckets (30L each) to remove water, and camping water containers to refill.

My big tank takes about 45 mins to remove ornaments, syphon out 40-50L and any gunge, refill water & replace ornaments. Extra 20-30 mins to clean the filter.
 
I never remove mine either. I have a python that I hood onto the faucet and it siphons the water out. I have a 30 gallon so it normally takes around 30 to 45 minutes for me to completely clean everything.
 
Yea, I thought it seemed pointless.

Also, I just picked up some thicker vinyl tubing from the hardware store and it made a huge difference.

Although, I can't imagine how it would take more than 40 min to clean a tank? I usually just spot clean my sand with a turkey baster.

What is your cleaning process?
 
Normally I test the water parameters right before I start to siphon out the water that way I know if I need to do a bigger than normal water change. Usually though I only take about half the water out and since I use the python connected to the water faucet I have to take some of the tank water out to place in a bucket. I use this water for cleaning the filter media. I have a sponge that I only use in the axie tank so I take that and wipe down all the glass, siphon the sand stirring it up good so I can get any buried poop out (normally the tanks clears within 30 minutes). Finally I fill the tank back up I also use a water conditioner to clear out any unnecessary stuff in the water. Oh yeah I forgot to mention I take all the props out of the tank to give them a good washing as well. Like I said this usually takes me 30 to 45 minutes. I save a lot of time because I have the python.
 
I use the siphon vacuum and get all the gunk out of the bottom. That usually takes about 6" of water out of my 75 gallon and then I refill it. I never take my gals out, I just dump the water back in with a gallon container. They even like to play in the moving water.
 
I take mine out for water changes. If they are comfortable being handled it causes no stress. I tend to do very large water changes though.
 
I take mine out for water changes also since I do big water changes once a week but if I'm doing a smaller water change then I leave them in. They don't like it when I'm doing big water changes and everything is moving around.
 
I remove mine because I have slate bottom and heavy slate caves and I wouldn't like to risk squashing my babies to get under them - I like to make sure I've removed all the poop :)
 
I don't take my lotl out. I used ot but he'd get very stressed when he saw the net so I tend to leave him alone as much as possible. He's a pretty chilled out little guy but I just make sure that I'm removing and replacing the water from the opposite side of the tank that he's at, so that any current is minimal.
 
I took em out once to clean up the last of a gunk thing and it seemed to upset them. I stuck them in individual tuppawares and put them in a dark spot while I cleaned though, hoping they'd calm down. Its easier to leave them in for me, and easier on the lotls too.
 
If it's only a 20% change I'll keep them in, but usually if it's more than that I'll take them out and pop them into a little 12 liter container. It's also a good chance to look them over well and make sure everything is going well.

I've never seen it stress them out; if anything, I've noticed that they seem a bit more stressed when I keep them in the tank.
 
I always keep them in, unless i'm doing a HUGE job. Once i even did 80% and they just calmly avoided my syphon. I never really handled them very much when they were young, so i figure that it would stress them out more when i handle them. So all they have to do is go through a tiny bit of stress with a low water level for a while.
 
It sounds mad but I feel if axolotls are removed from tanks every week for water changes, they do get sort of used to it. The owners of my two new axolotls actually took theirs out by hand (with clean hands, slowly and gently) and the axolotls showed no signs of stress. I do agree that they do prefer to be left alone and I'm not saying they enjoy it, but the first time I removed Toothless from a tank he went nuts and now he climbs into his halfway tub.
 
I will remove mine, and they don't like it, but calm down quickly, when I do big water changes about every 1-2 months or so, otherwise they're stressed out by staying in their tank. But for smaller water changes, they usually hide under their big ornaments to avoid the current but don't get stressed about it. They'll come out after and everything is back to normal for them!
 
maynard said:
How do you take them out? A net? Small container?
Click to expand...

I use my hands so they don't get squished up in a net. I would like to use a small bucket but they just swim right out of it. It's too hard and it stresses them out chasing them around. They're used to me hand-feeding them on occasion so they come right up to my hands when I stick them in.
 
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