Tank setup ok? Tank snails bad or good

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Hallak

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Hi there,
Was just setting up a root with some more plants in my Axo tank, can I get a specialist opinion on whether it looks fine or if some things should be different:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/members/hallak-albums.html
Temperature is around 22 celsius as that is the normal housewarmth here all year around, and I have light on for 2-3 hours a day. Only life plants.

With the lifeplants came also some ramhorn snails and something flat sliding on the glass. Do the axies eat them or should I get some snailpreditor or just leave them?
Look forward to hear from you:happy:
Halla
 
What a cutie! You need to lower your temp a little, axolotls tend to get stressed over 20-21c.

You can search snails on the forums. There's mixed opinions on whether they're harmful or not. I guess after a bit of reading and researching you can make your own decision on that.
 
Thanks for the advices!
Would it be ok to add icecubes to the water once in a while or a few per day to keep the temperature lower? :rolleyes: Water is used straight from the tap here to aquariums.
 
I would NOT let the Axolotls eat the snails, definitely not. They could get impacted from them. Remove the snails if you can.

Why aren't you using water conditioner? I understand well water doesn't have chlorine but it can have heavy metals and other harmful things that water conditioner removes. I would recommend using it anyway, though there are varying opinions on this, so take it with a grain of salt.

As for the ice, absolutely not. Just dropping ice in the tank will swing the temperature for a while then it will go right back to where it was, and rapid temp changes are very stressful to axolotls.

You could purchase an aquarium fan to drop the temp a few degrees. There is a nice cheap one on Amazon that I use with success.
 
Do you have chlorines and chloramines in your water? You should be able to check from your water supplier. If so you should be using dechlorinator in each water change.

Ice cubes can be added (they may need to have dechlorinator in them). Another method is floating bottles of ice in the tank. I personally have a fan on top of mine to keep it cool in the summer. I also put towels around it to block the sunlight and wet them in the summer to help cool.

There's all sorts of cooling methods here: Caudata Culture Articles - Cooling

:happy:
 
I think Iceland has superior water quality. I don't believe they chlorinate or have heavy metal issues (if only we could all be so lucky!)

The article on cooling is excellent. Since you live in a climate that is not all that warm, you can probably keep the tank cool enough all year round simply by placing it in a room that doesn't get too warm. 22c is not that alarming.
 
Thanks for your replies :eek:

That's right the tap water here in Iceland can be drank everywhere, no heavy metal issues, no chorine substances, comes right from the ground.

Yes, I'll try turning down the heating in this room and see what that does :happy:
 
Ahh forgot to ask, what kind of impact could the Axies get from the snails???
 
Kaysie said:
I think Iceland has superior water quality. I don't believe they chlorinate or have heavy metal issues (if only we could all be so lucky!)
Click to expand...

That's pretty cool, I didn't know that. The more you know!


About the snails, since axies will eat anything that fits in their mouth they could eat the snails and get impacted from them (get it stuck in their system) the same reason we never use gravel with axies.
 
I wouldn't be too alarmed if the snails hitch hiked in your tank via plants. If they're small they won't cause problems - axies would eat them in their natural habitat. However I would not be inclined to go buy and add snails. I've got these little snails all over my tank from plants and if it bothers you just wipe them off/out of the tank.
 
I agree with kaini on this one. The snail shell can cause impaction if it is large enough, and if it breaks apart might actually hurt the insides of the axolotl. Very small snails should not be an issue but its still a risk that can be avoided.
 
it is possible for the snail to cause impaction, but its also kinda hard to get rid of some of them
I have an adult axie that has eaten a few small unidentified snails that wind up in my tank every so often, no harm so far but i have seen some horror stories on here from eating snails and other thing
Ive found several snail shells in the tank over the last year so he has passed them ok, theyve definitely been eaten as there is nothing in the shell but the empty shells just go to show they cant be digested

I would remove or crush any snails you find, they do pose a slight risk
the ones in my tank were around 2 to 3 mm in size so very tiny
 
Here we don't need to treat our water and I can imagine that Iceland it's water is of the same quality as there in The Netherlands. Ask around just to be sure. Here it's a waste of money.
 
Thanks for all the tips.
The snails are very small and exactly hitch hiked in with plants and don't seem to be getting any bigger in my other tanks either. I think it will be like fighting with the wind to try to get rid of them. I think my Axies don't want any more trouble for some time now after I was putting the root into their tank. But I'll not put any of my applesnails in with the Axies ;) They'd fit perfectly to shoke them..

Fortunately the temperature is not so high as I thought, the "tape" thermometer shows 1,5 degree Celsius more then the "glass" thermometer. So it's probably fine temperature and happy Axies:D
 
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