Tank size

[Minniechild]

Hey everyone,
I'm lucky enough to own three gorgeous Axolotls, currently each around 10-12 cms (which I picked up for $2.50 total from a wholesaler). They've put on around three cms each in the month since I brought them home, and seem to be very happy with their current environment-Especially their food .
Currently they love their tank, which is a forty by twenty by twenty, well planted, with a filter and light, however, being the voracious eaters they are, I can see them outgrowing it in approx six months, and as such I'm currently considering what tank to update to, and as i have been getting so confused by all the (slightly preachy) demands on what a tank MUST be, I have some specific questions:


1. What is the bare minimum volume (pref in Liters) per axolotl?

2. Is there a base volume, which then has an additional amount to be added per additional critter?

3. How does footprint go into it? Can adding layers (e.g. plants, climbing areas, hidey holes) make a smaller space better for the axolotl (coz I've got a number of vertical layers set up in my current tank using hearty plants.)

4. What is more important? Volume in litres or floor space?

5. What is the minimum FOOTPRINT?

Looking forward to your answers!
-Minniechild

 

[blackdog]

1 1 foot (30 cms ) of tank per axie - 1.5 foot (45 cm) if you can

2 They only NEED shallow water 6 inches (150 mm) or so, but they seem just fine with deeper. I have my guys in a 92 x 45 x 45 tank, and filled it about 36 cm so thats about 150 ltrs.

They still spend most of the time on the ground, but they will climb the odd tree and sit there staring at me

Shallow is all they need, but lets face it - it's a little ugly Deeper looks nicer IMHO

3 My footprint is about 30 cms but im a big bloke, you might have smaller feet than me. I got tall from hearty plants, things like brussel sprouts - i didnt like 'em, but i got tall & have big feet, so it works, right?

Dunno what a footprint is. Or hearty plants.

4 Floor space

5 I only have silly answers to this - i still dunno what you mean, so i'll just shut up this time.

6 (the preachy bit) just don't use gravel of any description, YES, even if the guy at the fish shop said it was ok. Use bare tank or sand. If it is the same size or smaller than their head, it will go in thier mouth - so dont risk it.

 

[Minniechild]

Thanks so much, I think I know which one I'm gonna make my move on (Hears parents having heart attack in the background)!
By the way of footprint, I mean the space the bottom of the tank takes up, like there's this great coffee table tank I'm looking at which is only 25cm deep, but has a footprint of 3600cm2, compared to the 1891cm2 of the Mirabello setup which is 60*31*40cm, and from what you said, the coffee table would be better.
As for gravel, using river sand in the bottom- looks pretty and they have no problems spitting it out when they feed (I don't hand-feed, Owing to the fact that no-one would be able to do it if I was awol, and they LOOOVE attacking the floating blobs of bloodworm and krill on the surface, and making it float down XD!)
As to hearty plants, ones that can take an axie coming at them at thirty kph! (And my footprint is slightly smaller than the female average, which makes finding shoes a pain up the butt!)

Now, my next question, is does that 1 1/2ft length come with a requisite depth? Coz there's a sorta nice tank (which in all honesty I don't like, but I may be able to get away with with my darling mother...) which is four foot long, and fifteen cms deep....
Luckily, I've avoided supermarket fish shops- my aquatic guy's a wholesaler, who for the most part knows what he's doing, and the local one I picked up my supplies from is a) a warehouse operation and B) obsessed with anything water dwelling, so SCORE!!

Oh, and driftwood? I'm thinking about getting a piece from my local beach for my guys (Yes, I will boil it to an inch of its life before putting it in there!) Just I heard mentions of axies getting at it...?

 

[blackdog]

About 6 inches would be the min depth, so thats about 15 cm, might be cutting fine - you would want a lid to keep them from jumping out too

Axolotls - Housing in Captivity - check here for more details and pics

Re dritwood - no, i personally wouldn't get it from the beach. (preachy bit again) you are buying an animal which could live 15-20 years, they are easy (but hard) to keep healthy, they are very suseptible to contaminents in your tank, sooooooo.......

with all due respect (dont you love how we say that just before we dis-respect someone) - dont be a cheap a$$. I can't think of any other reason to get your own driftwood unless maybe it is sheer artistic urges - so if it is the money, just save your pennies

But maybe you are a guru at getting the wood right, i dunno.

Bren

 

[Minniechild]

About 6 inches would be the min depth, so thats about 15 cm, might be cutting fine - you would want a lid to keep them from jumping out too

Axolotls - Housing in Captivity - check here for more details and pics

Re dritwood - no, i personally wouldn't get it from the beach. (preachy bit again) you are buying an animal which could live 15-20 years, they are easy (but hard) to keep healthy, they are very suseptible to contaminents in your tank, sooooooo.......

with all due respect (dont you love how we say that just before we dis-respect someone) - dont be a cheap a$$. I can't think of any other reason to get your own driftwood unless maybe it is sheer artistic urges - so if it is the money, just save your pennies

But maybe you are a guru at getting the wood right, i dunno.

Bren

Yes for the sheer artistic urges, and yes to the lack of decent stuff in pet shops. Seriously, they'd be doing exactly what I suggested-taking a piece and boiling the something-or-other out of it. I was more concerned coz another post mentioned something about axolotls ingesting it, and then getting digestive issues. As for being a cheap ***? Yeah, I am slightly, but it does mean I can get my pets better quality stuff rather than forking out exorbent amounts of money for something that'll break in ten seconds.

And by depth, I mean the horizontal depth, so, width would be four feet, HEIGHT was forty cms, and then depth across the back was the depth I was referring to (in the case of the wall tank was 15 cms, so...
_
I I
I I
I_I

 

[blackdog]

Ahhhh got ya.

So a really narrow tank? I couldn't see my guys in that, i dont think they'd like it.

re wood, glad to see you took my disrespect on the chin - just not what i'd do, if you have the knowledge and the time, why not!

B

 

[Minniechild]

*Grin* Was rather tempted to kick back XD, but thanks!
It's not so much I'd even consider it for my guy either, it's just trying to establish what exactly people mean by a foot tank, coz my current one is a foot and a third, but only 20 cms deep... And yeah, I read through the axolotl.org thing a dozen times, but I suppose I'm looking for a nice formula, e.g. a=n*30*d, and that would set out the footprint...Still not satisfied with the d value.. Coz could have a 40cm square tank with the same footprint as a 60*25 tank....
That's where I'm getting frustrated. Anyone got a definitive number?
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Manifest]

I have a 3 ft wide by 2 ft high by 1 ft deep tank and it's full to about 15 cm off the rim, my axie seems to like the deeper water, she uses the whole space and I have things at different levels for her to hang off. Lately she's been hanging at the surface near the tub that contains 2 juveniles currently in quarantine. It's my experience that more water volume is easier to keep stable both temperature and chemical wise, cleaning and water changes aren't as likely to destabilise a larger volume.

Plantswise, my most favourite plants are anubias that have been attached to pieces of wood, just add wood + plant for instant pretties! And they make cool spaces for exploration and hiding in. I also have a bit of floating stuff with little round leaves, and a large mangrove root.

We also have a couple of pieces of hollow driftwood that we bought (not found) that have been soaked and scrubbed and make a gorgeous natural looking hide for our girl.

I think the going rate for tank size is 10 gallons (38 litres) of water for one axolotl.

 

[Minniechild]

Thanks, Seona- THAT makes sense!