Water Conditioner?

[Ibkikn]

Hi all,

Wondering....

Am a big fan of Prime, and currently use it with usually whatever water conditioner I find at the LFS.

Questions:
Should I drop using any water conditioner and just use Prime?
Is there a specific brand or product targeted for Axolotls?

Although I am pretty sure the answer id not a problem, is seeding a new Axolotl setup with a current goldfish tank of concern?

Thanks...

 

[auntiejude]

The only thing you really need to add to tap water is sodium thiosulphate to remove chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals. Anything else - aloe, bacteria etc is just extra. There is no axie-specific water conditioner on the market as far as I know, and they don't really need one. You only need to use one conditioning/dechlorinating product - read the labels.

Persoanlly I use plain thiosulphate (from photography suppliers) as my axies don't seem to like the aloe preparations.

If by 'seed' you mean use some filter media to kick start the cycle, then yes, assuming your goldfish are all healthy and the tank has been fine for at least a month.

 

[Ripley]

If you can get some RO *reverse osmosis* water that would be best, however not all LFS sell it. As far as I know only 1 in my area does and I live in a decent size city. I am also a fan of Prime, when I am not able to get any RO water for those in between water changes or topping off the tank. ( I have one fish tank that evaporates alot of water due to the way it was made) Prime helps promote healthy slime coat, it also has an ammonia binder that helps detoxify ammonia produced in the reduction process.
But Auntiejude makes a good point as well, it will depend on what your axies like and can tolerate.

 

[auntiejude]

If you can get some RO *reverse osmosis* water that would be best,

No, axies don't do well at all in RO water - they need hard water with plenty of mineral content.

 

[Ripley]

My axies have done just fine in the RO water I am using, Have been using it since Sept of last year and have only had one issue with an axie and that was due to overfeeding.

My apologies to the OP I was giving my opinion but apparently it was shot down.

 

[Boomsloth]

My axies have done just fine in the RO water I am using, Have been using it since Sept of last year and have only had one issue with an axie and that was due to overfeeding.

My apologies to the OP I was giving my opinion but apparently it was shot down.

The reason why RO water is normally not used is the lack of essential minerals axolotls require to survive. Even if the axolotl is living in this water it will eventually develop a deficiency in some mineral which can lead to complications. You can add minerals to RO water but people using RO water only really use it if they have no other option if their tap contains really bad stuff.

 

[Ripley]

Point taken, will stop using the RO water. Again my apologies to the OP.

 

[Ibkikn]

Thanks, all information helps.

Looks like I will just stick with prime,

In my planted tank am also adding a water conditioner supposedly specially for plants. Sometimes I add a pinch of salt on a big water change.
To be honest not sure if its helps, but have not noticed any ill affects.

However picking up some Axies today, and was setting up the tank for them last night, hence this question,
Am just going with Prime only.

 

[auntiejude]

So if you set up your tank today, and you're picking up your axies tomorrow , your tank can't be cycled. Make sure you read up on cycling and keep a close eye on your water quality.

 

[Kaini]

So if you set up your tank today, and you're picking up your axies tomorrow , your tank can't be cycled. Make sure you read up on cycling and keep a close eye on your water quality.

Going to add to this since you said you were seeding your tank from your goldfish setup - even if you seed the tank it'll still take the bacteria some time to colonize, (It isn't instant) so like auntiejude said, keep an eye on your water parameters.

 

[Ibkikn]

For sure.....
Speeds up the process by heaps though.

Yeah got a full kit and regularly check my tanks.

 

[Kaini]

For sure.....
Speeds up the process by heaps though.

Yeah got a full kit and regularly check my tanks.

Oh gosh yes, agreed. I got my Axolotl tank started by moving the sponge filter from the goldie tank to the lotl tank (my goldfish tank is like triple filtered, I had an extra sponge filter running in there) Worked like a charm.

Edit: Oh by the way I might add that since Prime detoxifies ammonia and nitrites, it may actually slow or halt your cycle, though I've heard differing opinions on this...

 

[Ibkikn]

Hello again all,

Just sharing something I am going to try, got 3 small axies off here, thanks Lady Rassilon, but these are quite small and have them housed in my 1 foot tank for now.

Going to try the following:
Use my 4 foot goldfish tank as the sump for my 1 foot tank, the water level at its current location is about 200mm higher than my 4 foot tank.
So make a DIY overflow for the 1 foot tank, and run a small 200l/h pump feeding from the 4 footer.
Hence will have complete tank turnover of about 4 or 5 times an hour.

Off to Bunnings after work. =)

 

[Ibkikn]

Spent a few $$ and turned

Into

Just need to put the vaccum valve in, and will test it out.
Being a smaller version of ones I have seen maximum flow rate through it might be an issue. =)

 

[Boomsloth]

Hello again all,

Just sharing something I am going to try, got 3 small axies off here, thanks Lady Rassilon, but these are quite small and have them housed in my 1 foot tank for now.

Going to try the following:
Use my 4 foot goldfish tank as the sump for my 1 foot tank, the water level at its current location is about 200mm higher than my 4 foot tank.
So make a DIY overflow for the 1 foot tank, and run a small 200l/h pump feeding from the 4 footer.
Hence will have complete tank turnover of about 4 or 5 times an hour.

Off to Bunnings after work. =)

Does this 4ft sump still have goldfish in it? Gold fish are almost as messy as axolotls so it would defeat the purpose of even having a sump.

 

[Ibkikn]

This is just an interim thing.

I have 2 x 4 foot tanks setup and cycled.
The 1 foot tank I have the baby Axolotls in is just short term until i tear down and redo the other 4 footer.

As such I am basically adding the small 1 foot tanks "bio load" to the already established 4 foot tank.

As my goldfish tank is under populated it should handle the extra load without an issue.

Never used a DIY overflow before, so this is kind of a scaled down experiment.
Very long term I like the idea of setting up a sump filter arrangement that services all my tanks. So this is like a baby step to see.