Photo: Would this setup be okay for a single axolotl?

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simon guitarguy

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I've been looking into keeping axolotls for a few months and am setting up tank to keep a single albina axolotl. would this setup be ok?
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thanks :)
 
Looks good. I would only add a large plastic plant that would come up from the bottom and float across the top to filter out some on the light from the room. Axies like it on the dark side. The large rocks are great. You didn't do the most comman mistake. A dark cave would be well liked by your axie also.
 
Hello Simon and welcome to the forum :happy:

I think you've got a good start! My only suggestion would be to add another hidey hole or two or add some plants for your little fellow to hide in.

The rocks are beautiful. Where did you get them? If they are from the outdoors, be sure to keep an eye on pH, hardness, alkalinity, etc for a few days to make sure they won't impact water chemistry (I speak from personal experience :D).

Also, large rocks can make cleaning the aquarium a little more difficult as opposed to a sand substrate or no substrate at all since food and detrius are likely to sink between/beneath them. But as long as you keep this in mind when you syphon out your tank there should be no problem.
Some kind of food dish might be helpful for clean-up as well.

I've never thought having a rock substrate was much of a problem or hastle once I got used to getting the syphon around them and, personally, I think it looks better than sand. I've also heard that gravel and rocks are better for beneficial bacteria to cling on to than sand.

Anywho, there are a lot of great/knowledgeable people here who can probably give more input, but from the looks of it, I'd say your little guy is going to be quite happy :happy:

Good luck!
 
Hi Simon,

Is that a heater on the right side of the picture? Or a filter?

-Eva
 
thanks for all your help :)
i'll go buy a plastic plant. and a small food dish and post a photo when its all in. :)

its a filter. is that type ok? its just a normal internal tank filter. set on a low power so it doesn't move the water too much.
 
As long as the filter doesn't cause too much water movement then it should be fine.

If you don't like the look of plastic plants you could try your hand at live plants like Elodea, it does well planted or just floating around.
 
i've added a small dish and an elodia plant, i've also changed the layout a bit, if everythings ok i'm planning on getting my axolotl tommorow :)
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Hi Simon!

Got your axolotl yet? :happy:

I would suggest taking the one flower pot and turning it horizontal to the gorund instead of being cupped upward like it is now. Maybe put the bottom part unter the rocks; i.e., put the pot on the glass bottom and ease some rocks into it so the pot is flat. This would make the pot more like a cave, I think. As it is now, I don't think it will offer much shade as a hiding place.

I love the way you've integrated the dish. The plant looks nice, too, and should quickly spread to give you nice shade below.

-Eva
 
The set up looks good! i agree with the others, burying the put part way to make a hide, or even cutting it in half at the diameter and making two hides out of it would make this set up even better!

How long has the tank been cycling?
You should let it run for a month with a feeder guppy or two in it to get the water chemistry stable before adding an axie.
 
i got him (or her) this morning theres a vid on youtube if anyone wants to have a look:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXRpI-bi6eo
since i filmed that ive moved the plant pot. and i took a water sample into paws for thought (local exotic petshop) it was voted best pet shop in the contry and the people there spent a few hours talking to me about them so i felt it was safe to get it from there :).
i got a wild type in the end :)
 
Somebody posted that they obtained their Axie from Paws for Thought only a day ago and I'm sure they said they weren't in very good condition?
 
Hi Simon

Congratulations on your new axie - he looks really nice and in good condition - perhaps he could do with fattening up just a little bit, but I'm sure that after a couple of weeks chomping on earthworms, he will look plumpalicious :D.

Have you thought about what to call him?

If you are able to get him a cave or a half log hide, this would be great, as it does still look quite bright in the tank on your video and your little guy will welcome as many hides as possible!

Also, I would advise in purchasing a water test kit (for PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) - the type with test tubes (I think they're called colourmetric?) are better than dip stick tests (in fact, the dip stick tests are terrible).

Good luck with your new pet!

Zoe x
 
It looks healthy. While it doesn't hurt to test the water chemistry now, it will be even more important to test it every day or two over the entire first MONTH. The ammonia spike usually hits at around a week or two. You do have a siphon, right?? If not, get one for sure.
 
thanks for all your help,
my dads compost bit outside is full of red worms, could my axie eat those? so far ive fed him on live blood worm and have a box of frozen ones for when he finishes the live ones.
i'm gonna cut the plant pot in half today:)
is there a type of kit i can get that has it all in one?
 
I feed my axies with red worms from the compost bin which is great as there are so many of them there at the moment and I know what goes into the compost. They are also so easy to get as I think they are having orgies in there and clump together in balls. :)

I also feed mine floating terapin sticks ((reptomin is the make) as the pet store where I got them back along recomended) which they take from the surface with style.

Ive only had ax's a short while really but I personally like the hands on approach to looking after them, changing 2 litre of water every other day and cleaning out the filter and gravel once a week, replacing all waters with some that I have had stood around in bottles under the sink for at least two days.

Great beasties and my nex task is to strengthen the shelf they are on and give them a little more room in a bigger tank.
 
I dont as a rule beyond a quick rinse and no problems encountered at all so far.
 
thanks:)
I tryed him with one earlyer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOV0u3Dnc9s
but unfortuntly it came back out a few minuets later :(
was the worm a bit too big?:confused:
since i filmed that i've cleaned the tank, reduced the amount of rocks (there really hard to clean) gonna switch to sand soon :)
and ive put 2 half plantpots in at either side, hes climbing on them now :D

and thanks for all your help everyone :D
 
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