Axolotls

[firedragon92]

i am getting a pair of axolotls they will be kept in a 4x2x2 so no problems with tank space, however i was just wondering if there are any other fish suited for tanks mates. i have been on the internet and it says there are no fish suited but i find that hard to beleive and was wondering if anyone has been succesful with tank mates and anyones opinion would be helpful. also any spacific care info or experience would be appriciated

cheers

[Woodsy]

I'm like you mate, in that I like to try things myself before I agree with anything. Alas, in this case the masses seem to have hit the nail on the head. Everything I've tried with them either got eaten, or saw their fluffy gills as a high-protein snack. In a deep tank (30" or more) you may have better luck, especially with some Giant Danios or the like. Good luck!

[hotwinter]

I've had many axolotles over the years. The only tank mate that will not eat their frills are bristle nose catfish. I've tried many different types of mates over the years, but even the herbavours find their frills too tasty to miss.

[firedragon92]

thanks for your help guys

the tank i am getting is between 24" and 30" high the seller was not too sure, so like you said woodsy i might be able to have some tank mates. what would you suggest.

have the axolotls ever eater the bristle noses cause they are small when young and how many would you suggest ( a colony of 6 or would less be better).

cheers

[wombat1100]

well you learn something new every day, i have never kept axolotls but would have just added fish like normal!!!!
lucky you did your research!
the more research you can do b4 you let the excitement of getting a new pet the better in the long run

[Woodsy]

Like hotwinter has added mate, even the herbivores tend to have a go at them. If it's going to work, my conjecture would be that you'd have to use something with heavy schooling tendencies, and that dwells in the top strata of your tank almost exclusively. The key would then to have enough numbers of them so that they keep each other entertained and don't even really notice the Axylotls. Giant Danios (Devario aequipinnatus) are the only ones I have had reports that work in such a way, but this is not my own first-hand experience, so I can't guarantee it will work.
I hope you find something that does chief ;)

[firedragon92]

im glad i could teach you something wombat

i think it will be best to just keep the axoltls in the tank alone

ill ask the people at the aquarium where i work and maybe they will be able to help me

any other info or experience would be greatly appriciated

thanks guys

[hotwinter]

Well I'm sticking by what I said, I wouldn't put anything in with them but the Bristlenose unless you wish to find them dead. Having schooling fish just supplies a bigger gang to attack.

I've never bought Bristlenose under around 4cm, aslong as they're not small enough to fit in their mouths in one go you're fine. Although I've never seen them show any interest in them.

[firedragon92]

i think your completly right im just going to stick with Axolotls in the tank now i might buy another 1 or 2 and later on down the track mybe look at some bristlenose

thanks for all your help guys

cheers

[hotwinter]

Buying more then one for the tank is a great idea, I had 4 in mine once, they're quiet entertaining once they get to know you. Shy to begin with though.

[firedragon92]

yeah i agree with you they would look great in a group

how many do you reckon i would be able to fit comfortably in a 4x2x2 tank?

i am thinking of breeding them so by having more it would increase my chances

have you ever tried breeding them? Any info about breading Axolotls would be good

cheers

[Woodsy]

Males are skinnier and have two small lumps at the base of the tail, behind the rear legs. Females can lay 200-300 eggs at a time, which take 2-4 weeks to hatch. The eggs are clear-opaque and covered in a protective slime containing an adhesive. If they are to be moved to a hatching tank, said tank should possess a light current to ensure adequate circulation through and around the clutch. Young will take freshly hatched brine and daphnia, and water quality should be kept at a premium.
Hope that helps mate. If you need more info, there are plenty of books dedicated to them, or you could try a google of Abystoma mexicanum ;)

[firedragon92]

thanks for the info

ill have to have alook whether their male or female if they have babies ill be sure to put them in the classifides.

i went to pick up the tank today and the people who own it gave me the wrong measurements its actually a standard 3 foot, but that doesn't really bother me i still got it for free.

any way i was now wondering how many i could comfortably fit in a 3 foot tank and of course un other info would be much appriciated

thanks again guys

cheers

[firedragon92]

i was also wondering what the best way to decorate my tank would be for example real plant or plastic ones, heavily planted or light plants, lots of hiding places if you have more than one or just one big one if they get along and anything else

i was also wondering what the best way to introduce a new Axolotl would be should i give it its own hiding spot or just let it go with the others, ect.

ive been looking on the internet alot and have found varied answers so i wanted to hear from someone with experience

[hotwinter]

Real plants, they love real ones, luying on them aswell as eating them. I've found they like the normal pond weed the best.

But be careful when sexing them, yes the males do have lumps behind their rears legs, but the females can aswell, the only time you can truly tell between the two is when they are ready to mate. The males lumps can almost disapear during the hot weather.

In a 4x2x2 you could easly put 10 of a mix of male and female. They are hardly ever aggresive and do well in groups.

And if you are wanting to breed, they only breed during cold weather, so unless you have a cooling system for your tank, don't expect any eggs till next winter. They will form close relationships before breeding.

But something to think about...during summer, freeze some bottles of water in the freezer and in the morning stick them in the tank, just let them float around in there, it helps to keep the water cooler.

Floating axolotles are a bad sign, it means they are either stressed or sick. And be careful of the size of pebbles that are lining the tank, they like to pick them up and move them around, but they will also swallow them, giving them bad tummy aches. Letting them sit in a small container with a small amount of aquarium salt for short periods of time can help them pass them. But do not leave them in there too long because they are fresh water creatures.

I have a large folder of infomation on them, I can email you some of my notes if you'd like?

[firedragon92]

thanks man

id love for you to email me your notes my email is luke_rocks_switch@hotmail.com i was just wondering if it is possible for Axolotls to have too little light because the spot i have them in now gets almost no direct sunlight and is not fully dark but about half way between light and dark for most of the day?

cheers

[hotwinter]

No probs, I'll get it together over the next couple of days, State of Origin on tonight :)

I find the tank get's too hot in direct sunlight. I used to have my tank sitting at the oposite side of the room to the window and they were quiet happy during the day.

I know that you should avoid going from dark to bright like quickly, they get dazed and find it hard to adjust their eyes quick enough.

[firedragon92]

thanks i look forward to reciving the info.

i know they get dazed when it goes from light to dark quickly, i had to get up early this morning so i thought it would be the perfect oppertunity to give them a feed because it was still dark and when i went to do it i wasnt thinking and i turned on the light they went crazy, but luckily no injuries.

one of my Axolotls is refusing to eat and the other is barly eating the temp is at a steady 16 degrees what could be wrong?

cheers

[bettamuse]

Ours are fed on live black worm and large sinking orca pellets.
Earth worms are good to use as treats or for stubborn eaters as well.
Generally anything that wiggles will temp them into snapping at it.

We’ve bred lots and this is what we found gave us the best results in hatch rates, growth and survival.

A pair in a bare bottom 2 foot tank with elodea or any other bushy floating type plant & a Corner filter.
We kept them warm and then transferred them into a cooler tank and that seemed to trigger them to spawn.

Once spawning has taken place the eggs were transferred into a large foam esky with just enough water to cover the plants (about 2 inches) and an air stone.

After hatching we kept them in the same dept water. Fed live baby brine shrimp, live daphnia, once again the movement gets them to eat. Then onto live black warm. You can cut the worms up and they will live, but be smaller for your little guys to eat.

We found it essential to keep them in shallow water as increasing the dept increased the mortality rate. Moving the eggs and growing them in a shallow esky gave us 10 x the survival rate and a number of experiments proved (for us at least) to be a mandatory rule.
They proved to be very hardy and only required to be fed and the water kept from drying up, they grow fast and were interesting to watch grow and change.

BM

[Stormwriter]

I would also like any information that could be emailed to me please at writingmynovel@hotmail.com Thanx

[yarra2]

My experiences with Axelotis have been a little different than most of the others on the Forum. I put two adults in the outside pond a couple of years ago (together with various types of goldfish) and fed them the standard Axolotis pellets. I accidently found that they liked, preferred, the cold water guppies that I used as feeder fish so used to feed them a guppy on the end of a wooden meat skewer. They became reasonably tame – sometimes even taking them from my fingers (depended upon how wet I wanted to get) J
Then one was killed by the goldfish nibbling on its gills. By this time I had put in another small pond for breeding the guppies so put him in with them. I then bought another 3 (females I think) and left them to catch their own food. My experience with them was that they used to float on the surface in the evening until an unwary guppy came close enough to grab. I was under the impression that they used to float to breathe as well as to eat… during the day they would regularly swim up to the surface to take a quick gulp of air. Then, one morning I couldn’t find the male and much to my surprise found that he had left the small pond, crawled over the gravel and rocks to the big pond – returned home as it were. Spoke to a number of `experts’ and they nodded wisely and said it wasn’t unusual.
Then one of the females was taken by a local cat so I transferred the remaining 2 into the big pond. Within 12 months they had all died – two with nibbled gills and one taken by a Heron.
If I were going to keep them again I would keep them in an indoors tank without heating.
Mike

[accurist85]

I had two axolotls in 2ft tank... last winter... the next day i found the tank full of eggss.. so seperated the parents to another 2ft tank.... and next day the tank was full of eggs again... so i left them there... and they've been laying eggs for 3 days....

i ended up having lots of babies... worried how i will keep them... but frozen baby brine shrimp grew them up and they eat eachother!!

I ended up having 45 Adult Axolotls... sold them for $5 each to pet stores around town... they were like 8cm when they were sold... pet stores sold them really quickly and asked me for more that size so i got rid of everyone of them!

so guys try it over the winter! its fun and somehow amazing!!!