CARE INSTRUCTIONS                            

Your Axolotl will need some very specific care to remain healthy.

1. Axolotl eat by sucking up their food. When they do this, they suck up things that they shouldn’t so it is important to eliminate anything that could cause impaction. There should be nothing in the tank that is less than 3 times the size of its head. Bare bottom tanks or a tile bottom are best. You can have very fine sand once the Axolotl is 6 inches long and absolutely NO gravel. This is a life-threatening situation.  
2. Tanks need to be cycled. This is referring to the nitrogen cycle.  More information on the cycle sheet. Sponge filters are the best type of filter for axolotl. They do produce a lot of waste, so at least double the capacity is going to keep the water parameters safer. Ex: if you have a 20-gallon tank, get a sponge filter that is rated for a minimum of 40 gallons.
3. Water temperature is very important. Keep water between 60 - 65 degrees.  Anything over that could cause health problems.  Fungus and stress are common issues with water conditions. You can use a fan that is attached to the tank to keep the water cold. Some people use chillers, but there are less expensive options.
4. Seachum prime is the best water conditioner for Axolotl. Other water conditioners have aloe in them which is very toxic to Axolotl.
5. Lighting/Hides: Axolotl don’t like bright lights. So don’t feel the need to get an aquarium light. I have an LED floor lamp that I turn on occasionally to watch them or feed them, but primarily it is off. They will want to have hides that they can go into. Make sure that anything you put in the tank is smooth. Sometimes you can get something that has some rough edges and you can use sandpaper to smooth it down. Soft plastic plants are great, and you will probably see your Axolotl hanging out on them.
6. Food: Axolotl are carnivorous.  A rotation of earthworms, red wigglers, black worms, and Axolotl pellets is all you will need.  Blood worms have no nutritional value, so they are used as a treat. No animal protein (chicken, beef, poultry) should ever be used. 
7. Tubbing: sometimes your Axolotl might need to be tubbed, whether it is due to an illness or maybe you pull them out of the main tank for maintenance/set up. When the Axolotl is tubbed, you will need to do 100% water changes (primed and cool) daily because the tub is not “cycled” and the water parameters will become dangerous to the Axolotl. The supplies that I keep on hand for these occasions are: (see “First Aid” sheet).

• Food safe plastic tub (shoebox size or a little bigger)
• IAL (Indian AlmondLeaves: soothing for their skin)

Will you be able to have just one? Can I put anything else in the tank with my Axolotl? That is such a loaded question. The short answer is no….and no….

Axolotl are going to be species only. Some people will give small fish (like guppies, white cloud minnows, small shrimp) to them for a snack, but with that comes potential issues. These snacks will need to be quarantined for at least 30 days before feeding them because if the fish/shrimp has an illness, now your Axolotl does too. I have found it is much easier and safer to vary the food you give (approved safe foods) to give variety to their diet. Earthworms are the best source of nutrition. You can get them at any bait store, Walmart, etc. Just make sure that they don’t have any dyes in them.  Backyard sourcing can be dangerous because of chemicals/pesticides in the soil.

More than one? Axolotl have a couple of “requirements”: 1st, they need to be with “like size”. So getting them at the same time makes things easier. BUT, they also need to be with the same sex, and that can’t be confirmed until they are adults 18 months. So, just as long as you are willing to put another tank up if they happen to be of the opposite sex, you will be fine to get more than one as babies.

I definitely recommend that you join a couple of Facebook groups. I have one, of course, my QR code is on my business card Luv A Lotl. I am also in a couple of others that are a wealth of knowledge. I have found that Facebook groups are going to be great resources if you have questions or concerns too. Google articles can be good, but you have to weed through the advice as a lot is outdated. Please always use me as a resource as well.

If you ever decide that this Axolotl is not working for you and your family, please reach out to me. I will take him/her back and either keep them here or find another loving family. There is no judgment from me at all.

Axolotl Fungus Concerns 

Fungus presents as a white fluffy ball. Think of a Qtip that was pulled off. This will usually show up on the gills (feathery filaments). It is usually caused by water temperature that has gone over 65 degrees. The good thing it is easily treated, and not something that you need to medicate a tank for. If you have more than one Axolotl, it isn’t something that is “contagious” per se, but because of the water conditions, another Axolotl could have issues based on that. Get the water conditions back to what they need to be and the fungus will go away.

1. Tub your Axolotl in cool (60 - 65 degrees) dechlorinated (prime) water.
2. Test your water parameters in the main tank to confirm that the cycle hasn’t crashed which will cause more problems. See sheet with test parameters.
3. Put IAL (Indian Almond Leaves) in the tub with the Axolotl.  Either as a whole leaf or you can make a “tea” out of them.  This is done by putting them in water and boiling them on the stove.  Then cool the tea in the fridge until it is the proper temperature. The IAL is soothing to the Axolotl skin.
4. You can also do “tea baths”. This is done by taking regular black tea bags and making tea with them. Only use regular black tea. Cool in the fridge after adding prime.

• Mix 1 cup of black tea per 2 gallons of water.
• Allow your Axolotl to take a bath in this. You can do this a maximum of 3 times a day for no longer than 15 minutes. Only do this for 3 days max.
• After 15 minutes, put your Axolotl back in a clean tub with cool dechlorinated (prime) water.
• Fridging and salt baths are not needed and Methylene Blue is usually not needed for simple fungal issues.

  

TANK CARE & WATER QUALITY

What is “cycling”?

Cycling a tank is the NATURAL process of building good bacteria to break down waste in your tank. When a tank is considered “cycled” it means you have the appropriate levels of good bacteria to handle the amount of waste in the tank.

Many people get overwhelmed when it comes to cycling a tank. DON’T OVERTHINK IT! Your tank naturally wants to go through this process. The bacteria want to be there. When you look at your Axolotl setup you need to realize it is its own environment. You have a little ecosystem in your house that wants to thrive. When you start doing too much to it, when you start adding a bunch of chemicals, that’s where people tend to run into problems.

What is a “nitrogen cycle” or beneficial bacteria?

When waste, aka ammonia, is introduced into a system, good bacteria form that break down the ammonia. Ammonia is turned into nitrites when broken down and a second kind of bacteria grows to break down nitrites. The second set of bacteria eats the nitrites and that is then turned into nitrates. Nitrates are only toxic at very high levels and can be lowered by doing normal water changes (usually 25% of your tank’s volume) or can be absorbed by live plants.

How does ammonia end up in my tank?

Ammonia comes from waste/poop, dying plant matter, uneaten food left in the tank, or any organic matter that begins to break down.

How do I cycle my tank?

There are two methods that you can use to cycle a tank:

1. Cycling with livestock: using cheap fish to add ammonia. The problem with this is that when the tank is cycled, you have to do something with these living animals.
2. Fish-less cycle: adding pure ammonia directly to a tank (no livestock)

The fish-less cycle is the best way to go so you don’t accidentally harm something while getting your tank cycled. Remember ammonia is toxic and could end up killing the fish you are using to cycle the tank.

Steps for a fish-less cycle:

Have your tank setup running with de-chlorinated water (I highly recommend using Seachums Prime).

Make sure you have plenty of living space for your good bacteria to grow, sponge filters, plants, decor.  Sand (only for Axolotl at least 6 inches). Adding lots of good areas for your bacteria to call home helps in a number of ways: (faster cycle, a more stable tank – so fewer crashes if something happens, and fewer issues with blooms/milky tank).

Optional - Use a heater to bring the temp up to 76-ish degrees (NO AXOLOTLS IN THE TANK). Having warmer temps to work on cycling your tank helps the bacteria reproduce faster so you have a shorter wait period. Of course, you’ll have to cool the tank back down before you put your Axolotls in.

You’ll need a test kit to watch your water parameters.

Add pure ammonia to your tank (some fish stores might carry it or you can order it online). You want the ammonia at 4ppm (over 5ppm and the ammonia will be too toxic for the good bacteria).

Fish-less cycling usually takes about 4 - 6 weeks. You’ll want to feed the tank with pure ammonia and test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.

Once you start seeing your nitrites go up it means you have started growing the first set of bacteria.

Then when nitrates have started showing up on your tests it means the second set of bacteria is now in the tank.

You’re done cycling when your ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and have reduced down to 0 within 24 hours of dosing with ammonia. You will have a small amount (10 - 20) of nitrates and that is great! Your tank is now cycled and safe to add living creatures, you can stop adding ammonia.

During your fish-less cycle do NOT do any water changes even if the tank gets cloudy. That milky/foggy color is a good bacteria bloom. When you do a water change while this is happening you are removing a bunch of the good bacteria that are trying to reproduce to get to appropriate levels. You are essentially restarting your cycle.

Notes: Your pH will probably fluctuate during the cycling process. It’s normal and you don’t need to mess with it! It will even out again once the ammonia goes down. As long as you don't use distilled water (please don’t ever do that) you have minerals and natural buffers that control the pH (if you do have pH issues with your tap water we will discuss that in another post).

Parameters on a cycled tank

Please please please remember, your tank wants to self maintain. Many people want to try to do a quick fix with different chemicals and it almost always ends up in a disaster at some point. Once you have an established/cycled tank, care will be very easy.

Published by OpalDaydreams