Activ-Flora substrate, Axolotl tank?

[MarisaH]

Has anyone used Activ-Flora substrate in their Axolotl tank?
 

We are currently using Super Naturals & love it, but would prefer a darker substrate. I know a lot of dark substrates are Coal Slag & that is not safe for axolotls. I also know axolotls are sensitive to a lot of metals & there is a slight amount of copper in the Activ-Flora but not much. 
 

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/25/2023 at 5:41 PM, MarisaH said:

Has anyone used Activ-Flora substrate in their Axolotl tank?
 

We are currently using Super Naturals & love it, but would prefer a darker substrate. I know a lot of dark substrates are Coal Slag & that is not safe for axolotls. I also know axolotls are sensitive to a lot of metals & there is a slight amount of copper in the Activ-Flora but not much. 
 

 

Axolotls should be kept in a bare bottom or sand tank because they will eat gravel-type substrate resulting in a digestive blockage.  Friend of mine put slate rectangles (laid them down like tiles) on the bottom of her tank so he had some traction.

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[MarisaH]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea Thank you for your response and the video! We have watched that video previously along with what seems like a plethora of others.
We are aware of this & that is why we use the super naturals very fine sand. Did a lot of research before we even considered getting the axolotls over 2 years ago. We have had 2 of them for over 1.5 years as of current. We had tried a bare bottom tank at one time, but they were constantly stressed and I had tried putting large pieces of slate essentially, in the bottom of the tank, but it seemed like every time I had to do a tank clean I would have to remove the axolotl‘s, then pick up the slate and clean underneath them in order to suck up all of the waste. 

I know that with juvenile and younger axolotl’s you have a risk of impaction from sand, and obviously you don’t wanna have any gravel or rocks that are smaller than the size of their head in the tank at all. 

I have read many blogs, stating that even if you have a larger grain of sand, you’re usually OK as long as it’s about average size grains, and that you don’t have to have the super fine sand unless they are juveniles. (But usually juveniles they recommend bare bottom.) We just kept the superfine sand in their tank because we noticed they were less stressed than bare bottom and there was less risk of impaction if they did swallow a tiny bit. 

I should’ve specified a little better, but the Active-Flora substrate I was talking about was the black/brown sand. Not the Gravel one that most people are familiar with. If you have ever been inside of the aquarium co-op store in Edmonds WA, they carry the Active-Flora sand.

That sand in particular is the one that I was questioning about. 

Edited July 27, 2023 by MarisaH

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

 

Ah ok, I did see one that looked gravel-ish and that is the one I thought you meant. I am trying to think of the axolotl keepers on the forum here. When someone comes to mind I will tag them. I know some axolotl stuff because my friend has one and we talk a lot about his needs and behavior. She did end up removing the slate also. She had the same cleaning problem you did. Some people don’t mind the extra maintenance, but it got on her nerves and she lets him walk around on almond leaves now.

@Goldie Blue @Lillypad. @Rainy @Taco Playz @mkeyz@Bethany92

Throwing a tag to @Odd Duck who is or used to be an exotic vet; perhaps has some axolotl experience(?)

Edited July 28, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

[mkeyz]

I keep mine in sand. My juvie was bare bottom for the longest but now since it is nearing adulthood I transition it to sand. I have a metals allergy and copper is one of the metals so if the stuff you mentioned has a bit of copper in it then that would be a big part of why I've not considered using it that and too many people I've watched on YouTube warn against anything with metal in it for axies. So I remain cautious around stuff like that. But my experience with sand is my axies immediately spit the sand out if they do get some when slurping up a pellet or worms. Yeah they probably do ingest some of it but I've never had any issue with blockages yet. My best advice is would be bare bottom or sand as those would be the two easiest and safest options cleaning wise. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/27/2023 at 6:17 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I am trying to think of the axolotl keepers on the forum here.

@Goldie Blue has one 🙂

[Goldie Blue]

On 7/25/2023 at 4:41 PM, MarisaH said:

We are currently using Super Naturals & love it, but would prefer a darker substrate.

I have never tried Activ-Flora substrate, I use Super Naturals sand in my girls tank as well, it's all she has ever had in there. 

I have read that no black sand is safe for axie's...I have Aqua Natural Galaxy Black sand in one of my bettas tanks, and it's gorgeous, I would LOVE to put it in Bubbles tank but I won't risk it. Apparently this particular sand has quartz in it and even though it's really fine, it's very sharp like tiny splinters to an axie 😞 

I think we are just pretty limited to either bare bottom or a few of the CaribSea sands that are guaranteed safe unfortunately. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/27/2023 at 7:43 PM, Goldie Blue said:

a few of the CaribSea sands that are guaranteed safe unfortunately. 

I wonder which ones.... Interesting.

I would imagine sunset gold is about the "right thing".

[Odd Duck]

On 7/25/2023 at 4:41 PM, MarisaH said:

Has anyone used Activ-Flora substrate in their Axolotl tank?
 

We are currently using Super Naturals & love it, but would prefer a darker substrate. I know a lot of dark substrates are Coal Slag & that is not safe for axolotls. I also know axolotls are sensitive to a lot of metals & there is a slight amount of copper in the Activ-Flora but not much. 
 

 

I very recently had a tech friend lose her axie to a small pebble that had to have been in his sand mix.  If you decide to use a sand bottom, sift every single speck of that sand through a fairly fine sieve.  She had an adult and the pebble that caused the obstruction was only 3-4 mm across and got all the way down into his intestine.  I’ve recommended sand substrate plenty of times (for adults only) but will now always tell people to sift it first.

Any large pebbles should at least 1.5 to 2 times the size of their head as adults.  They can get their mouth open very wide and can potentially swallow smooth rocks the same size as their head if it has even one of its dimensions smaller than their head.

[Lillypad]

I agree with everything said by the fellow axolotl keepers. With acolotls, you are pretty limited to Carib sea sand, or bare bottom. Skate is a good option, but as you said, it is hard to clean. I use Carib sea sand in my axolotl tank, and have never had problems. I wouldn’t risk the darker substrate.