Axolotls & Tank Setup

[AxieOwner]

So I'm a first time Axolotls and tank owner. I'm not completely unfamiliar with either and I've been doing a lot of research. I thought I would start this thread to get your impute and the various aspects of what I plan to do. I'm shooting for a planted aquarium, sand substrate, and two smallish sponge filters. Here's a crude little drawing I did for placement:

 

Tank

40 Gallon Breeder

Aquaneat Full Spec Light

Tetra Whisper Pump

3x6 Sponge Filter x2

Caribsea Sunset Gold Sand

Driftwood Hides

API Test Kit

Dr Tims Ammonium

Prime Water Conditioner

 

Plants

Rotala Rotundifolia

Red Ludwigia

Marimo Moss Balls

Red Dwarf Lily

Java Moss

Double Leaf Water Grass

 

I'm just spit balling with the plants. I know it'll be low lighting but I do plan around six hours of light a day. I'm not entirely sure how horrible my choices are. I just know I want to brings some color into the tank and would rather stay away from solid green everything. Any alternatives if I'm wrong with some of these?

[ange]

I haven't kept axolotls before so take this with a grain of salt, but aren't they prone to ingesting substrate? I'd likely treat their setup similarly to goldfish/cichlid setups plant-wise (rhizomes and plants that don't mind being uprooted, possibly stem plants with an easy planter or similar product protecting them) if so.

[AxieOwner]

They sort of suck in their food and can ingest gravel mostly.  Sand is generally okay.  They don't tend to munch on the plants from what I've read but can uproot them by accident.

 

[ange]

That sounds like what I suspected. I've heard of the impaction risk but a fine enough sand should be able to pass through their digestive system.

The primary challenge I foresee is plants being uprooted (most likely your rotala and ludwigia). I also did a quick search because I didn't recognize the "Double Leaf Water Grass" and those seem to fall into the category of scam seeds that have made rounds. Most of the seeds that are sold for aquariums aren't truly aquatic. Another user on the forum made a thread on their experiments with scam seeds as they're popularly called. I wouldn't recommend them in any setup that intends to submerge them.

Edited November 17, 2020 by ange
a word

[AxieOwner]

Hmm, thats too bad.  I watched a number of videos with people planting them with no problem.  Is there a substitute?  I'm looking for a low lying plant that would make a grassy area across half the tank.

[ange]

There are a few common choices for carpet plants, though most of them require more time to establish than other plants and generally won't flourish with livestock that likes to disturb substrate. Regardless of what plant you choose I'd suggest you give the plants several weeks (ideally more, given that sand substrate tends to compact around roots and impede growth) to establish the root system and reduce the likelihood that they get uprooted. Usually when planting carpets, people will place small "plugs" 1-2cm apart and allow the plants to fill in the gaps in the carpet by shooting out runners so it takes awhile. Some low tech carpet options are dwarf sagittaria and hydrocotyle.

With some extra root tabs (and light) you could probably manage monte carlo or s. repens. They can be grown in low/medium light but get a much more bushy look with less light. Baby tears and dwarf hairgrass are also commonly available but I've personally only had good results with them when I added passive CO2 through a diffuser and can't really recommend them without it.

[shkote]

On top of the plants being uprooted, the biggest issue I had with plants in my Axolotl tank years ago was the very dim light that Axolotls prefer and their cold water. I had the best luck in my tank with Anacharis, Java Fern and Anubias, but nothing else ever really thrived in the tank. Mine was a 20 long, so maybe you will have better luck in a 40 breeder with more room for your Axolotl to roam and not uproot everything. A Dwarf Aquarium Lily would be an interesting experiment to try. I have one in a cold water tank around 66-68 degrees, it grows much slower, but it does grow with moderate light. Would be interesting to see how it does in cold water and lower light. 

Sand impaction was never an issue, with just regular blast media and pool filter sand. They do appreciate caves to retreat into when they find the lights too bright. 

[AxieOwner]

Thank you all for the information.  Do you think a gravel/sand combination would work best for a planted aquarium?  I was thinking that in areas I will have plants I can build up the gravel and then lay sand over that.  It would essentially look like a sand substrate but have the advantage of gravel under the plants for better root growth. 

Edited November 18, 2020 by AxieOwner

[AxieOwner]

Or how about a controsoil layer covered by sand?

[ange]

Gravel is very popular. It's generally able to hold down roots well without smothering them, though I wouldn't recommend gravel with anything that could possibly ingest it. I've never personally used controsoil but I really enjoy ADA Amazonia in my CRS tank. I also have a VERY mixed substrate cap in my Walstad style experiment that has Fluval stratum in it which is a similar product.

I've used sand as a substrate cap over organic soil in several of my tanks and while I like it, I don't think the application works with gravel because there are too many nooks and crannies that the sand slips into. You tend to turn your gravel capped by sand into gravel mixed with sand, which raises the risk of ingestion considerably.

Sand isn't very popular because of how it can potentially cloud the water, it shows anything "dirty" readily, and roots take a long time to establish. That said, I still really like it and I've had good results with it, though I've only attempted root feeders like Vallisneria, Amazon sword, and Cryptocoryne. I wouldn't want to try any kind of carpeting plant in sand, the reason I love Vallisneria in sand so much is I've noticed that it sends runners less frequently! The rest of the plants that I have experience with planting in sand are water column feeders like Rotala, a few Ludwigia species, and water sprite (the last of which I ended up using as a floating plant anyway because it's more attractive that way haha).

[AxieOwner]

Update:  Petco canceled my order out of the blue and I was unable to get the majority of my supplies including the tank.  Thankfully I had been watching facebook and craigslist.  A 75 gallon two tank setup with lights, pump, and filters popped up.  Amazingly the owner was a breeder getting out of the hobby and was willing to trade it all for an xbox.  Feeling pretty dang lucky right now.

 

 

[AxieOwner]

Purchased everything I needed to get this bad boy going.  Pump, filters, substrate etc.  I'll likely pick up some plants in a week or so.  I'll give it a month or two to cycle and then look into axolotls and tank mates.

[AxieOwner]

Okay, I've been trying to figure out what sponge filter to go with.  Opinions vary widely.  Some say fine some say coarse.  From what I understand the fine sponge allows for more surface area for bacteria and also does a better job cleaning.  I know the co op seems to lean toward coarse.  I'm leaning towards the hydro pro fine sponge filter.  Whats some other thoughts on these?

Edited November 30, 2020 by AxieOwner