He's about 10 months old now and a big ol' boy

I saw a few videos that suggested sponge filters are the way to go for axolotls. I grabbed one from Petco, without realizing I needed a separate pump. While exploring pump options, I realized that any standard air pump hooked up to the sponger will only be pushing air into the tank. I'm not sure how the sponge filter would be effective at filtering anything without some way to pull the tank water through it.

Am I missing something? Or should I be focusing on a different pump and filter setup?

Working with a 15 gallon tank, for a single baby axolotl.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time ghosting this sub, and it is genuinely one of the WORST sources of aquatic care advice I think I have ever seen.

90% of the members on this sub are children who are not equipped to take care of an axolotl. 99% of any “advice” given is just “water parameters, tub, seachem prime” copy pasted, if not sometimes information from the sub banner copy pasted.

I have seen so much arguing, bickering, and straight up wrong information on this community. The people here will literally make things up just to be correct. There is hardly any moderation, and this place is going to get animals killed. I would not be surprised if it has already.

Edit: and when I say this, I’m particularly talking about for sick axolotls!! I don’t mean to discredit anyone. This place has a great community otherwise

I just wanted to share some progression pictures of Kaiju.

He/She are looking so much better since I've brought them home from the reptile store.

They are currently tubbed with 24 hour water changes treated with seachem prime while my tank finishes cycling.

They are eating 2 red wigglers a day (went from eating one every other day at the pet store).

I did have Indian almonds leaves in the water for a week as well and just finished that.

My question is does he/she still look a little under weight? (Bottom pic was taken today) They seem content eating twice a day one red wiggler at each time. But I just want what's best for them.

Also maybe one day they'll grow into their gills. They are so fluffy 😆

She was hatched October 2023.

so i finally got my 52 gallon tank!! i am currently cycling it now but it’s a lot bigger than i expected 😅 it looks so bare, i have a few other hides that are in my axo’s current (20 gal) tank but i want some hides that i know she will LOVE

any suggestions??

I don't know what's happening to his tail, and I need to know if it's something I need to worry about

Hello everyone,

My almost 5 year old axolotl stopped eating. She refuses bloodworms, red wigglers and axolotl pellets for almost two weeks - so no pooping also. Her gill colour is red and fluffy but she has become more withdrawn and doesn’t swim much anymore (well, not as much as her usual swimming behaviour). I’ve noticed that she has already lost weight. I know they tend to stop eating from time to time but it’s becoming to long now. She flicks her gills a lot but doesn’t swim to the top for a gulp of air like she does from time to time. I have a bubbler in her tank and her room is dark-ish and quiet and I keep a window slightly open. I’m attaching a picture of her water parameters. I’ve only recently started using this APA kit and struggle to see the colours as clearly as on the (unreliable) strips. Please let me know if the picture is not clear enough. Her water temp is currently 19°C but usually 15-16°C. I am lowering the temperature - we have really hot summers. I only use Seachem products in her tank. She has NO rocks or gravel in the tank and no tank mates. She has a big hide where she spends most of her day (and night). We do not have exotic vets anywhere near where we live, so it’s hours of Googling and freaking myself out over this. This has never happened before.

I will appreciate advice for my sweet girl. Please be kind.

Thanks

I will be moving my adult axolotl from a 20 long to a 45 long tank, what are the must-dos?? How long do you wait for it to cycle and what are the water quality parameters? (I know the Substrate in the photo is wrong, the new set up will be fine white sand and added chiller) please let me know everything I need to do!!

Hey guys I’m worried sick about my little mazey girl, I’m in Australia and our house only has evaporative cooling, we have a bit of a heatwave going on atm, and her tank is sitting at 24°C (75f) and I’m doing my best to keep it sub 18 but feeling defeated, I’ve heard about problems with the cheaper chillers and I don’t want to risk it, but I also don’t have the funds currently for a decent chiller, am saving up though as I understand the necessity Does anyone have any experience with the shitty Amazon chillers I don’t know what to do I’ve got desktop fans running, heaps of filtration and aeration and water movement, out of direct sun, aircon running full blast 24/7 and even a sheet covering the sides of the tank just to make sure ambient light doesn’t even get in there

Ive been attempting to cycle my 75 gallon tank since November 2024. I wasn’t progressing with ammonia and nitrite levels dropping so I purchased a tank heater that sat okay 76-78 degrees Fahrenheit for the past 2-3 weeks. This morning I did a big water change about half and added moonlight sand. I purchased a new api test kit as well and this morning my nitrates were reading at 5ppm which for the longest (user error- didn’t shake the bottles long enough) this time around I shook all bottles for a minute each timed. My nitrates are really high now and I added ammonia (10 mls/200 drops of Dr Tim’s) as I wasn’t sure my cycle did crash (ammonia read at 0.25 ppm this morning). Should I wait and do another water change soon or wait 24-48hrs after the water change to read my nitrate levels again. I do plan to move my pothos plant in now that I do have high nitrate readings. Also if anyone can give pointers on how to drop my temperature without shocking my cycle now that it seems it is cycled?

I thinkkk my tank is finally about cycled!! I have been doing it since October 20th 🤪 I dosed to 2 ppm and it showed to 0 2 days in a row.. is that cycled?

If so, I cannot get my Axolotl for another week or so, do I keep adding in ammonia AND fritzzyme? I have to do a water change as my nitrates are about 80.. any advice would be great!!

Also plan to get plants tomorrow if you have some favorites you recommend. This is my current tank (just added in sand, so a lil cloudy!) if you think I need to add or take away please let me know!! First timer here!!

Eats worms, not thoughts, all fluff

FR tho - just got into crocheting and this is my first project - and I LOVE her 😍

Hi! I’m moving from NYC to the UK this April and am not sure how to move my axolotl with me. I checked with APHA imports in the UK and they said amphibians just need a letter from the owner. I reached out to APHA CITES since I believe I’ll need paperwork from them since axolotl are in CITES appendix II.

My main issue is that I would really prefer to take my axolotl as my carry-on (I believe the TSA allow live aquatic animals), but I don’t think any airlines allow pets as carry-ons for trans Atlantic flights. I’m really worried about keeping her in the hold as they do with other international pets because of temperatures and running out of oxygen. Every pet shipping service I find is for dogs or cats, I can’t find any for aquatic animals. Thanks in advance for any advice!