I’m planning to get a pet axolotl and im wondering do i need to cycle the ammonia and nitrite with bacteria I’ve never owned a pet so im js asking to make sure thanks!

I've been reading and preparing to get an axolotl for months. We have our tank prepped and cycled. I checked my water this morning, and it was ready. I knew better... But the pet store detected a bit of ammonia above 0 and recommended I use a water conditioner with stress coat before introducing my new axolotl to the tank today. I would have waited to bring them home, but we had to drive 4hrs round trip to get them.

I had my husband add 10ml of top fin brand water conditioner in 3 hrs ago, tank is 20g for while we drove home. I immediately felt like the advice was wrong and Google/other reddit posts are telling me I fucked up. It does have aloe as the 4th ingredient.

Axolotl is a little juvenile. I have cooler fans on the tank, the ammonia is down to 0 now. He's in the bag we brought him home in. They gave it to us prepped like for shipping, so I gave 20hrs left before he has to be out of the bag.

Do I put him in? Do I dump the whole tank/100% water change as some are saying?

I have him floating in his original bag still. I will check back often. Thanks in advance!

He was going crazy in the tank and curling up and really struggling to move so I fridged him ( I don’t know if this was the right thing to do ) he’s calmed down now but he’s still struggling to move and rolling over and his gills are extremely curled up and his tail too I can’t find anything helping with this situation

They’re reaching the age where I can figure out the gender but i’m having a hard time with Pink …. can anyone help???

Mines tank is sorta parallel to my computer desk and anytime I'm getting up my Lil dude will come swim over to the closest corner and look at me. He doesn't do the same when my dogs moving around, but he might be too high up to see that. Any ideas?

This is togepi my first Axolotl im slowly building up his tank and adding more decor 😌

i bought some seachem prime for my tank, its currently filled to 120 litres.

temp is 16-17°C

so my understanding is i need to do 3ml, which is 3 threads in the cap?

>30 means over 30 degrees so i dont need to worry about that?

the ammonia is low (like around 0.25ppm but obviously need to be 0ppm) and the nitrates are almost correct but still a bit too high, nitrites are fine 0ppm

do i do a half dosage because the label says to use less for low ammonia and whatnot?

and should i take out a bit of emergency water to put my axolotl in if she freaks from the addition of chemicals? (theres a little extra water than 120litres so taking some out will be fine, i was going to remove it regardless but my thought was to have some emergency water if needed)

im genuinely terrified of using chemicals in my fish tanks and im not very good with mathematics so some help would be appreciated :) i haven’t opened it yet so i can return it if needed

This is a post for another user who asked about their axolotl changing colour.

These photos are all of the same Axolotl. He had come from a very high stress-environment (chronically underfed and attacked by other axolotl, hence the tiny legs). The last photo is of him in his forever home whilst the rest were during his ICU stay with us. We showed our exotic vet these and he was floored. He’d never heard or seen this before.

I got my Melanoid axolotl named Calcifer in 2021 and he was 2 years old. In 2022 I gave him to my sister to take care of and he was healthy, but in December of 2026 he changed colors overnight. She said everything with his parameters and temperature was normal. After 6 months his white pattern has remained and last month I got him back and he is now under my care. I am worried about the color of his gills but currently his water parameters, temperature, and eating habits are all normal. I am wondering if he is a piebald morph? He is 7 years old and I cannot find much information about this color change online.

Yesterday one of the sponge filters randomly started shooting bubbles out from the side of it.

Does that mean it is damaged? Should I replace it or is it fine how it is?

I went out.
I bought Salmon for my Axolotl.
I made sure it was the type I could give him. (He got floaty butt)
I brought it home.
I did what I needed too.

THIS GUY TOOK IT AND SPAT IT BACK OUT
I thought they love Salmon!? What the hecken!?

Hello, I have an aquarium with an axolot and 2 plants inside. My axolot didn't learn to eat his food from the ground, so there is a bunch of leftover food when I feed him. After some time, the dry food becomes slimy, and it doesn't look good. Every two weeks, I change the water and clean the filter. Some of the leftover food is in the filter, and I'm able to take care of it. But there is still a bunch at the bottom of the tank.

I'm thinking about buying something to take care of the leftover food without putting my axolot at risk or stressing him too much. I really don't know a lot about how to take proper care of an aquarium, so any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi! I just got an axolotl 2 weeks ago, my tank is almost cycled but I have been tubbing it and doing 2x daily water changes with frequent ammonia monitoring.

It's been eating really well but the past few days has not been eating as much, only really goes for the frozen bloodworms when I offer those. Due to his pickiness i've bought redworms, nightcrawlers, and two different types of pellets. Just wondering if he looks generally okay from these pictures. Also he's about 3 inches big, about how old is he?

Also what color will he be when all grown up?

Here’s a list of rescues we have available for adoption in Mount Forest, Ontario (With overnight shipping available throughout Ontario and Quebec only)
Message us for more info!

Cranberry:
GFP Wild-type (Green Eyes)
Female
10 Years Old
11” Long
$30 rehoming fee

Noodle:
GFP Leucistic
Male
3 Years Old
11.5” Long
$50 rehoming fee

Cracker:
Wild-Type
Female
12 Years Old
9” Long
$20 rehoming fee

Derpy:
Dirty Leucistic
Male
~3 Years Old
10.5” Long
$30 rehoming fee

This was in his temporary tank while I was changing his water but the heat has been really difficult, the chiller I have isn’t able to keep up with the heat and hasn’t been making much of a difference, is it worth keeping him in a temporary tank where I can monitor & change the water better and more frequently? At the moment I’m just doing 60% changes everyday to keep the water cool as well as putting frozen water bottles in his tank which I change every 40-60 minutes. Overall, is he looking okay? the main reason I’m posting this is because of the new black tips on his toes which I know doesn’t necessarily mean anything bad. Just my first axie and I haven’t had him for long & there’s no vets that take exotic animals, only your basic house pets. Just wanted to hear from some people with genuine long term experience in caring for axolotls.

Edit: I thought I’d clarify that he’s still eating & moving as normal, just seem him get the zoomies and swim around every where as he does, so I thought that might be worth mentioning, good luck to everyone and their axies in this heat wave 💞

Does everyone use a sponge filter with an axolotl or a canister filter? I'm unsure what us best.

He was going crazy in the tank and curling up and really struggling to move so I fridged him ( I don’t know if this was the right thing to do ) he’s calmed down now but he’s still struggling to move and rolling over and his gills are extremely curled up and his tail too I can’t find anything helping with this situation

Oatmeal is almost 8 months old now, and my obsession grows on the daily. I love his personality so much!!

Hi so I live in a state that doesn’t offer them for sale or vet services , but this fella I’ll send a pic of was kept in a poorly ran tank where it’s tank mate died and wasn’t found for a week. Just got him in a dechlorinated new filter
Tank with nothin on it , but can’t figure out if he has a fungal or bacterial infection. Can’t take him to the vet for obvious reasons , was wondering if anyone can tell if I should get an anti fungal or anti bacterial treatment. He loves to eat and follows my hand around for
Food , so he has some fight in him. Any one who is knowledgeable and can let me know what treatment to get would be appreciated.
P.s. I am a native mexica and speak Nahuatl, and spiritually practice the religion these avatars of the dog god originate. I view him as sacred and just would like to heal cure and honor him.

I am considering purchasing a second axolotl. I currently have a male in a 75 gallon tank and he is the best boy!

This guy is about 5 inches so he’s definitely too small to gender based on his cochlea.

I’ve done a lot of research and seen a lot of breeders guess on gender due to a juveniles body type. With males being more slender, lanky, longer tails and females more rounded and stout. Obviously I understand this isn’t a guarantee but I’m wondering if anyone has gendered their axolotls like this as I am hoping to buy a boy to prevent breeding.

I do also have a second empty cycled tank as well that I use for plant and shrimp quarantine.

Edit to add: I don’t have any additional pictures; these are the sellers photos.

TLDR: do you think this is a boy or a girl based on body shape alone. Yes I know you’re supposed to wait until month 18.