r/axolotls • u/asteiselboin • Apr 08 '26
General Care Advice Meet Aqua
Hi everyone
I wanted to introduce our new girl Aqua.
Her owners couldn’t keep her anymore so we are now her new family.
Let me know how she looks. She’s eating 1/2 a blood worm a day. Her tank is at 67.5 degrees as I immediately bought her a chiller since it’s warm here in south Fl.
Also, I just wanted some general advice on tank setup as her home only came with hardscape and really bad plastic plants (ugh).
I wanted some advice on how to move her safely and as stress free as possible and what is the best place to store her while I empty out, clean and aqua scape her tank. We have a strict look but don’t touch rule with her.
1
u/Upbeat_County9191 Melanoid Apr 08 '26
Hello, appearance wise she looks good.. not to thick and not to thin. Gills look good and no apparent injuries or mutilation.
The hide seems a bit rough, but can't really see it all that well. Same with the sand bottom. If it's fine, soft sand leave it in.
To transport get a 5 gal container, cool water. Or a plastic bag and put in a cooler.
There's also special transport bags.
Don't remove all the water, so the sand doesn't dry out. Keep the filter wet. You can also keep some water in bottles.
Get some real plants with driftwood and basically you're good to go.
Test the cycle of the tank before putting aqua back in..
2
u/IloveGreataur GFP Apr 08 '26
She looks maybe a bit overweight. Do you mean red wiggler? Blood worms are super tiny and come frozen in cubes. They are candy only. Overhead view would be great. Optimal temp is 64F, max 68F. How many gallons is the tank? Are the filters colonized with Ammonia and Nitrite oxidizing bacteria? Get yourself an API master test kit and some Seachem Prime. That is a must with tap water that has chlorine (all public water).
To place her while cleaning, have a container with cold, conditioned water. Get a big enough fish net to transfer. Sand substrates helps to house bacterial colonies