My axolotl breeding and growing out

[discus rookie]

Thanks everyone.
Yes, April I think if you soak the black worm in something to make them sink they should work.
Let me try. I will soak some Australian blackworm in selcon and see if I can get them to eat them. They do not eat floating food. If you put them with goldfish the goldfish may eat the blackworm before they have a chance to though.
I also feed them frozen krills chopped, they like them, but bloodworm is their number one favorite right now.
Live white worm also works well in my case.
Jeff, no I do not have a chiller. I have kept the parents for a few years now and it is always just room temperature. When I first had them I tried to use a fan and frozen bottle floating in the tank and all those things but they did not seem to mind either way as long as it is not too hot. I also do not have any baby dying. Mind you, I live in Canada and it is never very hot here. Thanks everyone for reading this thread.

P.S. I tried the FDBW and it worked. They ate some blackworm that fell to the bottom. But it was more difficult to feed them blackworm in a big tank since they float everywhere. I did it in a tupperware and they accepted the food without any problem. However, they like bloodworm more and are more aggressive when eating bloodworm.

[Cosabuena]

Wow I'm amazed. I've looked into this a really long time ago. But never got to it.

I know they like cold water, but what's the warmest they can handle. Is gold fish there only tank mate?
Thanks

[discus rookie]

Thanks for the interest.
A lot of material on line talk about how they need cold water. Speaking from personal experience from the last few years keeping them without any sickness, I feel that you can keep them pretty much at temperature anywhere at or below 27C. I know this goes against the common recommendation which is 24C and under. What a lot of people are worried about with keeping them at high temperature are problems like fungus infection, swimming bladder problems and things like that. My humble opinion is that these problems are more about poor water quality and may be unhealthy stock. I have even kept them as high as 29C for a while when it was very hot. My axolotl was completely fine but I changed her water frequently and I keep everything very clean.
If you watch the videos of where axolotl are now found and where they are kept and bred in universities in Mexico, I believe you will agree with me that those water and tanks cannot be that cold.
Axolotl is a very hardy creature. I keep them pretty much the same way I keep my discus, which is in clean water with frequent water changes with water of room temperature. My axolotl are happy and they spawned frequently. I also do not have any of the babies dying or getting sick. I am not saying the info on the Internet is wrong, but from my own experience, I know for a fact that my axolotl can live and thrive in temperature higher than 24 as long as the water quality is kept up.
A lot of people who had sickness with their axolotl keep them in small tanks with purple playsand with plastic plants and things like that. They are not experienced fish keepers so although high temperature may be part of the cause of their problems I suspect their water condition/parameter/quality may be more to blame
Goldfish is a tricky situation. Some goldfish and axolotl will not get along; but some will. If you must put them together it is best to start when they are both young.
About tank mates I would say the best way to keep them is just by themselves. With pleco or cories (even if they can handle the low temperature) they could get eaten but the worst thing is as they get eaten the "spikes" on their bodies could damage the head and mouth of the axolotl.
I have made some changes a couple days ago and changed their tank to a barebottom tank. The reason is because as I said earlier I want to keep things as clean as possible. I also have a UV in the tank just in case.
I hope I have answered your questions, thanks.

[Cosabuena]

Thanks for the interest.
A lot of material on line talk about how they need cold water. Speaking from personal experience from the last few years keeping them without any sickness, I feel that you can keep them pretty much at temperature anywhere at or below 27C. I know this goes against the common recommendation which is 24C and under. What a lot of people are worried about with keeping them at high temperature are problems like fungus infection, swimming bladder problems and things like that. My humble opinion is that these problems are more about poor water quality and may be unhealthy stock. I have even kept them as high as 29C for a while when it was very hot. My axolotl was completely fine but I changed her water frequently and I keep everything very clean.
If you watch the videos of where axolotl are now found and where they are kept and bred in universities in Mexico, I believe you will agree with me that those water and tanks cannot be that cold.
Axolotl is a very hardy creature. I keep them pretty much the same way I keep my discus, which is in clean water with frequent water changes with water of room temperature. My axolotl are happy and they spawned frequently. I also do not have any of the babies dying or getting sick. I am not saying the info on the Internet is wrong, but from my own experience, I know for a fact that my axolotl can live and thrive in temperature higher than 24 as long as the water quality is kept up.
A lot of people who had sickness with their axolotl keep them in small tanks with purple playsand with plastic plants and things like that. They are not experienced fish keepers so although high temperature may be part of the cause of their problems I suspect their water condition/parameter/quality may be more to blame
Goldfish is a tricky situation. Some goldfish and axolotl will not get along; but some will. If you must put them together it is best to start when they are both young.
About tank mates I would say the best way to keep them is just by themselves. With pleco or cories (even if they can handle the low temperature) they could get eaten but the worst thing is as they get eaten the "spikes" on their bodies could damage the head and mouth of the axolotl.
I have made some changes a couple days ago and changed their tank to a barebottom tank. The reason is because as I said earlier I want to keep things as clean as possible. I also have a UV in the tank just in case.
I hope I have answered your questions, thanks.

Thanks bro for your time.

I ask because I keep discus and I saw a video on YouTube with discus and a axolotl on barebottom. So that's y I decided to ask you since obv u have experience. Lol.

Where can I buy these? Online?? I know for sure there's none in my lfs lol

[discus rookie]

Discus and axolotl will be a very strange combination, I have never tried it to comment on what would happen. I have never kept my axolot at the high temp I keep my discus. i also keep my water a big alkaline for my axolotl. But I have seen people keeping koi with discus so anything is possible. LOL, Axolotl's requirements in terms of water parameters is very similar to goldfish/koi, in my opinion. However, I have never tried this so I cannot comment on how it will turn out.
May I know where are you located?
Since axolotl is on the CITI list, in some states it is illegal to import, such as NJ and CA, if I am not mistaken.
A moderator here, April, will be getting some of my axolotl in her store in about a week or so. She is just moving things around and clearing up some tank space for them now. You can contact her to see if she can ship one to you. She has loads of experience with shipping, I highly recommend you to order from her.
Since I am not a sponsor and this is not meant to be a for sale thread, out of respect for all the paying sponsors, I would like to keep this strictly as a breeding journal and not a for sales thread.
If you would like to order an axolotl, April's site is http://www.aprilsaquarium.com/, or you can send her a PM.
Thank you for your interest in this wonderful creature.
Richard

[discus rookie]

They are growing out fast. My temp was 16-18C but now summer is here and their tank is at 20-22C. The higher temp may have something to do with the faster growth rate.
Took a short video to show how they swim and move aroud. They are around 3.5-4.5" now.

[discus rookie]

Found this movie poster and I think they really look like the dragon. lol

[rickztahone]

They are getting bigger! Good going. Interesting little creatures. I bet my daughter would love to own some of them. However, you mentioned they are illegal in CA, so I will enjoy them through your thread only

TFS

[Discusdude7]

I noticed that you are housing them together. Aren't they in the cannaballistic stage until they hit 6 inches?

[discus rookie]

Rick, I believe they are illegal to be imported into CA but I am not sure if locally bred axolotl is also illegal. May be there is someone locally who breeds them? Yes, my daughter loves them and they are very easy to look after as well.

Discusdude, I have housed them together and also separately. I have found that housing together will make them happier and they seem to grow faster with a better personality. This helps them to settle more readily into their new homes.

If you keep a 8" and a 2" together the 2" will likely get eaten. Regardless of their sizes, they will eat something that fit into their mouths.

Nevertheless, in my case, they are getting along very well and even the ones that are slightly smaller are fine--but I feed them a lot and as you can see in the video, they are very active and peaceful with each other. They will even pile on top of each other when they rest and they eat along side one another.

The benefits of growing them in a group, in my opinion, are that they can learn and get used to living with each other at an early age and they will grow up faster with better personality. They learn how to interact with another axolotl because they are used to seeing tones of them around, and they also become more active which helps them to eat more, stay healthy and grow up faster. Their gills will also look longer and more feathery this way.

I do keep the ones with similar sizes together, so the smaller ones stay with the smaller ones until they get bigger then they join the bigger guys.

If you grow them up all in individual containers until they are adult, they may attack each other once you house them together with another one. This can happen even if they are over 6". Also, when by themselves they tend to move much less and do not eat as much.

[discus rookie]

My breeding journal has come to an end. I have sold all 100+ babies and only have a few left. I will not be breeding for a whole because it is just too much work.
Axolotl is very easy to look after, the only thing really important is that they prefer cold clean water without much current. They are very hardy, unique-looking, cute and easy to look after.
I hope you enjoy my journal and may be one day you will give this interesting creature a try.
Thank you for reading my journal.

[Allwin]

Keep posting the updates of these guys .Thanks for sharing,enjoyed the journal.!

My breeding journal has come to an end. I have sold all 100+ babies and only have a few left. I will not be breeding for a whole because it is just too much work.
Axolotl is very easy to look after, the only thing really important is that they prefer cold clean water without much current. They are very hardy, unique-looking, cute and easy to look after.
I hope you enjoy my journal and may be one day you will give this interesting creature a try.
Thank you for reading my journal.

[Disgirl]

Thank you for all this information and pictures, I had never heard of this "animal". You did a great job raising them and sharing it all with us!! What is an average life span for them in captivity? How old are yours?
Barb

[discus rookie]

Thanks for reading my journal.
The average life span is quite long, they are expected to live over 10 years. They are sexually mature at around 1.5-2 years old. Usually you can sex them when they are 5.5-6" long-- the males will have a sac looking thing around his hinge legs.
These guys were hatched end of Jan this year, so they are around 4-5 months old.

Thank you for all this information and pictures, I had never heard of this "animal". You did a great job raising them and sharing it all with us!! What is an average life span for them in captivity? How old are yours?
Barb