HAKU, MY GOLDEN LEUCISTIC GFP AXOLOTYL

⚜️ HAKU: GOLDEN LEUCISTIC GFP AXOLOTYL ⚜️

⚜️ Haku is a golden leucistic GFP axolotyl and is over a year and a half old. At nearly a foot long, Haku has grown into such a lörge boi! ⚜️

BUILD SPECIFICATIONS:

⚜️ Waterbox Aquariums 15 Peninsula AIO with Kraken Reef lid and accessories & AquaIllumination (AI) prime 16k HD reef light (custom freshwater settings).
⚜️ I added a large (~18 inches long) sanded & cured Mopani driftwood piece that I’ve been holding onto. It’s weighed down with a hunk of seiryu stone. Haku is primarily fed with Hikari carnivore pellets.
⚜️ LOTS of PolyFil to catch impurities in the filter floss cup & sump
⚜️ I use Chemipure Blue and/or Purigen to keep the water looking good
⚜️ Charcoal, Filter media, sponges (etc)
⚜️ Seachem: Matrix

edit on ❥11/23 by Abhorsen because: (no reason given)

Thank you for sharing! Super cute. Does he have any friends?

a reply to: Abhorsen
Nice!
I used to have two dark colored Axos-favorite foods were earthworms and tadpoles.
They are pretty great stealth hunters.

Maybe get some oxygenating plants,they like a bit of shade/shelter.

Also,a turkey baster is handy for sucking the waste matter from the bottom of the tank which helps to keep the water cleaner for longer.

Oh one more tip-have you got a cover on your tank?
Axo's can jump out of the water if they want to,so a cover keeps them safely in the tank.

a reply to: Cre8chaos79

Next to him is a separate tank containing a blood parrot cichlid. Axolotls are unable to have tankmates due to their carnivorous and aggressive nature. Some people choose to do so anyway, but they risk undesirable tank conditions along with choking hazards posed by swallowed bones. Axolotls need clean water and at a bit over 15 gallons, this tank is just home to the one amphibian and some miniature Marimo Moss balls. Both tanks have custom lids as well, to keep the occupants safe. (Also, meet Lynx)!



While Haku probably couldn't fit Honey in his mouth (presently), they could likely do fairly significant damage to one another. Also, the tank is too small to happily fit more animals. Although they're both South American creatures, Honey's tank is around 82 degrees, while Haku's tank is room temperature at 63 degrees. Honey's tank is also just home to her, as well. It's around 30 gallons and she needs an upgrade soon. Theoretically, Haku's tank should be sufficient for him to have a happy life.

It's easier to take care of singular inhabitants when growing them out in nano sized tanks. In my opinion, that is. Love my AIO Waterboxes, but I can't wait to get a big tank for corals one day, after I upgrade the cichlid tank. I have an old saltwater tank for corals and fish (10 gallon) that I had to dismantle during a recent move.

a reply to: onestonemonkey

Great ideas! Thank you!

And yes: Kraken Reef makes awesome custom lids that keep animals inside

What kind of plants would you suggest? Honey tends to dig around and such and has ripped off branches of bonsai tree driftwood, so I'm wondering if she'd allow floating plants since she enjoys shaded water?

Do I need a special substrate (etc)? I'd like to add the bonsai into his tank soon, and hopefully get some moss on it. I'm open to suggestions.

Should I be feeding live foods to Haku? I've read mixed reports about live foods versus a pellet diet. I do frozen sometimes, but live bugs kinda skeeves me out haha

a reply to: onestonemonkey

I take it both of your axolotyls are around the same size, right?
What size tank do you use? I'm glad they get along. My tank is simply too small for another animal, I think. I wish it was lagoon-style, but the Peninsula was the best I could do at the time.

I have an external sicce whale canister filter on Honey's tank and I'm going to add a small sicce or fluval external filter on Haku's tank, too. I've been liking topping off and using Seachem Prime to supplement water changes. I find that topping off the water is often better for stability than big water changes. As long as I don't overfeed, of course.

As for the turkey baster, do you do that in lieu of water changes? Try the Python--or one of those python-style hoses.

The issue I deal with a lot is that I have so much evaporation and I'm refilling both tanks a bit daily. I haven't done a water change in months, actually. Hanna checks still come back good. Sometimes I do a 50-75% water change to freshen things up if necessary, though. Maybe I'm just lazy lol

a reply to: Abhorsen
Yes floating plants are the kind I used-
I used the regular oxgenating plants from the pet shop,they kind of looked like pine branches but I forget what they are called.

The substrate is important-some people use a fine substrate with sand sized grains-I think that is what you have.
That is usually OK,but I was told sometimes it can cause problems if bits get stuck when the axolotl sucks in food.
For that reason I used bigger smooth pebbles-just too big for tem to be accidentlt swallowed.

That also makes it a bit easier when using the turkey baster to suck dirt out.

They do love hunting live food-but you should read up on what is best.
I always "cleaned" the live food by leaving the worms or tadpoles in a sepeate tank of clean(but conditioned)water for a few hours before puttng them in the axo tank.
They never had any issues-but like I said better to ask a pro about that.

The only issue I ever had was early PH problems-they like a pretty narrow PH range,and if its not right you will see deterioration of the tiny frill like bits which stick out of their head tentacle/pointy bits.

So keep you eyes on those tiny frills-if they start to wither away-you likely have a PH issue.
They slowly grow back once the problem is resolved though.

Good luck!


Edit-I just read yor latest post-
One of mine was around 5.5inches long,but the other was almost 8inches when fully grown.

I would use the turky baster whenever I noticed any waste,which would keep it cleaner for longer-then I would remove and replace around 40% of the water every 2 weeks or so.

The tank cover will definitely help you solve the water evaporation issue-I had the same thing until I covered the tank.

a reply to: onestonemonkey

Thank you! The plant stuff is entirely new to me

a reply to: Abhorsen
cool-
I just updated my previous post with some extra info for you.


One thing I would do is make a small area into a shaded/covered/snug little hideaway as they like a darkish corner-you can place a rock or bit of wood in there so you can still see the axo when he goes for shelter,near the front of the tank maybe.

a reply to: onestonemonkey

Okay! I'd want to keep everything natural--what kind of rock or wood?

Thank you bunches for the edit with info

As thanks, here's what my nano saltwater coral reef tank used to look like:

a reply to: Abhorsen

I used rocks from my garden,washed in boiling water first,them left overnite in a seperate tank of conditioned tank water,then into the axo tank.

But some wood can be bad as it leaches certain chemicals and can alter your PH.

So you should get wood from a pet shop,suitable for fishtanks and you will be fine.

I did that,then repeated the same as with the rocks,and then into the tank.

a reply to: onestonemonkey

Legit. I bought my driftwood piece from a supplier that already sanded and cured it. I re-cured it and let it float in water for a while to rinse anything off. I ask about the rocks, because my little dude has a bad tendency of ripping at his tail as he tries to snuggle rocks. That's why his tank is so bare. That mark in the back of his tail is from back when I added him to this tank in Februrary of this year. He whacked it repeatedly on the seiryu stone, so i removed most of it and put it in my cichlid tank, instead.

a reply to: Abhorsen
Its looking great-If s/he has been in that tank since Feb you must have the conditions right as you would have seen health problems by now.

One of mine used to go crazy once in a while-zooming round the tank,bashing the cover trying to jump and smashing the rocks around with his tail until I got bigger rocks.The smaller one would head for the sheltered area until it calmed down.

My tank was around 30inches long,18 wide,and it was around15inches deep IIRC.

When I got mine they were adult,but I dont know exactly how old-but they grew quite a bit more because they were in a smaller tank before I got them.

They were healthy for just over 11 years then both died just a few days apart maybe from old age but not really sure how old they were.

They can live for over 20 years apparently but I doubt mine were that old.

They were great creatures to look after--sometimes I would be working on something at my desk and would glance up and both would be floating mid level in the tank,appearing to stare straight at me across the room!

That's good to know. I so not know much h about aquatic life. Those animals are beautiful! I am loving the look on Lynx face! I had a fresh water tank at one point and a beta fish named pee wee at some point. The fish did well for aome time . Like years! I know more about rabbits, dogs, and cats. I was raised in a Vetranary hospital and later became a vet assistant. Never made it to tech. I fell into teaching instead.

It looks like these slippery babies are happy! And the kitty looks happy and mesmerized. I think I would be too! There was a dish tank in a waiting room at a hospital that had a puffer fish and it was so adorable! I mean extra cute. Followed my child when she would walk back and forth across the room. She sat. It would go down she stood up it would go th the middle of the tank. I know it's gotta be fo some biological reason other than it wanted a friend but that's what she thought.

a reply to: onestonemonkey

that's fascinating!

what other animals do you keep? And do you have any other insights about axolotyl? I, too, have felt like he sees me and like he sees the fish in the tank next to him. He has swiveled his head to look at my cat, as well. I thought their eyesight was dreadful, though. What do you make of it?

a reply to: Cre8chaos79

Thank you! I have a bit over 7 years of experience with aquatics, which isn't much when all is said and done, but I am fairly confident with freshwater (I have less experience with saltwater and coral reefing, but a lot of the knowledge is the same, so it's cool that they overlap).

A friend of mine used to keep pufferfish! They're so cute!

What do you teach? I want to get into teaching, myself, specifically online teaching. I have a BA in Psychology, magna cum laude. My cousin used to teach English to kids in China. I love school

a reply to: Abhorsen

This morning, they're both being rather photogenic and cooperative

Caption: Haku, derping out mid-lounge


Here's Honey this morning, looking vibrantly colored and pretty