The Axies Are Coming!

[luca1980]

Hi guys, I have been quitely lurking here in the background for awhile now!
 
Tomorrow I am picking up my new 4 foot tank and cabinet. My plans are to create a good home for some axolotls

I love axies and find them very interesting but this will be my first time keeping them. I have done a TONNE of research and things are finally starting to take shape.
 
Stay tuned for updates and please feel free to comment - I am always keen to learn more!

 

[luca1980]

Equipment list so far:
 

• 4 foot tank and matching cabinet (cabinet will need to be stained as it comes in raw pine) - roughly 52 gallons/200 litres
• Eheim classic 600 ( I am normally a fluval person but I liked the fact that Eheim comes with a spraybar)
• Fluval Eco bright LED - the levels of light are adjustable to give the plants enough light but not too much to stress the axies
• Eheim airpump (100L/hr) with airstone diffuser (only to up the oxygen on really hot days)

Substrate will be beach sand. I also have several extra large cichlid caves for the axies to use as hides.
 
I have not decided on plants yet, I am in the middle of researching a list of low-light/cool water plant ideas - any recommendations are welcome!
 
I also plan to paint the back outside wall with matt black chalkboard paint. I have done this on my 5 foot mbuna tank and it looks great.

 

[nic1]

You should do a picture diary

 

[luca1980]

Yes nic1 I am planning on it!
 
My tank and cabinet arrived a day earlier than expected! They are now both in place. Hopefully I will get a chance to make some good progress over the weekend, starting with staining the cabinet and painting the backwall. Looking forward to taking some pics for everyone to see  

 

[luca1980]

I stained my cabinet earlier this evening so the job for tomorrow will be to add a few coats of clear laquer and then paint the back wall of the tank (I use chalkboard paint so it is a matte black). I am having trouble uploading photos - they all get rejected because they are too big, but then I was wondering why everyone else is able to upload huge awesome pics for everyone to see. ANy suggestions would be greatly appreciated - I'm not very tech savvy, sorry guys!