Frequently Asked Questions

That is an axolotl. Visit our About Axolotl page to learn more!

It is not an "easy" pet. If you have kept aquariums before, it is pretty similar in difficulty and maintenance to a fish tank. The tricky part is the nitrogen cycle and the fact that axolotls need to be kept cool (60-68 degrees F). Axolotls absorb things through their soft skin so they need clean, balanced, consistent water. They are also clumsy, squishy things that cannot have anything sharp or rough in their tank. 

Aquatic pets produce ammonia in their waste, this ammonia is eaten by helpful bacteria and turned into nitrites which is dangerous to animals. Another kind of helpful bacteria turns nitrites into nitrates, which not harmful in low concentration to fish or amphibians. This process can take a few weeks to a month or more to happen in your tank. Extra water changes and more frequent cleaning of the tank will be necessary until this cycle is complete. Those helpful bacteria live in the sand, on surfaces and MOSTLY in your filter. Don’t sanitize your filters when you clean the tank! Regular water changes should be done to remove the last step, nitrates, from your water after the cycle is done. A cycled tank is clear, has no significant smell and stays generally the same from day to day. An uncycled tank will get cloudy quickly, may smell fishy or dirty, and needs to be cleaned often. 

As long as your decorations are not rough or sharp, and are aquarium safe, they can go in your axolotl tank. Live plants will help your cycle and keep your water a bit cleaner and axolotls love plants. 

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Substrate is a tricky topic for axolotls. Many keepers choose to have completely bare bottom tanks for their axolotls to avoid the axolotl swallowing rocks or sand. As these are fairly new pets, more information is available all the time. Most recently, it has been discovered that axolotls use sand and small stones as gastroliths, grinding their food in the digestive tract and may even help them control their buoyancy. Xochi Exotics keeps our axolotls on sand. They absolutely eat the sand intentionally and we have never had any impactions or choking even among very small axolotls. Axolotls will try out different sized things in their mouth, so we would not recommend stones that are small enough for their mouth, but too big for them to pass. Generally, the advice is stones much larger than their head so they can't swallow them, or sand and gravel much smaller than their digestive tract to avoid impaction. As research continues on the gravel issue, Xochi Exotics will change their recommendations as evidence and data are expanded. 

The short answer is no. Axolotls should only be in tanks with other axolotls or alone. Small fish and animals will be potential food items for axolotls. Even small axolotls will eat cherry shrimp, ghost shrimp, snails and small fish. You certainly can keep small animals with your axolotl that you are fine with them eating. Some axolotl owners keep minnows, guppies, or shrimp with their axolotls as bonus food sources. Larger fish and other animals can be a danger to your axolotl. With their soft skin, and feathery gills, they can become a snack to larger animals. A big fish picking at your axolotl will eventually kill it. 

An adult axolotl is very happy in 20 gallons. You could probably do 15 gallons, but it would require more frequent maintenance. If you get a baby axolotl, 10 gallons is a good starter tank until your baby isn't a baby anymore. If you want multiples, you should add 10 gallons for every additional axolotl. I have kept four adults very happily in a 40 gallon breeder size aquarium. Floor space is more important than depth because they spend the majority of their time on the bottom of the tank.