# Cold water tank



## Greenpuffer (Sep 7, 2012)

Hi,
I am not by any means an expert fish keeper in fact I dont have a single fish. I do have a lot of other aquatic animals. I am currently setting up a 48 gallon tank for some axolotls (aquatic salamander) and was hoping to add some fish to make it more interesting. The tabk will be planted lightly filtered and will not have a heater. I kept white clouds with them in the past as a food source and maybe they were too fast because they would rarely get eaten and started breeding. I tried putting in some large feeder goldfish and everything was good until the fish started getting even bigger and attacked the axolotls gills.
I don't know if this is an impossible project but I thought I would see what anyone has to say.
Ideally some types would be colourful and is there a type of pleco that doesn't get huge but still eats algae??
Any advice or experience would be great. Thanks.


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## datfish (Sep 7, 2012)

Fish that could easily survive cold water and become a food source? Livebearers are your best bet. I would suggest Bristlenose pleco, they're fairly cold hardy and reach around 5 inches.

I have to say, I wouldn't call a room temperature tank cold water. I don't heat a few of my tanks and checking right now they're 24 degrees. If your tank genuinely isn't a cold water tank and is just room temp, you can go down the danio/barb/tetra route. I'm not sure how Odessa barbs get along with axolotls, but they're a very attractive fish that can appriciate cooler temps. Another cool way to go is get a lot of ghost shrimp (cheapest option) and see if you can get a stable population going. I'm not sure, having never kept axolotls, but if they don't harass larger fish that are bottom dwellers you could get some larger dojo loaches they're peaceful and like cool water.


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## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

Is it imperative that what you add is also a potential prey item for the axolotls? If it is, guppies are probably a good option. The previously mentioned freshwater shrimp would also be a good choice, as would gammarus. What are your water conditions?


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

Glowlight Danio might fit your bill. Fast moving fish and aren't aggressive. Can be Cold water too. 

For a bottom feeder you might try a hill stream loach. Might fall prey to the axolotl though. Won't eat much algae.


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## datfish (Sep 7, 2012)

I wouldn't suggest hillstream loach, they require currents far too strong for a salamander.



AWW said:


> Glowlight Danio might fit your bill. Fast moving fish and aren't aggressive. Can be Cold water too.
> 
> For a bottom feeder you might try a hill stream loach. Might fall prey to the axolotl though. Won't eat much algae.


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## Greenpuffer (Sep 7, 2012)

[email protected] it is not essential that the fish are a food source.
@Datfish the tank is room temp approx 20 C on average a little lower in the winter and a little higher in the summer.

Can't do any fast flowing water fish. I do like the sound of the bristlenose. Do they do better in groups? I will look into some of the other suggestions too. 
Thanks everyone.


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## nao (Jan 23, 2011)

i am interested in what coldwater fish work (i have a couple of axolotls) but my room temp is 17C and that was a little to chilly for the endler/guppies i tryed, i,m really interested in how low temp the bristle nose can handle


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## Greenpuffer (Sep 7, 2012)

Well nao I will keep you posted this is a work in progress. All I have is the tank and some axolotls. I am trying to find a nice looking stand to fit the tank bit this is proving harder than I expected.


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## Greenpuffer (Sep 7, 2012)

I'm just throwing this out there to get it out of my head. Things like mollies, platys, and sword tails wouldn't be happy with the cooler tamp right? Because they seem like a good size and it would be neat to have a breeding feeding cycle going on.
Can guppies take it cooler than them?
Thanks


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

In the Vancouver Aquarium, their axolotl are kept with mollies and other live bearers. It is a planted tank with a sand substrate. The fish has many hiding spots to get away from being eaten.
I suspect their temperature might be higher than yours.
If you get a smaller goldfish to put in the tank they may get along. The big goldfish may try to nip the gills of the axolotl but the smaller guys might learn to stay away and mind their own business. I have 2 goldfish and they get along very well with my axolotl, but I had them since they were very small.
I prefer a long shallow tank for axolotl because I feel that they look better in a species only tank that way. With too much height the middle section might look empty. However, in a taller tank, you can try to grow some long stem plants to fill the space and it will look good, too.


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## nao (Jan 23, 2011)

Fish rookie (master of axolotl)when you say shallow - how many inches shallow? and how do you filter a low tank? Can i just stick a sponge filter on its side?
Greenpuffer my cold tank is 63F to cold for gup/endlers (i did'nt know they could cross breed) but 20C/70F might be ok, i keep the endler/gups because they breed easy and feed my tropic tank which is at 75F, but i know the gups can go lower temp, because previosly i did not heat tank in summer.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

For a shallow tank I would use an internal filter with the spray bar pointing to the wall. If you have a bigger tank may be a canister filter.
When I said shallow I was not thinking of a certain size in particular because it really depends on how many you have and how big they are. It is just my own opinion that I think if you want to showcase them without anything else a shallower tank would look more visually pleasing than a deep tank--but it is subjective and is really just my own personal preference.

P.S. I am not an axolotl expert; just a hobbyist learning how to keep and breed this lovely creature.


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## nao (Jan 23, 2011)

they are a lovely creatures and amusing to, they are crap swimmers and not at all elegent, mine are adults plus i got 3 variety frogs, i figure i might layer the aquarium, previous owner kept all together and the water was only 4inch. Now they are in 9inch water holding tank.

Greenpuffer, i like loachs i think i'll get some next time i come to mainland, i liked the idea of shrimp, but they are recommending 70F and they don't breed easy. i have no experiance with mollies and such, if you give them a try , say how it goes, i'll tell you how loaches do, because the loachs are carnivores i thought them not ok, but they have tiny mouths it seems, when the loach gets big, me and the axolotl might have to fight it out on who gets to eat loach.
Greenpuffer have you seen fish rookies thread in breeding and spawning, actually i was most impressed by childs helping out, you will have explain your parenting techniques


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## Greenpuffer (Sep 7, 2012)

Ok I have some ideas for fish now. Any tips for simple plants? Preferably some that get about 20 inches tall and then some smaller perhaps bushier plants? The tank will have light but not super bright as the axolotls wouldn't appreciate that. Also does anyone know a bristlenose pleco breeder or a good petstore to get them?
Thanks


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## Keri (Aug 2, 2010)

Careful with the bristle nose, they are spiky so choose ones big enough not to fit (and get stuck) in the axy's mouth  and remember to post pics, we love pics!!


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Yes, that is true. The axolotl could try to eat the pleco and may get hurt from the spikes, same with cories. Even if the pleco is big if somehow the head can fit into the axolotl's mouth he/she may try to suck the head in and will not let go. The spike from the pleco can hurt the axolotl's mouth and it can be quite a mess. You can lift your axolotl out of water to make him/her open the mouth but if the pleco is hooked onto the mouth you still need to remove it by hand.
I used to have some stem plants and moss and such. For substrate I used sand, then some root tabs for the stem plants. I tied some moss to some big rocks and make them look like a carpet. When my axolotl walked over the stem plants she sometimes uprooted them but it never got too messy. She never tried to eat the plants.
If you want to prevent algae a UV is not a bad idea. UV can also help to prevent fungus infection, which is common for axolotl especially if the water temp is a bit high in summer.


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## Greenpuffer (Sep 7, 2012)

@Fish rookie Wow looks great. What did you use for substrate? Is it a special sand or just anything? I was just at the store and there were sooo many different kinds. Also what are those small plants in the foreground planted in the sand?
Also by UV do you mean a UV light?
Thanks.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Just pool filter sand but white silica sand will work and look very nice, too. I tried the playsand but it was very dirty and although it was very cheap I would not recommend it.
These are just easy plants, the foreground plants were java moss tied to some pebbles, and B. Japonica. The Japonica was from another tank of mine. I put some root tab in the sand and they were doing very well. They do need some lights and some dosing of N,P,K in the water column. I only had some 6500K CFL bulbs I got from the dollar store so these are definitely not fancy high demanding plants. 
You can buy these plants from Pat (mykiss) of Canadian aquatic who also sells the ferts and root tabs.
If the plant is uproot by the axolotl walking over the root tab might be exposed so I only used root tabs where the sand was a bit thicker. However, thicker sand can trap bacteria pocket. I had a bit of those do eventualy I thinned the sand bed and did not use root tab. 
When the root tab was exposed it did not seem to affect the axolotl at all. I may just be a bit too cautious. LOL
You can just does some ferts in the water column without using any root tab. All in all it was rather simple and easy to maintain.
The anubias are call coffee something, the dark green thin long plants with some round nodes in the back are onion plants, there are also some java ferns, some amazon swords, and some camboba. 
Yes, you can get a small UV sterilizer which should take care of the algae without using any algae eater. It can also make your water crystal clear. I think Pat(mykiss) may have those as well. He does not list a lot of his stock on his site but if you ask him he usually has it. LOL


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## Greenpuffer (Sep 7, 2012)

Ok. Lots of great info. I will keep you guys posted. Project is on temporary hold as I search for a nice stand.


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## Greenpuffer (Sep 7, 2012)

Tank update. Got the stand so the project is on its way. I planted some red amazon sword, java moss, java fern, and anubia (sorry if I spelt anything wrong). I am still looking for one or two more plants. Ideally bright green and nice and tall. I have thrown in a few rosy minnows to get the ball rolling and so far they are doing well.


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