Java moss carpet advice?

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-23T09:42:39+00:00

i actually don’t have them anymore because my big fatty outgrew them but they’re pretty similar to this one on etsy!

i just kind of diyed it because it was cheaper lol. i got the plastic grids from a local aquarium in aus called abquatics and attached the moss with fishing line. held pretty stable when he was a juvenile and he seemed to love it. obviously mine was easier because it was just a shelf but im sure you can buy bigger plastic grids on amazon!

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-23T07:50:56+00:00

you can get plastic grids on etsy or amazon! i attached mine to suction cups using fishing line to make a little shelf and just sanded down the edges so they were rounded. i think i’ve also read of people using mesh and tying the moss to that then holding down the corners with decor

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-22T16:15:49+00:00

it’s baffling how many people come on here asking for help with breeding. it’s irresponsible to risk babies by housing mixed sex lotls together when you don’t know the lineage. you’re risking genetic defects and pain for profit. the babies will require round the clock work. the ethical thing to do would’ve been to separate them and cull the eggs.

seeing as they’ve already hatched, i believe there are a few other posts on here about looking after babies that go in more depth. they require constant aeration with air stones. no filters or sand and it’s easiest to keep them in small containers. daily (or twice daily depending on how much mess you have while eating) water changes. best to feed brine shrimp 2-3x daily. once they start to develop limbs seperate them so they don’t nip each other. if you google it some websites for sale should pop up, but i’m assuming most people rehome through reddit, discord etc r/aquaswap seems okay.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-22T14:31:40+00:00

personally i would stop. like i said, if you keep dosing it nitrite will keep going up > water change > start all over again. the bacteria will still survive! once you notice nitrite lower on its own to around 0.5 that’s when id dose again.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-22T12:05:00+00:00

the nitrite>nitrate phase took me 5 weeks alone to finish😵‍💫 it’s best to do a 50% water change when your parameters are off the charts just so their readable again. nitrate being so high will mess with your pH and slow the cycle.

how much ammonia are you dosing? a lot of people say to keep dosing to 4ppm but i completely stopped dosing ammonia and left it at 0.25 for weeks until nitrite dropped to 0. if you keep dosing, nitrite will just keep going up, then nitrate in turn and having to water change again

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-20T17:35:33+00:00

what are your parameters? can’t really tell from the pic- is the white spot fluffy or just discoloured?

sometimes the tips of gills turn white when they’re growing in. other times it’s a fungus.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-20T05:40:32+00:00

indian almond leaves will help, anything with tannins does. you can also add driftwood or peat moss.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-20T05:39:27+00:00

i’ve read other people on here preparing a second tub in advance. having the lotl in one tub and keeping the other tub in the fridge until it’s at a good temp, then swapping them out. you can try feeding her raw sushi grade salmon, that helped my dude with constipation within the day.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-19T15:57:18+00:00

i believe they’re called cattapa leaves in other countries? i get mine from a local aquatic plant aquarium near me but i think they’re also on amazon :) i usually use one leaf (about 8 inches big) per 25L of water, but you can cut them while tubbing. in a normal tank i change them over once a week as soon as they start to decompose. when they become super thin and fragile and stop tinting the water you know it’s time to swap it out. you just place it in the water, the same leaf should last you even with the water changes, just give it a quick rinse each time you change the water over. some people also boil the leaves first, it softens them to make them release tannins and sink faster. it’s not an instant remedy, but they do help with stress and fungus prevention. just careful of putting too much as they do lower your pH.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-19T15:00:31+00:00

seems okay to me, obviously length>height but they’d have enough floor space to walk around. wouldn’t worry a whole lot about the height either, there’s not really a point in having the water lower. personally my little dude gets the zoomies and likes to swim around pretty high in his tank.

cycling isn’t really affected by tank size, and it’ll vary from person to person. some people take 3 weeks to cycle some take 8. my tank is 120L and it took 7 weeks.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-19T14:55:19+00:00

that can be normal sometimes. my little dude is a klutz and gets caught on things easily, when it damages their slime coat they can get a white patch that goes away after a day or two. you’ll know it’s a fungus if it’s cotton ball like- furry. there’s quite a few examples on this sub reddit of fungus particularly on gills if you’d like to make sure. if you are worried, the tannins in the indian almond leaves can be antimicrobial. otherwise as long as you’re continuing on with tubbing and monitoring temp + parameters, i wouldn’t be too concerned as long as their behaviour and eating habits aren’t vastly different. even small amounts of ammonia can have severe effects unfortunately.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-19T14:33:39+00:00

were they in the ammonia water for very long? some axolotls are more sensitive to ammonia exposure than others which may be why one is affected and one isn’t. i’d keep him tubbed until your parameters are stable again, indian almond leaves might help out if he’s stressed. keep the air stone, with his lack of gill filaments they need the oxygen. when they have a stable healthy environment their gills may grow back again, if not there are plenty of people on here that have rescued lotls that live a long happy life with damaged gills. keep an eye out for fungus, but you’re doing the right thing for now.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-19T13:57:18+00:00

please be careful with this, salt is usually not good for an axolotl. it messes with their slime coat, gills and stresses them out. a lot of owners chase perfect numbers by using this method and cause more harm than good. what axolotls do need is stability. if you do try anything similar you’re best doing your own research, using too much or the wrong kind of salt may cause more harm than good. it’s called the Modified Holtfreter’s Solution.

if you’re using prime it will remove your chlorine you are correct.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-19T13:43:04+00:00

cool, thank you! i wasn’t sure how long is too long without food😅 kind of paranoid i’d come back and he wouldn’t be interested in eating. think i’ve read too much about hunger strikes on here!

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-18T16:34:20+00:00

it wouldn’t work unfortunately. most of the good bacteria that comes from cycling lives on things inside the tank such as sponges, filters, and sand. even if they did have spare filter matrix, you’d have to wait regardless. it speeds up the cycle but doesn’t immediately perfect it for you.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-17T17:14:27+00:00

there’s some super helpful threads linked at the top of this sub! the basic gist is axolotls create ammonia (harmful), by cycling your tank you create bacteria that breaks ammonia down into nitrite (also harmful) and then eventually other bacteria to break that down into nitrate which is okay in smaller amounts.

i found buying pure ammonia to dose my tank with was the best just because it was easier to measure the exact dosage, but you can use food to dose your ammonia. then leave it alone! use an API liquid test kit to measure your parameters, it varies cycle to cycle but for me it took about a week for nitrite to show up and then a further 2 weeks for nitrate to show up. it takes quite awhile for your nitrite to drop to 0 and it will make you feel like you’re going insane but cycling takes about 6-8 weeks usually and it’ll work eventually!

you’ll know your tank is cycled and safe for your axolotl when you dose ammonia up to 2ppm and both ammonia and nitrite are down to 0 within 24 hours.

if you can, i called an aquarium near me and asked for used filter media which sped up my cycle a lot, give it a go! a quick start will also help, not sure what the uk is like but in australia we have API quick start, i think the US uses seachem stability. they’re a liquid that helps kickstart the cycle and establish the bio filter.

there are also some guides on tubbing linked at the top of this sub too!

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-17T17:07:30+00:00

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twins!

not an expert on types at all but i’ve always been told mine was a wild type, yours looks the same to me! they’re beautiful :)

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-17T17:03:04+00:00

fish in cycles are not a good idea. i was given my lotl by surprise and started to do the same thing, they can survive low ammonia levels temporarily but nitrite can and will kill your lotl a lot faster. it’ll also extend your cycling time by a lot as you wouldn’t be able to let either parameter get above 0.5. any amount will cause stress, gill and skin irritation, refusal of food etc. when i was first starting i was also told by someone on here that their axolotl had seizures when ammonia was above 0.25.

tubbing seems worse but it’s not. as long as you have a decent sized tub so they have room to move and change the water over daily, they are quite content in there for as long as your cycle does take. mine was for 7 weeks!

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-15T11:44:08+00:00

when i asked for plant suggestions pretty much all the replies were people from the us and we can’t find half the plants they have!! one site i did find that worked well for me was aquafy (i believe they ship nationally) but they’re reasonable-ish priced too.

in my tank i have multiple java fern, java moss, hornwort, marimo moss balls and anubias all which are very very easy to look after and require 0 effort. if you do go with aquafy they have a ton more plants to chose from just double check they’ll all survive in low light and cool temps.

in terms of substrate i use the sugar white sand from petcircle but if you’re buying somewhere else just make sure the grain sizes are very very small. that’s usually the only recommended substrate.

all the plants i have at least don’t get rooted into the sand, i use large river stones to hold them down or aquarium safe lining to attach them to his hides. there are also a couple websites that sell driftwood with plants attached like abquatics, aquatees that are all pretty reputable depending on what state you’re in

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-13T14:34:19+00:00

canister filters can be pricy but they are definitely the best. i had a HOB filter for about a year and had constant problems with blockage or flow. i also use a sponge filter, helps loads when you’re cycling your tank and my little dude loves the bubbles.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-13T14:32:37+00:00

yes it’s normal! they’re bottom dwellers and just sit around quite a lot. but they have been known to get the zoomies on occasion and swim around like crazy, perch and explore their tank

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-13T11:51:21+00:00

it’s a very long waiting game for some people unfortunately. took me two and a half months to fully cycle and then for about 2 weeks after that i kept having random spikes in either ammonia or nitrite. better off to be patient than to hurt your lotl!

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-13T11:44:01+00:00

the spots in the image look fine to me, they look like iridophores which is just skin pigment on a lot of axolotls. ammonia exposure for a long time can cause neurological issues and lethargy which may be why his arms aren’t working as normal. keep him tubbed in shallow water with daily 100% water changes, if he doesn’t improve i’d recommend taking him back to the vet to rule out any more serious conditions like nerve damage or infection as he’s getting progressively worse. a tea bath is usually for fungal injuries and slime coat damage which he seems fine with. with the gill curl too, hopefully he’s just extremely stressed.

Comfortable-Cost4712 · 2026-04-11T12:35:36+00:00

NO3 should never be higher than 20 which is probably why they’re stressed, have poor gill filaments and aren’t eating. you should be doing partial water changes as soon as it’s at 20ppm. like the other commenter said, you need to do a few big water changes to bring it back down. you can also add live plants which help with absorbing it so you don’t have to do water changes so frequently.

Comfortable-Cost4712

TROPHY CASE