Re: Question about axolotl tank space
#3
Space requirements for axolotls are about the same as goldfish TBH. A nice long 40-50 gallon would be about right for a full size adult or two, and at adult size you'd be thinking about external filtration. They might not be quite as active as goldies, but your right, you do need the water quality, and they do eat and crap quite a bit. Lets be honest here, most of the people on these forums have never even seen a full size adult, theiy are ramifying their tanksize quotes against youngsters of 6 inches or so. Never measured my old pair, but they were over a foot and more than 3 inches thick and had good solid gill development, which is half the battle in keeping them healthy.
Axos with damaged gills will dwarf and die much as fish do, amd much as people dont realise they are dwarfing goldies , they wont realise they are dwarfing their axos either, and making fungal infections many times more likely, axos get fungal infections easy enough without damaging their gills and making it worse.
Youre right to be suspicious of the small tanksize recommendations. An adult in a 10 gallon would be considered emergency care, and an axo could not be expected to mature to size and age in a 10 gal, it would barely be able to turn around and would almost certainly die before reaching any great age! Minimums for adults must certainly be around the 40 gal, and you could have two in an aquarium of that size. Friend of mine used to have a great breeder tank with 6 in, it was around 100 gals. 10 gal minimums are for youngsters, and mostly its stupid newbie culture.