If you’ve ever owned a fish tank, then you know that changing the water from time to time is one of the most important things you need to do in terms of fish tank maintenance. It helps you keep the water inside the tank clean and without any potential debris or harmful chemicals that are not necessarily visible to your eyes, but are harming the animals inside.
It’s the same with an axolotl tank. Because you constantly feed them food and the filtration is not doing everything in terms of cleaning, it’s recommended to change water constantly from time to time in order to keep the water fresh and clean. This can benefit your axolotls as it can make them healthier and happier in their tank.
But if you don’t know how to do water changes properly, then worry not. We’re here to help you, and we’ll tell you everything you need to know about it in this article. Normally, you will want to do the changes quite often (every few weeks), which is true especially for small water changes.
But every few months, you’ll also want to do big water changes. Read on to find out more.
Can You Use Tap Water for Axolotls?
If the water is good enough for you to drink, then you can also use it for your axolotls.
However, it’s also true that tap water can sometimes have added chemicals and other stuff that is used to clean the water, which is not necessarily harmful to us, but it can be harmful to animals. That’s especially the case for fish, but for axolotls, that’s not necessarily true.
But you will want to err on the side of caution here. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Tap water contains quite a lot of chlorine, and chlorine can be harmful to axolotls, especially in higher quantities. The tap water quality and the amount of chlorine and other chemicals will vary, though. Some areas have higher quantities.
So again, it’s better to stay safe with this and to remove chlorine before you use it for your axolotl tank. To do that, you will need to use a conditioner for the water you use for the tank. This conditioner will remove the chlorine but also some other potential chemicals inside the water that could be harmful for your axie. This is the best way to make sure the water is safe for them.
Can You Use Bottled Spring Water for Axolotls?
You can, but it’s not the best type of water to use.
Bottled water is quite clean and doesn’t have that many chemicals often. But the problem here is twofold:
- You’ll have to buy higher quantities of water constantly to do this, which can actually be more expensive than using tap water
- And bottled water often doesn’t have some nutrients that natural, tap water has, so it might not be the best type of water to use
This makes bottled water a decent alternative, but you would do better if you would use tap water and use the conditioner to remove the chemicals. It’s cheaper and also easier to do, too.
Is Distilled Water Good for Axolotls?
Distilled water is not the best to use, even though it’s quite clean.
It doesn’t have the nutrients needed for the axolotls to survive in it. Because the distilling process gets rid of these chemicals, minerals, and vitamins, the water is actually quite bleak and free of these nutrients, and as such, not a good option to use in your axolotl tank. Look for alternatives like tap or bottled water.
Can You Use Well Water for Axolotls?
Well water can sometimes be used, although it’s not the best option for axolotl tanks.
Well water will normally have high quantities of certain irons, which is certainly not desirable when you have an axolotl tank. These animals are quite susceptible and vulnerable when it comes to irons, and they can actually get poisoned.
You could use this type of water with conditioners but again, it is not the most viable option to use. Instead, consider alternatives. You can use well water, but you would need to make sure it doesn’t have too many chemicals and irons inside.
How Often to Change Water for Axolotls?
The frequency of your water changes will largely depend on multiple things.
- Your filter strength
- The size of your tank
- The size and age of your axolotls
- Feeding
- Number of axies
All these factors will determine the water change rate. The more axolotls you will have, the larger they will be, and the more condensed the tank is, the more frequent your water changes will be. This will warrant changes every two weeks at least.
But if you have a large tank and if your axolotls are pretty comfortable, and the filter is working well, then you don’t have to do this as often. You can do it every month, or even every few months.
How Much Water to Change at Once?
When you’re making your water changes, you’ll want to change around 20-30% of the water at once. This will be true of the larger changes you make, which are the changes you will have to make every month or so.
We would recommend doing changes more often than that. These will be smaller changes that you can do every few weeks – every 2 weeks would work well here. you can change around 10% of the water in such cases, which will set you well for the future and make your life and your axolotls’ lives more comfortable.
Conclusion
Changing the water inside your axolotl tank is crucial. It will help you keep the water clean and make sure you’re keeping your axies clean and safe. But you have to know how to change the water, how much water to change, what water to use, and even more. Tap water with a conditioner works well, but some people use different types of water to achieve good results.
