u/BAL2282

Hello /r/Axolotl

I like I'm sure many before me am new to the axolotl world. I feel I've done the responsible thing and read so much about them prior to getting one for my 7 year old daughter.

Right now we have the tank set up, the media has had time to grow the bacteria, and the water is tested, but I'm concerned about the water temperature.

I live in Seattle and even though it isn't as hot as Las Vegas where I grew up, the water in the tank was sitting at about 75 degrees, which is entirely too hot. I purchased a fan that sits on top of the tank and with it running on max I was able to get the tank to about 66 degrees if I run my AC unit (which can't run 24/7) but I feel like that is still too close to what the threshold would be for the axolotl temp wise.

I know I'll need to buy a chiller, but do they make a ton of noise? The tank is already pretty loud (the fan causes a TON of water evaporation and the falling water from the filter is pretty loud). However there are so many to try to pick. Our current tank is a 20 gallon that doesn't sit in the sun.

I've seen videos and pictures of peoples BEAUTIFUL tanks, do they generally have large stones in there while the Axolotl is a baby? Or would it be better to add that later? I know no sand under 5+ inches long.

Hello /r/Axolotl

I like I'm sure many before me am new to the axolotl world. I feel I've done the responsible thing and read so much about them prior to getting one for my 7 year old daughter.

Right now we have the tank set up, the media has had time to grow the bacteria, and the water is tested, but I'm concerned about the water temperature.

I live in Seattle and even though it isn't as hot as Las Vegas where I grew up, the water in the tank was sitting at about 75 degrees, which is entirely too hot. I purchased a fan that sits on top of the tank and with it running on max I was able to get the tank to about 66 degrees if I run my AC unit (which can't run 24/7) but I feel like that is still too close to what the threshold would be for the axolotl temp wise.

I know I'll need to buy a chiller, but do they make a ton of noise? The tank is already pretty loud (the fan causes a TON of water evaporation and the falling water from the filter is pretty loud). However there are so many to try to pick. Our current tank is a 20 gallon that doesn't sit in the sun.

I've seen videos and pictures of peoples BEAUTIFUL tanks, do they generally have large stones in there while the Axolotl is a baby? Or would it be better to add that later? I know no sand under 5+ inches long.

Hey there /r/Parenting

For some context our 7 (almost 8 year old in October) is having issues in school with reading/spelling. Her teacher has voiced concerns she's not "hearing" every sound in the word, and as most kids do when she gets frustrated she wants to give up.

She LOVES math. L O V E S math. I'm very surprised she's able to do some of the equations she's able to do, but anytime I ask her to read or spell it is a struggle.

Even playing games like pokemon during screen time, she just won't even bother reading anything the characters are saying. She will slam through it then be lost on where to go. When I sit with her and ask her to slow down and read what is on the screen I'll help her but then she gets upset.

Anytime before bed when she's with me (her mother and I are split and live 30+ miles from one another) we read books. She always wants to read the same book because she knows the words. I do buy her other books, we have reading time throughout the day, but its a struggle and as I mentioned getting her to spell anything is VERY hard.

Part of me wants to just chalk this up to it being "kid" stuff, and she will catch up as she's going into second grade. Part of me is TERRIFIED she's falling behind and this will be a major problem for her in her life. She goes to an excellent school, one of the best in the entire state let alone the country IMO, but still.

I'm not sure what else I can do to work on her with reading, and I have NO idea how to help her with spelling. Does anyone have any advise? During the summer break her teacher has asked us to help her with these issues, but then gave us 0 resources to do so.