Maybe you are thinking about buying one or two axolotls, but you are not sure how much these exotic animals and their husbandry will cost?
Then you have come to the right place, we will cover how much a single Axolotl costs, the initial purchase costs for necessary equipment and the running costs for food and such.
The largest part of the initial costs for keeping an Axolotl is the equipment, such as aquarium, substrate and filter, here you should calculate about 230 to 650 Dollar, whereby the aquarium is one of the biggest cost points.
The prices for an axolotl differ depending on what color they are and whether they are juveniles or adults. You can often buy a baby axolotl from 3 inches upwards from breeders for as little as 25 to 50 dollars. Larger axolotls or these with a special pattern usually cost between 30 and 75 Dollar or more.
With the running costs, such as food and electricity you should calculate with about 16 per month, or with a maximum of 200 Dollar per year. The ongoing costs are often much cheaper, expeccially, if you breed live food yourself and don’t need cooling for your tank.
The first initial costs for keeping an Axolotl:
| Equipment | Costs |
| Aquarium for 1 Axolotl: 20 gallon Tank* for 2 Axolotl: 40 to 55 gallon Tank* | 50 to 300 Dollar, depending on size |
| Filter Canister Filter* or Sponge Filter* | 30 to 150 Dollar |
| Substrate 20 to 40 lbs (10 to 20 kg) of fine aquarium gravel* or sand* | 25 to 50 Dollar |
| Decoration and Plants Hides*, Java fern* and Anubias* | 15 to 30 Dollar |
| Food for young Axolotl: live food, like Brine Shrimp* or microworms for adult Axolotl: earthworms* or Axolotl pellets* | 10 to 25 Dollar |
| Aquarium Water Test Water test kit* and Thermometer* | 15 to 35 Dollar |
| Aquarium Cleaning Supplies Gravel vacuum cleaner*, Bucket*, Magnetic Aquarium Cleaner* | total approx. 30 Dollar |
| Possibly Aquarium Cooling Aquarium cooling fan* (or Aquarium chillers*) | 20 Dollar (Aquarium chillers are significantly more expensive with around 300 Dollar) |
| Cost in total: | 230 to 650 Dollar |
Aquarium
One of the biggest cost points in keeping Axolotls is the aquarium. Generally you should calculate with 20 gallons for a single Axolotl.
As a rule of thumb:
1 Axolotl – at least 20 gallons – 24x12x16 Tank*
2 Axolotl – 40 to 55 gallons – 48x13x21 Tank*
5 Axolotl – 90 to 100 gallons – 48x18x30 Tank
A 20 gallon tank costs between 30 and 90 Dollars, bigger tanks cost a lot more. In addition, you should also think about a cabinet for the aquarium. Here you can store all the necessary equipment and ensure a stable base for the tank.
The capacity or volume of the aquarium is not the most important factor for Axolotl, but rather how large the floor area is. Axolotls tend to stay at the bottom, so shallow tanks with the largest possible floor area are best for them.
Filter
A filter has the important task of removing nitrite and ammonium and filtering waste from the water, such as plant debris or feces. The water flow is not so important for Axolotl and you should even make sure that the tank has as little current as possible, especially at the bottom.
What types of filters are available?
There are 3 different filter types relevant for Axolotl tank:
– Sponge filters
– Canister filter
– Hang-On-Back (HOB) filter
HOB filters are especially easy to use and beginner friendly, but canister and Sponge filters are more effective.
Sponge filters are the cheapest option and often cost around 10 to 25 Dollar, canister filters are more expensive with around 90 to 150 Dollar for a 20 gallon tank.
Substrate
The right substrate for axolotl is a hotly debated topic, the options are:
- Sand
- fine, round gravel
- ceramic bottom
- pure glass bottom
The wrong type of substrate that is too sharp can injure the axolotl’s skin or cause blockages if they ingest too much substrate while feeding. That’s why the substrate should be fine and without any sharp edges, with a grain size around 1 and 3 mm.
In comparison, unsuitable materials are, for example, small stones or gravel with sharp edges, broken shells or sand with plastic coating.
For a 20 gallons tank with the the dimensions 24x12x16 you need about 20 to 40 lbs (10 to 20 kg) of fine aquarium gravel or sand, which costs about 25 to 50 Dollar
Here is an article for all substrate options for axolotls and their advantages and disadvantages.
Decoration and plants
To give your new Axolotl a place to retreat, you can use small caves or tubes. Here your Axolotl can hide and sleep in peace.
Plants can help to simulate the natural environment of the Axolotl. They also support the nitrogen cycle and use waste products of the Axolotl, such as nitrates, for their growth.
Particularly suitable are robust plants that can cope with cold water temperatures and low light, such as Java fern, Anubias, mosses like Java moss or floating plants like the South American frogbit.
Depending on how much decoration you want in your tank the cost ranges from 15 to 30 Dollar.
Click here for a complete guide for the top 14 plants for an Axolotl aquarium.
Food
Depending on how old your Axolotl is, you can feed him different types of food. If your Axolotl is still young and around 3 inches in size, Brine shrimp or mosquito larvae are a good choice. Axolotl larvae only eat live food; you can start getting them used to Pellet food when they are bigger. So it’s very important that you have live food available when your Axolotl is not yet an adult.
Adult Axolotls that are around 8 inches (22 cm) can be fed with pellets and earthworms, you can read a complete feeding guide for Axolotls here.
Earthworms or Axolotl pellets usually cost between 10 to 25 Dollar, depending on the amount.
Feeding your Axolotl doesn’t have to be expensive though, you can easily breed live food like daphnia and earthworms yourself. Click here for instructions on how to breed daphnia, brine shrimp or earthworms.
Water test
Water tests are important to ensure that the water quality in the aquarium is good. With a suitable test kit you can check all the important parameters like nitrite, nitrate and ammonia.
There are simple water tests, simple tests usually cost around 10 Dollar, the more accurate “drop tests” often cost around 20 to 35 Dollar.
The water temperature is almost the most important water parameter for axolotls, too warm water quickly leads to stress and health problems for the Axolotl. To be sure that the temperature is not too high, a thermometer is essential.
Aquarium Cleaning Supplies
Other essential equipment for an Axolotl aquarium are: Gravel vacuum cleaner, Bucket and Magnetic Aquarium Cleaner.
With the Gravel vacuum cleaner you can remove dirt and excrement from the substrate and the Magnetic Aquarium Cleaner ensures an algae-free view. Here the costs amount to approximately 30 Dollar
Aquarium Cooling
The ideal water temperature of Axolotl is 60 to 65°F (16-18°C), it should not be higher than 71 °F (22°C) in the long run. Depending on where you keep your tank, these temperatures can be reached quickly in the summer months.
In that case you must urgently lower the temperature, possibly with an Aquarium cooling device.
Aquarium chillers are more effective and can cool down the water faster than cooling fans, but they are also much more expensive.
Cooling fans usually cost around 20 Dollar, Aquarium chillers around 300 Dollar.
How much does an axolotl cost?
Baby axolotls around 3 inches can be bought from breeders for 25 to 50 Dollar, depending on the color morph. Larger axolotls or those with a special pattern or morph usually cost between 30 and 75 Dollar or more.
Hobby owners who have offspring often have axolotls for sale at cheaper prices. You should make sure that the animals are healthy and that they will only be given away when they reach a size of about 3 inches, or have at least all 4 limbs.
If you don’t pick up your new Axolotl yourself, you will have to pay shipping costs.
You can also buy axolotls in many exotic pet shops, where the prices are usually between 20 and 60 Dollar, but the quality of care they recieve can vary greatly.
What determines the price of an axolotl?
- How old the axolotl is
- The color morph
- How rare the color and pattern is
| Type | Average Price | Availability | Color |
| Wild Type Axolotl | 40 to 90 Dollar | Common | spotted with brown, green or black base color |
| Leucistic Axolotl | 40 to 90 Dollar | Common | white body, dark eyes, pink gills |
| Albino Axolotl | 40 to 90 Dollar | Common | white-pink body, pink-red gills, white or red eyes |
| Golden Axolotl | 50 to 150 Dollar | Common to Uncommon | gold-yellow body often with shiny golden spots |
| Black Melanoid Axolotl | 60 to 150 Dollar | Common to Uncommon | deep black color, gills also black |
| GFP Axolotl (Green Fluorescent Protein) | 60 to 180 Dollar | Uncommon | have Green Fluorescent Proteins in their skin, glow green under ultraviolet lights |
| Copper Axolotl | 100 to 200 Dollar | Uncommon | copper body with dark and light spots, often dark gills |
| Lavender Axolotl | 120 to 250 Dollar | Uncommon | light lavender color with brown spots |
| Chimaera Axolotl | rarely sold – 300 to 500 Dollar | Rare | “split” in the middle, both body sides different colors |
| Mosaic Axolotl | rarely sold – 300 to 500 Dollar | Rare | two different color patterns in patches over their body |
| Enigma Axolotl | not sold | very rare | dark gray base color with shiny, golden spots |
| FireFly Axolotl | not sold | extremely rare | tails has a completely different color than body |
The prices can vary widely depending on where you want to buy your first Axolotl. Local breeders and especially Hobby Owners often have a lot more affordable prices than large breeders.
Ongoing costs
The running costs for keeping Axolotls consist mainly of food, electricity and fresh water.
Since Axolotls don’t urgently need lights, the electricity costs usually only include the filter. If you need to cool your aquarium in the summer, these electricity costs are added and especially aquarium chillers can use quite a lot of electricity.
You can also raise the live food yourself for the most part and the fresh water for water changes doesn’t cost much either.
Thus, the running costs of an Axolotl tank come around to 200 Dollar per year, which can also be significantly less if you don’t need cooling.
Conclusion
Compared to other pets (e.g. cats with up to 53 Dollars per month) Axolotls are rather cheap to keep, even if the initial equipment can cost quite a bit.
If you want to spend less on the initial equipment, you can save especially on the tank and cabinet by buying them used.