Illness/Sickness: Axolotl Can't or Won't Eat, but he Tries

[Rophical]

Hi. The context is that I've moved my axolotl, Alphonse, into a new tank about two or three weeks ago—I went from a 20gal to a 60gal because he needed the space. Caribsea Super Naturals sand substrate, two hides, a tunnel, driftwood, one anubias nana plant, and some big chunks of slate. I tried to feed him a few days after he settled in, but he didn't eat. I didn't think much of it, figuring he was stressed. Then I started trying to feed him every 2-3 days, but he would only eat one or two pieces at most, and he would usually pull away from my feeder tongs and hide, even though he usually enthusiastically runs up and tries to gobble up the food. Dropping the food on his head or leaving it in front of him is what got him to eat a little bit. I thought he might need some time, so I skipped feeding him for about a week. He's a little over a year and a half old.

Today, after not trying to feed him for about a week, I gave it another shot. He was more responsive to my presence, for sure, but dropping the food on him and in front of him didn't work. He stared at it for a long time while flicking his gills, shook his head, inhaled the smallest piece and spat it out almost immediately. I tried to feed him more directly, but he only attempted a few weak inhales, shook his head like he does when he's trying to wrangle in his food (with his mouth closed), and then gave up and backed away. It's possible he ate a piece of food while I wasn't looking, but I don't think he did.

I did a water change yesterday, which hasn't really impacted his feeding habits in the past. Heck, he's eaten right after them sometimes. I don't have a test for GH or KH, but I know that my water is generally rather hard and I think rather iron-rich—enough to leave orange residue when it dries. He's lived with me for over a year and a half and this hasn't been a problem, as far as I know.

His gills look fine, his tail isn't curled. He's become less active during the day since moving to his new tank, but he still acts normal in the morning aside from that, and he's active at night. He's not thin, but he's definitely lost weight. One of the anubias leaves has a small chunk taken out of it which he may have eaten, but I've fed him a few pieces of worm since the first time I noticed that, which must've been about about 2 weeks ago. As mentioned, he's much less active in pursuing my feeder tongs, though he did look and move towards them today. His mouth is usually very slightly open. He's always preferred smaller chunks of food. If anyone has any idea what might be wrong with my little man or what I can do to find out, please help! I'm very worried for him. If anyone needs more information or has had a similar experience, please let me know.

Water Parameters, just measured:
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: .25ppm
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 10ppm (color didn't exactly match, but it seems close).

 

[wolfen]

your ph is quite high, was the ph high in the other tank?, is there any changes in behaviour apart from feeding ie.. scratching at gills, gulping at surface etc.. is there any other change in appearance apart from weight loss ie.. gill shrinkage, excess slime coat etc..
was tank cycled before use (shouldn't be any ammonia)

 

[Rophical]

The pH in my other tank was around the 8.0-8.2 range, yes. Even with a good amount of tannins in the water, it never seems to go below 8.
He's definitely become less energetic during the daytime. For a while he even seemed more afraid of me and of the light, but I assumed that was because it was the first time he'd been moved to a new tank since he was a baby. No scratching at his gills, and I haven't seen him swim up for air since he got in the new tank. He mostly just sits still in one spot near the back for hours, then moves if he feels like it.
As far as I can see, no, nothing's different about his appearance. Gills look fine, his slime coat's as normal, and nothing else looks odd to me.
The tank was definitely cycled for weeks prior to introducing him to it, easily turned 5ml of ammonium chloride into nothing overnight, and consistently. My ammonia tests have never read at 0ppm unless the water's straight from the tap (also true of the old tank).

 

[Rophical]

Update: Looking at older photos compared to now, his gills might have thinned out a bit. Tried to feed him again today, and again he tried to eat but spat out a chopped-up worm and then gave up.

I also observed another behavior while feeding him that seems weird to me. When touching a worm piece to his mouth, he sometimes let a bubble out of his mouth. Back in his old tank that'd usually trigger him to eat the worm instead. He's done it in the new tank before, but I forgot to mention it until seeing it again today.

 

[wolfen]

make sure to go through the sand weekly prior to a water change to release any debris/gas, has there been any signs of digging? if so might be a good idea to give daily methylene blue baths.
although you cycled at 2ppm instead of 4ppm should be fine provided additional axolotls aren't added.
add 2g/l non iodised salt to the tank (will help protect your axolotl against any ammonia etc..).
ensure adequate oxygenation.
feed at night as he will be more nocturnal as he gets older and less inclined to eat during day, this also means he will be resting more during the day and easily startled.

 

[Rophical]

I'll keep that in mind about the sand. No, I haven't seen any signs of digging, at least intentionally, but he does tend to create little trenches because he walks back and forth a lot.
Oxygen should be good, I've got an air stone.
I'll keep what you said in mind about feeding him at night!

Also, I took a water sample to an aquarium store today. They said all my parameters were fine, but I asked them to run a water hardness test after and I was told that it's very much so out of line for axolotls. I don't have exact numbers or the specifics of what test kit they use, but the test involved adding drops of a solution to the water until it changed color, and it took 12. He said that this was really high, and suggested using reverse osmosis water, which is what he uses for his own axie. I wouldn't doubt that our water could cause problems for him, given that it leaves rust-colored stains on anything it dries on.

Are you sure about adding salt? I remember hearing that people usually add a salt solution to make their water harder, but I'm not sure if that's a different thing.

 

[wolfen]

do you know what the gh is, if 12 is being classed as high then I guess that would be regarding kh (for axolotls 3°-8° for kh, where as gh is 7°-14°)
using ro would be advantages due to your iron levels but you may need to re-mineralize the water after as axolotl require moderate/hard water, (mainly magnesium/calcium/potassium).
salt ie.. sodium chloride wont affect the ph kh or gh unless it contains other minerals such as magnesium sulphate, it will increase the tds though (total dissolved solids).

 

[Rophical]

No, I don't know if the test was for KH or GH. Didn't think to ask, but I might be able to call and get clarification tomorrow. I'll try adding some salt soon, and I'll try feeding him tonight, too. I think that's about 408 grams of salt by your suggestion; should I add that gradually or all at once?

 

[wolfen]

dissolve the salt into a litre of boiling/hot water, let it go cold then either add over a period of time or do a fifty percent water change whilst adding the salt water to the fresh dechlorinated water.

 

[Rophical]

Understood. I might try that, but I'm not sure if that's the problem, now, after some more developments.

I took him out of his tank and stuck him in a tub with an airstone and a lid. He's not curling up so much, he's been more active, and he ate some frozen bloodworms! I cleaned all of them up after taking photos. Planning to attempt earthworm feeding tomorrow; if he doesn't eat it, I'll fridge him and see if constipation is the issue.

I've attached some pictures of him. Gills have definitely gotten thinner since last month. Do you think it'd still be a good idea to use salt in his containment tanks, or should I keep his water normal? He's never been exposed to it prior.

 

[wolfen]

using a small amount of salt ie.. 2g/l is quite beneficial and will help by protecting against common issues such as fungus, ammonia/nitrite spikes.
as an added note if he is less stressed, feeding etc.. just by being placed in a tub then there are issues with the tank water.

 

[Rophical]

Gotcha. Also, yeah, I figure the tank water must be the issue now, but I see that his mouth is open and his gills look bad and I figure he might have a bacterial infection, too, probably because of the water? I'm not sure because I'm not an expert, obviously, but I've heard that Nitrofurazone will be able to help, so I've considered getting some of that.

 

[wolfen]

Nitrofurazone is used to treat various issues but be aware as it can cause diarrhea.

 

[Rophical]

GOOD NEWS! Fed him a proper earthworm in his tub and he ate it right away, no hesitation at all. There's definitely something wrong with his new tank, then, but I have no idea what it is. The only decorations were 3 brown terracotta pots, 3 pieces of driftwood, 3 pieces of slate, and an anubias nana plant.

 

[wolfen]

have both the tap water and tank water tested ie.. ph kh gh, this might help figure out if there is something leaching into the tank water.
driftwood tends to be safe but because it can come from questionable areas/waters should always be boiled off before use at the minimum.
terracotta when used in water should always be glazed as it can leach metals into the water.
anubias plants are quite safe and will help remove nitrogen compounds and provide some oxygen for the water whilst absorbing some co2.
slate tends to be quite safe but should be washed thoroughly before use.

 

[Rophical]

I've washed the slate, only soaked the driftwood, but didn't boil it. I'll see what I can do. It might get rid of that fluffy bacteria growing off it, too.
From everything I've read prior, it's the glazed terracotta pots that can leach chemicals into the water, so I went with unglazed, standard brown-orange terracotta pots, which I've seen some others do, too. I won't rule the terracotta out completely, though.