fishkid
Member
I posted this in a facebook group and didn't really get any response so I'm wondering if anyone here can help me. I had an axolotl pass a few days ago. he was about 2 years old, he lived in a 40 gal for the year and a half that I had him with no health issues - water parameters were perfect (0ammo,0nite,10nate) , he was super healthy, good weight, ate nightcrawlers almost daily. a few days before he passed his gills started curling forward suggesting that he was stressed and he hadn't eaten in about a week and a half ish, which has happened before so I wasn't too worried. the day before I noticed swelling in his neck/jaw area and as i took him out to tub him noticed it was also in his stomach and abdomen. i took him to the vet and they looked him over said there was no sign of bacterial infections and told me to keep an eye on him for a few days. he died when I got home, his body was incredibly bloated and felt fluid-filled. I am pretty sure this would have been organ failure but i cannot afford to get his body tested or anything. I have another axolotl that I want to move into the 40 gallon as he was going to be tubbed until he was large enough to be moved in with my other boy, how should I go about cross contamination? they have never been introduced but there has been small amounts of cross contamination with equipment, he is showing no signs of infection. i will change out all the water but do I need to bleach out the entire thing? the tank has a very healthy, strong cycle and I'd really like to keep the beneficial bacteria alive. do you think there's a lot of risk in just moving him in? anyone got advice? I will attach photos of the swelling I first noticed the day before his passing, it did get worse but I have no images, as well as what he normally looked like (second image).
