Frilless axolotl gulping air

[seedy]

Firstly , hi to everyone.
I recently bought a couple of 2nd hand axolotls that came in a small 1.5ft tank and 5 cm of water.
I changed this to 3ft tank and a lot more water and they seem quite happy now.
The problem im having is that 1 of them has no frills/filaments and swims to the top and gulps air.
The other with normal gills never does this , and im guessing he can push enough water through his gills not to gulp.
Is this really an issue or do I need to take some steps to get his gills back in shape?
Thanks

 

[MRIGUY]

The gills will likely grow back in time with proper conditions. The gulping is the axie compensating for the lack of gills. When they return he/she will likely be just fine.

 

[seedy]

Thanks for that , it was what I was hoping to hear.

 

[mzii]

i have had two axolotyls Seedy. One never grew gills and was gulping for air like yours and passed away after 3 months. The other, my current one has grown very very little gills and still gulps for air is perfectly healthy.
I don't know why the gills aren't growing but just don't freak out too much because it should be fine I reckon.

 

[tyl3r]

@Emma - I don't want to get into an argument with you, and I am far from an expert in these things, but I don't think it's fair to any other new-to-axy-keeping members to allow the idea that an axy without gills and not able to grow gills back is perfectly healthy to go unchallenged.

If you exposed your face to the sun every day until it became blistered and cracked with sun burn and kept exposing your face to the sun and were in great pain, could you be described as perfectly healthy? You might eat, drink, sleep and go to work but you wouldn't be having a great time. Stay indoors for 6 months, moisturise and generally look after your skin and it would probably recover and you'd be a lot happier.

It's a similar thing with axy gills. They're a very good indicator of the conditions they're being kept in. Sure, some have bigger and fluffier gills than others but, generally, the worse the water conditions (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels or excessively high temperature) the poorer the axy's gills will be.

By your own experience, one axy that was without gills died after 3 months - it probably just couldn't go on with the agony any longer. Also, the fact that both the axys you talk of demonstrated a lack of gills suggests it's an environmental issue. (What I mean is if you had 6 axys in the same tank and only 1 had non-existent gills then you might have an unusual non-environmental issue.)

I do believe that the fact you spend time on a board such as this means that you care about looking after your axys more than the average person who just thinks they're a bit weird. Do you know what your tank parameters are? What do you feed them?

@seedy - You've identified that they've not been looked after very well in the past. But that has changed now. Keep looking after them and I agree with MRIGUY that in time the gills should grow back. Good luck.

 

[gr33neyes]

seedy , regular partial water changes, good tank maintenance and a good diet will all help your axolotl to stay healthy. Good gills can be an indication of good water so maintain good water and they will be fine.

 

[seedy]

Thanks to all.

 

[ron570]

As mentioned up top water quality is probably your issue. Partiacle water changes and a good filter should take care of that. Check your water quality often until it stabilizes. But continue to check it.

Are there any other changes happening to you axolotl beside the gills shrinking? Buldging eyes, thinning tail, rounding nose. I just had two morph on me and it started with shrinking gills and bad water quality with one. This is suppose to be a rare event but I've read about 3 others beside my two on these forums.

Just keep the water quality in check and keep an eye out for other changes happening.

Thanks

Ron