Hooked tail

[manni82]

Hi all

My surviving baby Axl is doing well, he's grown and had been eating fine. I changed his water yesterday and he was fine, then today i gave him some food (daphnia). As soon as I put the daphnia in he started flipping around really quickly and then as the afternoon has gone on, his tail has started to curl a bit (see pics). I know that's a sign of stress but i don't know why he's stressed and what I should do.

For now, Ive changed the water again, all tests are fine. Im not sure if he's eating yet as there are so many daphnia in there and I never seem to see him eating.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[manni82]

Here's a better picture. Just found him floating up by his tail again and desperately trying to swim down. He ended up just floating on his back. So ive taken the water level right down again, but kept in lots of food. He looks like he's dying but he was fine this morning!

 

[Petersgirl]

He might have been a little frightened by the daphnia, after all, he can't see so the slight movement may have scared him. Sometimes I think a hooked tail, like curly gills, isn't always a sign they are stressed, they might just curl up that way sometimes.

Glad the water level's been taken down, I would have suggested that. Can you try a different food? He may be on a 'hunger strike.' Could you try some bloodworms perhaps?

 

[manni82]

Thanks for that. He has eaten Daphnia fine so far, he has certainly finished what I have put in the tank before. He seems to be getting worse, quite lifeless and Im not sure what to do.

 

[Petersgirl]

When you say 'lifeless,' can you describe what you mean? Not moving, loss of colour, that sort of thing?

If he's eating, that's a good sign. Strong axxies eat. Sometimes they don't eat for a day or so, but hunger strikes lasting longer than 3 days are a worry. Try another baby food if he won't eat Daphnia any more and see how he gets along with it.

PS. Sorry to remind you, but what did your other babies die of? Was it just failure to thrive or did they get poorly?

 

[manni82]

He's just not as he normally is. If i agitate the water near him he just floats listlessly on his side, then he'll have a little wriggle away and then he'll float again. His front gills are forward now too when he's still.

Im not sure what happened with the other larvae. I think that initially they were in too big a tank so couldnt find their food. I found most of them with curled tails too. So I took this little one out, and into a smaller, new tank where he has been absolutely fine, doing well.

It's literally just today that he seems to have gone drastically poorly or something like that. Its strange that it happened as soon as I put the daphnia in, as normally he is fine with them.

I will try him on other food, but don't think its through him not wanting to eat as he has been fine with the daphnia up until now.

Thanks for all your help so far.

 

[Mortimer]

What do you have in the tub with him? Is it a skull? (I can't tell in my phone.). Do you think that could be affecting the water quality? Also, had you been using test strips or the other water testing kits with test tubes?

 

[manni82]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

It is. I don't think so, its been in there with him the whole time, and it hasn't affected the water at all. Im wondering if Im changing his water too often?

I have the test strips. The results are:

NO3 safe - about 10
NO2 safe - 0
GH ok 16
kh about 13
PH about 7.4
Chlorine - 0

He looks like he might have eaten at some point recently - he has an orange tummy and what I assume is faeces after that (a black strip) but im not sure.

Thanks

 

[Mortimer]

Okay....a few things (not sure any of which will be helpful, but I'm trying!)...

1. I would definitely switch to non-test strips. I've heard that they are totally unreliable.

2. Personally, I would take the skull out (at least for now). I've read mixed things about skulls decomposing and leaching into water.

3. I don't think you're changing the water too much. If in as small tub, you should be doing 100% water changes at least once a day. Are you making sure that the new water is the same temperature as the old water? Are you letting it sit with dechlorinator for 25-48 hours after treating it?

4. What is the current water temperature in the tub?

Sharon

 

[wandering]

Hi, agree with Sharon on this. ( although I thought the dechlorinator had a pretty much instant effect even on chloramines, being a purely chemical reaction - but chlorine will evaporate out of the water naturally without a dechlorinator in 24 to 48 hours, especially with an air stone to tumble the water about.)
Anyway my real point is to question whether you might have ammonia in your water as you have not given a reading for this, and given that there is no attempt at cycling you would not expect to get no2 or no3. But you may have some no3 in your tap water which is OK at low levels. Definitely recommend a liquid test kit. Good fun being the mad scientist! And really very necessary to keep tabs on your water quality. And the daily water changes are a must do.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[manni82]

Thanks both. The main water change is in a2 litre bottle which I keep next to the tank so it's the same temp and yes it had sat there for about 26 hours. I did put a bit of cold water in with the daphnia (the water was also treated but in the fridge) which is what I normally do to try and keep the temp down.

The temp is 15 at the mo, though I've moved him into a smaller tub for now with about 12 daphnia. He is still alive, but hasn't eaten overnight. He has a long faeces waiting to come out. He is still very listless, and barely moves. The hooked bit of his tail looks like its going to come off.

 

[Tigermoth]

Hi just had a look at your thread, do you introduce quite a bit of water that comes with the daphnia into his tank? just as a suggestion (and I agree if you have a skull in the tank I would personally remove this immediately) try using frozen Daphnia instead of live also depending on how big your axxie is introducing the food gradually to ensure he knows where it is will help. some foods may disagree with some Axxies but are fine with others if he still reacts the same with frozen daphnia try a different food type such as blood worm (chopped up if he's really tiny.

years ago I also discovered taddies seem to like aphids (wrong time of year in the UK at present)but may be worth a try if you can lay your hands on any.

 

[Petersgirl]

Could it be constipation? After all you said he needs to toilet. The usual treatment for constipation is a cool, clean tub in the fridge, but I have no idea if your baby will be okay with this.

Can you fridge axolotl larvae? Does anyone else recommend it?

 

[manni82]

Thanks guys. He's pooped and looks like he may have eaten another daphnia. When I tried Frozen daphnia before he couldn't find it as they don't have smell yet apparently. I've taken the skull out and will have to wait and see. He's currently in a smaller tub. He's alive at least but the end of the tail definitely seems to be withering away. I can't really see his gills but they still look forward. Fingers crossed!