Illness/Sickness: I think my axolotl may be sick. Please help.

[jo73]

I have 2 axolotls, an albino and a grey ( noel and liam). I have had them for about 6 wk. They were about 3 month old when I bought them. I have them in a 38 inch bare bottom tank with lots of places for them to hide, they feed fine on fish and worms. I had a water test last week and everything was ok. I changed the filter sponge over the weekend and now I noticed the past couple of days that the albino -noel, has started swimming round his tank more than usual. I have also noticed that his gills have suddenly become really red, it looks like the blood vessels in them are really sore, he is eating fine tho. So I had my water tested yesterday and the ammonia level was high, got told this was due to being over fed, even though the pet shop I bought them from has recently told me to up their food. Can anyone help me please, I am really worried about the blood vessels in his gills, Is this normal? and also the swimming around he does. I have a spare tank so if need be I can set the tank up and keep them in there until the ammonia level drops. Thank you.

 

[keiko]

Your cycle crashed because you changed the sponge. The sponge was full of good bacteria that were getting rid of the ammonia (and nitrite) and keeping the water safe for your axies. Now you need to do daily water changes to keep the water safe for your axies. And read up on cycling. You should also get a test kit so you can test the water yourself. Especially since your tank is now basically uncycled and can harm your axies quickly. Api freshwater master test kit is good.

 

[jo73]

Thank you for your reply. The filter says to change the sponge monthly???? It's a aqua flow 100, if that means anything. I asked about a home testing water kit but the pet shop I got them from told me that the kits can go off and I am better to let them do it! I will take your advise and buy my own. How long do I do the daily water changes, and do i just do a partial water change like normal. Thank you.

 

[keiko]

You don't need to change the sponges until they start to fall apart. It's just the companies trying to make money when they tell people to change them every month. You can rinse the sponge in old tank water every now and then to clean it up a bit. When you do change the sponge it's still good to keep the old one in with the new one for a few weeks so the bacteria can colonize the new sponge and your cycle doesn't crash.

It's definitely worth getting your own test kit, it doesn't go bad that quickly and you need to test frequently especially while the tank is cycling. While the tank is cycling you need to do daily partial water changes to keep ammonia, and nitrite, down in safe levels. Once the ammonia and nitrite stay at 0 without water changes, your tank is cycled. Until that both ammonia and nitrite levels need to be kept at under 1 ppm at all times by water changes. In a cycled tank the water parameters are ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate under 40 ppm.

 

[jo73]

I will order a test kit tonight. Once again thank you for your help.

 

[jo73]

Another quick question for you please, as you seem to know better than the people who have been informing me! My filter has got a detachable spray bar on it, I was told to leave it off, Is this right? Thanks.

 

[keiko]

I like to use spray bars on my filters, but it's a matter of preference and what works best for your tank. Main thing is that the water flow isn't too strong your axie. Often it's necessary to disperse or block the current and a spray bar can help with that.

 

[jo73]

Thanks for all your advice, I will put the bar on mine then, see how they go on. Is there any particular way the bar should face? My filter is attached to the right hand side wall and it faces the left hand wall. He isn't swimming around as much today, I had already done a partial water change Tuesday evening, so hopefully the water isn't as bad now. I ordered a test kit last night so I will be able to check the ammonia level as soon as it arrives. I seem to have had conflicting info about how much to feed them both, they are about 5 inch in length, pet shop said they were 3 month when I got them, I've had then since 22 ApriI, and originally got told to feed them 2 thumb size pieces of fish each, and the next day a cube of bloodworm to share. Then a couple of week ago I got told to double the food ( 4 pieces of fish each, and the next day a full cube of bloodworm each), but earlier this week someone else at the pet shop told me to half the food. So I don't know what to give them to be truthful, I have halved it but I'm not sure if this is right. Noel will eat everything I give to him but Liam didn't always want the extra food. What do you think?

 

[keiko]

Glad I can help.
I like to point the spray bars so that the water flows across the surface lengthwise and there isn't much current at the bottom where the axies hang out. I also like to place for example big plants infront of the spray bar to slow down the water flow even more. But again it's just a matter of preference and what works best for your tank. Some people also like to point it at a wall behind some decorations etc.

Fish and bloodworms don't really have all the nutrients the axies need so I'd suggest feeding them also earth worms or good quality axie pellets. You can give them fish and bloodworms too, but they aren't very good as a staple. Bloodworms can be very messy though so I don't bother feeding my axies any after they are big enough to eat something else. As for the amount of food to give, it's pretty hard to say precisely without knowing the axies. As long as their bellies are about the same width as their heads, it's good. When they're that small you can still feed them as much as they want to eat at once. If they start to get fat then just feed a little less or not as often. But usually juveniles put all the extra energy into growing and don't really get fat. Adults on the other hand can get fat easily so many people feed them for example every other or every three days (some even only once a week).

 

[jo73]

Both of mine seem obsessed with my filter, they lay next to it. I have a plant positioned in front of it, so i'll attach the spray bar and see how they go on. I'd rather feed them pellets than the earthworms because I don't want to kill the worms myself, I feel sorry for them, obviously I will do what's best for Liam and Noel so if the worms are better than the pellets then I will give them the worms. Which are best? If the pellets will be ok, could you recommend a quality pellet please.

 

[keiko]

Good quality pellets are good as a staple. I use Axobalance axolotlpellets from Aquaterratec.de. But the postage is pretty high there. You might be able to find some other brand near you. There are a lot of discussions about pellets on here so you can search the forums for some suggestions.

 

[jo73]

I've clicked on the web page but can't find an english version Thanks anyway, I will try and search this site for info on the pellets, I'm new to Internet forums and not really sure how to search (I'm not joking either). Thank you for all your help these past couple of days.

 

[jo73]

I've found some that people have recommended on a different axolotl page, they are called Hikari cichlid sinking pellets. Have you heard of them? Do you these will be ok?

 

[keiko]

I'm not familiar with those pellets, so can't help with that. But here's one discussion about pellets. Important is that the pellets are high (animal)protein and low fat.

And this is what the pellets I use contain as listed on their page and translated by google:

Additives per kg: Trace elements:
Ferrous sulfate monohydrate (E1) 40mg, Kalziumjodat, anhydrous (E2) 1,7mg, copper sulfate pentahydrate (E4) 5,35mg, manganese sulphate monohydrate (E5) 16mg, Zinc sulphate monohydrate (E6) 102mg, antioxidants: 152mg, Other EC additives

Composition: Fish and fish by-products, molluscs and crustaceans, oils and fats, cereals, vegetables, meat and meat by-products.

Ingredients:
crude protein: 54%
crude fat: 14%
ash: 12%
lysine: 3%
calcium: 3%
crude fiber: 2%
Phosphorus: 1.5%

 

[jo73]

Thanks that's great. I clicked on the link and found some that I'm gunna use, Pollywog I think they're called. I will order them today. Thanks for all your great advice and information. If I ever need advice I will find you out again if that's ok. Cheers.

 

[keiko]

My message was too long to be a visitor message so I will post it here.


The ammonia in your tank is very high at the moment. It should be under 1 ppm so you can be sure it's not hurting your axies. Nitrite and nitrate are ok for now.

You need to do a huge water change to bring the ammonia level down. 75% water change would bring it down to 1 (which is the top it should ever reach) and then you soon need to do another huge water change since it will start rising again. If you can take more than 75% of the water out then that's even better, if not then just do the two water changes and test the ammonia again to make sure it's low enough. Then continue doing the daily water changes and test the water often to make sure the ammonia and nitrite aren't going up. With the water changes you can aim to keep the ammonia at about 0.5 ppm so there's some room for it to rise before the next water change. (The same goes for nitrites once you start getting a reading of those.)

Another option is that you take the axies out of the tank and cycle it without the axies in there. You can keep the axies in big plastic tubs while the tank is cycling. In that case you need to do daily 100% water changes in the tubs the axies are kept in to make sure the water stays safe. You will also need to get some pure ammonia to add in your tank while your axies are not in there producing wastes. This way your tank will probably be cycled faster since you can keep the ammonia and nitrite levels high = lots of food for the bacteria so they will multiply faster. You can add enough pure ammonia so that the level is at about 4 ppm. Once it starts going down and you start getting readings for nitrite, you need to keep adding pure ammonia to keep it high. After a little while you see the nitrite going down and nitrate goes up. Once you can add 4 ppm of ammonia and in 24 hours it goes to 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and a reading of nitrate then your cycle is ready. After that you need to do a huge water change to bring the nitrate down to about 10 ppm (it should always be under 40 ppm).
Since your tank was already cycled before and there are probably already some of the bacteria in the tank, you might not get a huge nitrite peak. If you cycle the tank this way then you don't need to do water changes in the tank unless the readings are off the charts. Here's a helpful link about fishless (axie-less) cycling if you choose to do this: fishless cycling.

 

[jo73]

Thanks once again. I will go for the 1st option, and bring it down that way. I don't want to move him into a bucket because he spooks very easy, I once put a plant in front of 1 of their hideouts and he wouldn't come out until I moved it, so I this way will be better for him.

 

[jo73]

I just want to check with you that if I cycle the tank with both axies in and do all the water changes that you have suggested, then it will be ok for Liam and Noel to be in the tank while it is being cycled.

 

[keiko]

Yes they can be in the tank while you cycle it. But then it's important to do the daily water changes and test the water to make sure the ammonia and nitrite stay under 1 ppm at all times. Ideally you should test the water right before you do a water change so you can adjust how much of it you change and make sure the levels aren't getting too high between the water changes.

 

[jo73]

I did a water change tonight-more or less all of it. I put them both in a container whilst I did it, but I think it stressed him a bit much, so in future I will keep just enough water in to cover them. I didn't check the water before the change, I didn't realise I would need to because I checked it last night, I was planning to check it a bit later tonight though. I'm a bit concerned about the water temperature being the same, I let it stand for about 6 hours today before I changed it. I have prepared tomorrows water already in the hope it will be ok for them. I will check the ammonia levels at lunchtime tomorrow and then I will post on here the results and ask you how much water to change, if that's ok. :happy: