Not eating for 5 days

[VariaK]

Friend of mine is having issues with feeding her new axolotl. She is being worried about it since before her axolotl had a great appetite and was growing rapidly. The axolotl is 5 months old and stopped eating 5 days ago... since that moment my friend notices that it haven’t grown in size at all. Overall the axolotl is in good shape, it’s behavior and trades didn’t change at all, it also does not have any visible issues on the skin.

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

Couple of questions, how long have you had the axolotl? what size tank is it in? do you have it housed on any substrate, like sand? what are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, ect)? What have you been feeding it up until now?

 

[Calgarycoppers]

Juveniles stop for a variety of reasons including poor water quality, impaction, low quality foods and more

First things first

Water quality is always the first to sort out.

Temp
pH
High Range pH
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
GH
KH

Next Tank

What water conditioner
Size
substrate
filter(s)
Maintenance schedule

What are they currently being fed?

 

[VariaK]

Couple of questions, how long have you had the axolotl? what size tank is it in? do you have it housed on any substrate, like sand? what are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, ect)? What have you been feeding it up until now?

Couple of questions, how long have you had the axolotl? what size tank is it in? do you have it housed on any substrate, like sand? what are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, ect)? What have you been feeding it up until now?

Thanks a lot for reaching out! My friend replied that it’s her 5th week of taking care of this axolotl. She has a 40 liter tank and uses large stones as a substrate. According to food, she was feeding it with shrimps and mussels. Unfortunately she did not have a chance to hold a testing of water in the tank, so we can’t tell the parameters, yet she is considering to find out what there are as soon as possible.

 

[VariaK]

Juveniles stop for a variety of reasons including poor water quality, impaction, low quality foods and more

First things first

Water quality is always the first to sort out.

Temp
pH
High Range pH
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
GH
KH

Next Tank

What water conditioner
Size
substrate
filter(s)
Maintenance schedule

What are they currently being fed?

Thanks a lot for reaching out! My friend replied that it’s her 5th week of taking care of this axolotl. She has a 40 liter tank and uses large stones as a substrate. According to food, she was feeding it with shrimps and mussels. Unfortunately she did not have a chance to hold a testing of water in the tank, so we can’t tell the parameters, yet she is considering to find out what there are as soon as possible.

 

[Calgarycoppers]

In 5 weeks there was no way she cycled the tank/filter

She needs to get them tubbed ASAP and do 100% daily water changes - there only a handful of safe water conditioners - Prime being the gold standard.

The rocks need to be larger than 4" - axolotls are known to ingest massive rocks and become impacted and can die

They also need more complete food - nightcrawlers, repashy grub pie, Rangen moist pellets are the best complete diets

Once she can answer all the questions we can help get the tank sorted out

If she cycled her tank she would have the liquid test kit to test herself.

Thanks a lot for reaching out! My friend replied that it’s her 5th week of taking care of this axolotl. She has a 40 liter tank and uses large stones as a substrate. According to food, she was feeding it with shrimps and mussels. Unfortunately she did not have a chance to hold a testing of water in the tank, so we can’t tell the parameters, yet she is considering to find out what there are as soon as possible.

 

[VariaK]

Thank you! Recently she changed her tank to a new one due to her previous one was too small for the axolotl. She said it stopped eating like few days before she put him into a new tank. Do you think it could be associated just with axolotl being stressed?

 

[Calgarycoppers]

No

I believe it is water quality, diet and hopefully not but depending how big those stones are.

She NEEDS to tub them and test her tank ASAP with liquid test kit and will need to test regularily

 

[VariaK]

No

I believe it is water quality, diet and hopefully not but depending how big those stones are.

She NEEDS to tub them and test her tank ASAP with liquid test kit and will need to test regularily

Thank you one more time!! Could you tell me if it’s enough to just add a “water safe” to tap water or it’s better to wait few days before doing a water change? As you recommend tubbind her axolotl, she needs to prepare a lot of water. What is the best way of taking care of tap water than?

 

[Calgarycoppers]

If shes using Prime she can have water ready instantly - add drops to water quick mix its ready

She needs to be using a specific water conditioner to treat chlorine and chloramine but no added aloe which many have listed as slime coat additives or natural additives

Seachem Prime is the gold standard

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

Thank you! Recently she changed her tank to a new one due to her previous one was too small for the axolotl. She said it stopped eating like few days before she put him into a new tank. Do you think it could be associated just with axolotl being stressed?

Calgary has it exactly right. I suspect its water quality. If shes had it for 5 weeks and has never tested the water, that is a huge no no. Having a liquid test kit, like the Freshwater Master Kit by API, is essential. Axolotls produce a large amount of waste and can throw off the water quality in a matter of days, especially if solid waste and extra food are not removed from the tank. Also, as Calgary said, shrimp and mussels are not a suitable diet for axolotls. Complete, varied diets include earthworms, pellets, repashy grub pie, ect. My first food of choice is generally european nightcrawlers. She should also be preforming weekly partial water changes to keep chemical levels stable. Frequency and volume of those changes though are entire dependant on what you water quality tests are telling you, so again, having a test kit is essential. Axololts can quickly die of ammonia toxicity if levels get too high so she really needs to tub them in fresh cold water (changed daily) until she gets the tank tested and stabilized.