Sick axolotl (possibly nitrate poisoning but need advice)

[Mouse Mason]

Hi all, my axolotl Skipper is ill and i need some advice on what's wrong with him.
A few days ago I noticed that his gills where starting to loose their feathery bits and the end of his tail was curled. I took a water test, and sure enough the nitrates where ridiculously high (but the nitrites where fine- 0). I moved him quickly out of the tank and into a container where the nitrate level was fine (using bottled water) and put him in the fridge. He doesn't seem to able to get as much oxygen (he's flicking his gills a lot, and grabbing air from the surface of his contianer), but is that just because he lost some of the "feathers" on his gills, or is that a sign if a specific illness?
Wierldy, my other axolotl (who is in the same tank, but with a divider to stop them fighting) was showing no signs of distress, but the nitrates where just as high on his side. I took Charlie out as well as a precaution and fridged him.
Skipper seems a bit more active now, but isn't eating and is very thin. His tail is still curled, and today I noticed that his cloaca is white and sort of open. I panicked at first because I thought it was a prolapse, but nothing is "hanging out", it's just white and like I said, open. Could this be the start of a prolapse though?
They are both currently in the fridge, and I'm gradually getting the nitrate down in the tank, so Charlie will be able to go back in soon. Should skipper stay in the fridge until his gills have grown back a bit? And do you think I need to do anything else? Sorry there's so much info in the post, any advice will he helpful.

 

[DSaxolotl]

Hello,

Just curious do you have any ammonia in your tank, on the test readings?

Best way to lower your nitrates is to do more frequent water changes and have more live plants in the tank that might use some of them. Also worth checking is your tap water parameters. I would not keep axolotl fridged for this issue but rather focus on fixing the water.

Optimize feeding to a degree were no food is left out to decompose uneaten in the tank will also help this. What size is your aquarium? And what kind of filter are you using?

Fixing the water quality will be the first step, keep in mind clean and good water quality is a must. You will most likely see improvement after week or so.

 

[Mouse Mason]

Hello,

Thank you very much for the reply.

I don't have anything to test for ammonia at the moment, but I'm trying to find something (none of the test strips that I've found have ammonia on them). I'm doing frequent water tests at the moment, and I've now got the nitrates down low enough that I've put Charlie back in the tank. I'm using bottled water, which I've tested and has 0 nitrates and nitrites in it.
My tank is only about 45 litres which I think is too small for two axolotls, but I'm working on convincing my parents to let me have a bigger one.

I've just got them food bowls, so now the bloodworms are staying mostly in the bowls, but before that they were going everywhere and I don't think i was cleaning them out thoroughly enough. I definitely won't do that again.

Do you think there is anything wrong with skippers cloaca, as it hasn't improved since yesterday?

Thank you for all the advice, and for being patient with a relatively new axolotl owner!

 

[Hayleyy]

I don't know about the cloaca issue but with ammonia kits look for liquid ones, strips are not as accurate (also counts for ph, nitrate and nitrites). You can order kits online as well, I got an API master test kit from ebay for $55AUD. I've found they are more expensive in store (in Australia)

Fixing the water issues should help the gills

Also what temperature do you keep your tank?