Tiny reddish spots all over axolotl

[Jacksparrow]

Hello, I’m new here, but I have a concern about my juvenile axolotl. He appears to have developed some tiny little spots that seem slightly red in colour all over his body. I constantly monitor his water parameters, and perform water changes when it ever gets to 0.25 ammonia. His tank is consistently 18 degrees Celsius. Am I being overly cautious? He’s about 5 months old now, is active and eats healthily. Any insight would be appreciated! Thank you

Ps; I’m aware his plants look a little worse for ware, I’m trying to see if I can maintain them, but it’s hard because of lack of light. They’re Anubias, so any advice regarding that would also be appreciated!

 

[Egghead]

You should be doing weekly water changes, not waiting until 0.25 ppm. 0.25 ppm is high. The red dots may be "rashes", which are irratation from ammonia and nitrates. What are your nitrates like?

 

[Jacksparrow]

You should be doing weekly water changes, not waiting until 0.25 ppm. 0.25 ppm is high. The red dots may be "rashes", which are irratation from ammonia and nitrates. What are your nitrates like?

I didn’t mean to say that I “wait”till it’s 0.25, I do water changes about every 4 days, and this is typically when I notice it’s jumped to 0.25. I have been trying to cycle his tank pretty much ever since I got him (I was doing it daily for the longest time) but I can’t seem to get it past 4 days without needing a water change (I’m not even sure if this is normal) his nitrates are always around 5-10 ppm, and his nitrites have never been more than 0. And yes, I realize I should have already had a tank cycled, but it wasn’t an option for me unfortunately. In terms of cycling, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong; I use prime, I’m diligent with keeping his tank clean. The only thing I can think of that might be throwing things off is his filter, which i rinse the media about once a month (no choice, because it gets full of fecal matter and just goes back into the tank and makes it messy)

 

[wolfen]

make sure the filter is for double the size tank, axolotl tank tend to have either a low amount of substrate or none meaning the filter has to do all the work (hence double size)
make sure there is plenty of oxygen, required by both axolotl and filter bacteria.
only clean filter media with old tank water never tap.
although 18°c is good for filter bacteria it is at the max ideal for axolotls.
ensure your ph is stable at 7.4-7.6 not lower.
prime isn't ideal for cycling tanks as it locks the ammonia.
the only time a filter (if internal) is removed from the tank is for cleaning, never do a water change of more than 50%, if the filter is clogging fast then a larger filter may be required (ideally one that also uses bio-media), on a tank where fecal matter and food is removed daily a filter shouldn't required cleaning for at least 3 months.
aquatic plants require nutrients including nitrogen compounds.

 

[Jacksparrow]

I didn’t mean to say that I “wait”till it’s 0.25, I do water changes about every 4 days, and this is typically when I notice it’s jumped to 0.25. I have been trying to cycle his tank pretty much ever since I got him (I was doing it daily for the longest time) but I can’t seem to get it past 4 days without needing a water change (I’m not even sure if this is normal) his nitrates are always around 5-10 ppm, and his nitrites have never been more than 0. And yes, I realize I should have already had a tank cycled, but it wasn’t an option for me unfortunately. In terms of cycling, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong; I use prime, I’m diligent with keeping his tank clean. The only thing I can think of that might be throwing things off is his filter, which i rinse the media about once a month (no choice, because it gets full of fecal matter and just goes back into the tank and makes it messy)

make sure the filter is for double the size tank, axolotl tank tend to have either a low amount of substrate or none meaning the filter has to do all the work (hence double size)
make sure there is plenty of oxygen, required by both axolotl and filter bacteria.
only clean filter media with old tank water never tap.
although 18°c is good for filter bacteria it is at the max ideal for axolotls.
ensure your ph is stable at 7.4-7.6 not lower.
prime isn't ideal for cycling tanks as it locks the ammonia.
the only time a filter (if internal) is removed from the tank is for cleaning, never do a water change of more than 50%, if the filter is clogging fast then a larger filter may be required (ideally one that also uses bio-media), on a tank where fecal matter and food is removed daily a filter shouldn't required cleaning for at least 3 months.
aquatic plants require nutrients including nitrogen compounds.

I never knew about the filter size or only cleaning with tank water! Willing to bet that’s what’s going on

make sure the filter is for double the size tank, axolotl tank tend to have either a low amount of substrate or none meaning the filter has to do all the work (hence double size)
make sure there is plenty of oxygen, required by both axolotl and filter bacteria.
only clean filter media with old tank water never tap.
although 18°c is good for filter bacteria it is at the max ideal for axolotls.
ensure your ph is stable at 7.4-7.6 not lower.
prime isn't ideal for cycling tanks as it locks the ammonia.
the only time a filter (if internal) is removed from the tank is for cleaning, never do a water change of more than 50%, if the filter is clogging fast then a larger filter may be required (ideally one that also uses bio-media), on a tank where fecal matter and food is removed daily a filter shouldn't required cleaning for at least 3 months.
aquatic plants require nutrients including nitrogen compounds.

thank you for this; I didn’t know about double size filter or only rinsing it with tap water. I do have a hang on the back filter (aqua clear 20) that uses the different types of media, I’ll head out and get the one for 50 gallons