Question: Too much water flow???

[axolotl123ally]

Hi, (I'm new here so just letting you know if I don't reply quickly or ever it could well be because I don't know how! so I'm sorry in advance but I'm so grateful for any replies and will try to get back to you.)


I have had my axolotl for about 3 years now and im a little bit worried about the water flow. About a 5 months go she stopped eating and i thought she was just not hungry but she stopped eating completely for about 3 months. I thought she had a parasite after research and I was about to take her to the vet, then she started eating again. She has been eating since healthily but is still thin to the bone. As a result of this all her gills faded away and i don't know whether that's just her gills or if she is pushing her gills forward (I've heard is a sign of stress). If so do you know any way I can help her???

 

[tundrabadger]

How much water flow are we talking about? Also somebody will ask, so I;m throwing it out there, what are your water parameters and can you post pictures?

 

[axolotl123ally]

As you can see I'm not an expert on this but I have some Tetra test strips for the water and that's it. All it says after I checked is that the KH could be high??? The water flow is not too bad the filter at the moment is surrounded by fake plants in an attempt to stop too much water flow. Pictures are attached.

Thank you for replying

 

[tundrabadger]

KH is carbonite hardness, which isn't bad to know but I was wondering more about your ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites, and water temperature. I can't seem to open the pictures for some reason, that could be on my end, so I can't comment on whatever it is that's in them. I am wondering if the plants are doing the job with regard to water flow....if the filter has a particularly strong flow and isn't adjustable you'd probably want something to either disperse the water over a greater area or redirect the flow. Or both. But that said I don\t know if that's actually the problem, i'm just guessing. If your tetra strips don't test for ammonia and the like I'd advise getting a kit that does. Or kits, the only ones I've been able t find have been separate, that's okay, it's a bit of an investment to start with but they last quite some time.

 

[axolotl123ally]

The strips I have don't test ammonia. I have ordered some others which should do the job. the two nitrates I have are NO2 and NO3 - both are on 0 and the strips are telling me that's ok. the water temperature is 27 degrees ( I put closed ice packs in every morning and afternoon) The filter says on the leaflet it has a 4,2 power??? don't know if that's helpful? The plants I think stop the flow a bit but if not do you have any ideas or products which could help? id greatly appreciate it.

 

[Hayleyy]

I'd also suggest using liquid tests as they are more accurate than strips

 

[tundrabadger]

The strips I have don't test ammonia. I have ordered some others which should do the job. the two nitrates I have are NO2 and NO3 - both are on 0 and the strips are telling me that's ok. the water temperature is 27 degrees ( I put closed ice packs in every morning and afternoon) The filter says on the leaflet it has a 4,2 power??? don't know if that's helpful? The plants I think stop the flow a bit but if not do you have any ideas or products which could help? id greatly appreciate it.

27 is pretty hot for an axie, you might consider getting a fan and, if you don't have one already, screen top. Or even just a piece of screen of sufficient length and width to DIY something up which is what I did, I had some in my basement. the fan will encourage evaporation which helps lower the temperature and keep it low.



with regard to stopping the flow....oh, I have ideas. Depending on the type of filter you can get little thingamies that you attach to them to reduce the flow. I hate paying for things I can rig up myself (see comments re screen lids), but there are ways. easiest is probably to have something right underneath the filter's outflow or whatever the word is....I don;t have this personally, my dad keeps tropical fish and also wants a slow current. We were down for a visit in may and he has an external filter with a pretty strong flow, so to interrupt the flow he's got a piece of what I'm pretty sure was slate at a right angle to the filter, so the water is being dispersed over that piece of slate, and thusly over a wider area so there's very little current. it also looks really beautiful. the same volume of water goes through the filter, but the outflow is spread over a wider area so the water in the tank doesn't move as much. You could use a spray bar redirect the flow of water...you can buy kits or if you're handy rig one up. I personally have, in my larger tank, a piece of what was once a tank divider directing the outflow from the filter towards the tank wall...it's also a good deal wider than the outflow itself, so it's dispersing the water horizontally. this is a temporary fix, I'm going to make something better later, but for the moment my two older axies are less stressed and I get to keep using a really good filter.



I second the liquid tests.

 

[axolotl123ally]

I'd also suggest using liquid tests as they are more accurate than strips

Probably going to get some of these. Thanks

 

[axolotl123ally]

Going to try and get an aquarium chiller but meanwhile will she have any side affects because of the heat - just wondering to keep my eye out. I'm definitely going to try and muster up some sort of slate thingymabobby to get up by the filter. However my filter reaches about halfway up the tank as that's how much water I have in it, so how does your dad or you hold up the slate and keep it at a right angle? I'll also have a browse to see if there's spray bars (as I am not a very good diy girl).

 

[Hayleyy]

In my quarantine tank I've set up a pot upside down with a bit of slate on top. I'll try and attach a pic so you can see (sorry for the bad quality).
Is it a HOB filter? You can also tie a shower sponge or foam to the output which can help a lot

 

[axolotl123ally]

Thanks a lot, the picture loaded and it looks pretty simple so I will give that a go definitely. thanks a lot.

 

[Hayleyy]

Just make sure to sand any sharp bits and/or silicone them

 

[axolotl123ally]

At the moment I have no sand at the bottom of the tank and there are no sharp/silicone objects in either - is this harmful to them???

 

[Hayleyy]

Sorry I mean if you break an entry hole into a pot the edges of it will be sharp so you need to sand it down and/or cover the breaks with silicone so it doesn't scratch their skin

 

[axolotl123ally]

Oh that makes sense. Thank you.