Very sick axi- please help

K

kari

Guest
My axi has been off colour for a few days and has stopped eating. Hes gone very skinny, and stopped moving around and yesterday I found him belly up at the bottom of the tank. I thought he was dead, but got him out into a small container with about 2 inches of water to see if he was alive, and he is still but only just. I put him in the fridge cos I dont know what else to do. The only changes to my tank recently have been that I changed to new aquarium sand like I have seen so many other members using. I also introduced some river shrimps to the tank which he ate some of, trouble is he pigged out on them and ended up regurgitating some. I dont think hes eaten since then. Possibly they introduced some parasite? They are all still very healthy and living. The guy in the pet shop said they should only live for 24 hours but I have had them for a few weeks now. He said they like brackish water but my tank is fresh water. Any way hes still alive and has got darker in colour (hes leucistic/white) but has gone darker pink and the end of his tail has curled round. I dont know what else to do. Please help.......:-(
 
To me it sounds like your filter is too powerful, causing stress on him.

Did you rinse the sand before adding it?

Keep him in the fridge. That's the best place for him right now.

Take the shrimp out. They're not helping.

Try to feed him earthworms or small pellets. He probably won't eat, especially while being in the fridge, but try anyway.

When did he stop eating? If he got 'really skinny' in just a few days, he was probably ill before he stopped eating. This is not normal. I have no qualms about leaving mine for up to a week without food. This has never affected their size.

If you could post some pictures, that would be great. Good luck.
 
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Hi Joan, thanks for replying so fast. Ijust looked in the fridge and to my horror he was floating belly up again, so i turned him up the right way carefully. Its a bit cold in my fridge so I have left the door open. I put fresh dechlorinated water in there and some dried bloodworm. He doesnt seem as skinny as he was before, I think he did eat a bit of blood worm a few days ago so maybe he hadnt totally stopped eating. Hes got a lot darker in colour around his head, and all his veins show up as a lot darker (redder) than they were before. Do you see the way his tail has curled round at the tip? I am worried about him going belly up though.

I have turned the filter right down too, for when (if) he survives and can go back in the tank. There is also a guppy in the tank that seems fine which has lived for months in the tank since i got the axie. I am taking the shrimp out as requested and am going to do a partial water change to see if that helps. I must confess I didnt wash the sand out either but am going to do that too now. He seemed to love it when I first put the new sand in and was really active and happy. Thanks for your help.
 
Here
43191.jpg
is a clearer picture of my axi taken with the webcam. Please feel free anyone to give me any more advise, cos I think he isnt going to survive.
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What kind of sand did you add? Was it from a pet store or did you get play sand?

Could you get a closer picture of its gills, are they curled up too?

How long have you had the axolotl? What kind of filter did you have running on what size of tank?
 
Hi Cynthia,

It is Tropical Marine Sand containing Algal Oolites suitable for freshwater and marine tanks according to the label. He was OK for about two weeks after i put the new sand in. I have put a post called revenge of the live prey in the Axi gallery where you can see the sand clearly, or there is a picture of my setup in the Setup thread you started.

I have had him for 4 months and he has been fine (although he had a couple of floating incidents which cleared up with fridge treatment). She (i think shes a she) is about 5-6 months old. About 4 1/2 inches long. I dont know the capacity of my tank but it measures 30cm by 60cm by 30cm high but the water only goes up to 20cm. I cant read anything on the back of the filter cos its faded but it doesnt cause too much water movement when its turned down to minimum. I did turn it up to maximum when i put the sand in to clear the tank but I turned it down quite soon after because of water movement. I also have a bubbler with an airstone which causes large bubbles, so I only put it on for a short time and was trying to find an airstone that does smaller bubbles.

His gills have never been very big compared to pictures of Axies I have seen (especially yours!) but I thought this was because he was young and that they would get bigger as he matured.

His veins are showing up lots at the moment, but he seems a little happier after being in the fridge (well at least hes not belly up and he is moving a bit sometimes!)

Thanks

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Thank you for the new picture I can see its gills much clearer. In the other pictures it looked like the color on its head was part of its gills. That is why I wondered if they were curled.

The axolotl looks very thin to me, I think perhaps it has had problems since before you obtained it. It is a bit small for its age too.

Their veins do become more noticeable when they are in the fridge, especially on white and gold animals.

Keep it in the fridge and keep the water clean. Offer it food daily incase it wants to eat.

Keep us posted on its condition, I hope it continues to improve.
 
If you're only feeding dried food, I HIGHLY suggest trying something live, especially earth worms and waxworms. These are highly nutritious, and will 'fatten' him up.

Good luck!
 
Hi there all,

MAny thanks for all your help and advice. He is still alive and in the fridge. His tail is still curled round but he hasnt gone belly up since yesterday. I normally feed him earthworms with dried/frozen bloodworm as a treat and to provide a varied diet. He used to be a lot fatter, when he was eating more, and would sometimes eat up to three worms at a time. He seems to prefer live food anyway, and he would enjoy stalking it!

He's got an earthworm in the container with him at the moment but doesn't seem to want to eat it, maybe because its cold in the fridge and I guess that would make him more sluggish.

His veins were more noticeable before I put him in the fridge and the darker patch on his head appeared at the same time.

Anyway he hasn't died so far so maybe he will live.
let keep our fingers crossed.

Thanks again.
 
Have you tried doing salt baths yet? If not, I suggest it, as maybe this is something that could be remedied with a salt bath. In the least, it couldn't hurt.
 
Joan- no I havent tried a salt bath, but he doesnt look well this evening. In fact, hes not moving. How do you tell if an axie is dead? Hes still the same colour, and I would expect him to go paler if he died but he is certainly very torpid if not, from being in the fridge.
sad.gif
. If he is not I will try a salt bath. Thanks for all your help, axie people.
 
When my axies died their bodies became swollen with water and had their mouths open.
 
he looks like a very stressed axie, I don´t advise the salt baths cause his skin is already too damaged, the salt will hurt more.
It seems like he is ill by bad water quality, also if you use marine sand , that is not a proper sand it is for salt water aquarium, I advise you that you should leave him in the fridge and do daily water changes, try to feed him earthworms with some vitamins.
 
Thanks for your help everyone. I tried but unfortunately he has died. Poor little axie. At least he isnt suffering any more. I only wish I could have helped him. I dont know what it was that made him/her ill.
sad.gif
. Thanks again for helping me everyone.
 
Does anyone have an idea of what went wrong?

I know how frustrating it is when a little axie dies with no apparent answer as to why.
 
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