axie not happy

i came home to my axie baby hanging out in her plants and not moving round very much, she has been being a bit fussy eating recently (she gets bloodworms) and is looking a bit skinny, i did a water change and tested the tank water to try to work out what was going on, last water change was five days ago
water is
nitrate 2.5
nitrite 0
ammonia 2.0
and ph 6.0
i did a 20% water change as the ammonia is high
i have just noticed she has a white area on the end of her tail (not fluffy) and she has some skin that looks a bit like its peeling on her left side near her front legs
i am going to pop her in the fridge and start salt baths (1 teaspoon per litre correct??)
any other suggestions to help my wee baby out
im panicing a bit
thanks in advance

Yea your ammonia is high, keep doing 20% water changes daily until your ammonia reads 0. Sounds like your tank is cycling again, so keep testing the water and doing water changes until it sorts itself out again.

Also PH is low, it should be 6.5-8. To raise it you can put in shell grit in a stocking. You can get this cheaply at any pet store - its what birds use for their beaks.

What is your temperature? If it is above 24C it can be stressing your axolotl out.

Not sure about the salt baths, if it is skin peeling I don't think it will solve that problem. It would help if you could post a pic? If you do need to do salt baths it is 2-3 teaspoons per litre in dechlorinated water and you should keep your axolotl in there for 10 minutes twice a day. If it is fungus, you should keep this up until the fungus goes, and keep doing it for about a week after it has fully gone. But yea, not sure if it is fungus and it would help to see a pic

Also, when you say fussy, is she not eating at all? If she is eating a bit that is a good sign...

Beka,

You need to keep on doing daily water changes (10-20% should suffice) until the ammonia level goes down to 0ppm because even a trace amount of ammonia can be lethal to your axie if it is exposed to it for quite some time. Furthermore, it would be ideal to have an activated carbon/zeolite cartridge in your filter, if you don't already have one because it is effective in removing ammonia. Also, you need to increase your pH. This will also be corrected by water changes because I live in Melbourne as well and I tested the tap water to have a pH of 8.0. You do not need to add sodium bicarbonate (the product called 'pH Up). However, if need be you can use limestone or shell grit to stablise the pH at an 'ideal' level.

REMEMBER to treat tap water prior to adding it to the tank...e.g. removing chlorine and chloramine. Even a small amount of a chlorine can eradicate what ever good bacteria you have built up in your tank.

As for feeding, try giving her other food alternatives such as earthworms (preferable not from the backyard), mealworms (cut off their heads before feeding to axie), beef heart, liver, salmon pellets, slugs, insects (i.e. slaters), frozen brine shrimp, freeze-dried tubifex worms, and even raw fish and shrimp.

Right now I am experiencing the same thing as you are with my axie, that being mine is also shedding skin. However I am not going to give her a saline bath because I have no reason to believe that she has a fungal infection. Furthermore, giving her a saline bath could do more damage (given she doesn't have a fungal infection) by disrupting osmoregulation. I am however going place her into the fridge and see how she goes.

Hope all this helps!

Jay.

Yep I would agree with most of your post Kal El.. but just one thing, PH is not necessarily the same between places in Melbourne. Whilst most Melbourne water tends to be soft, PH can vary depending on the pipes, etc between houses. My PH comes out of the bathroom tap at around 7 I think... and higher from the kitchen tap so water change may not solve PH problems. But yea, beka, as Kal El has said, avoid products like PH up as they cause the PH to swing about, something that is quite stressful for axolotls.

my ph is too low from my tap so i treat it to nearly match the tank before i put it in.. that way i dont treat the tank.

thank you all for being so helpful!
i will keep doing water changes daily, i think because she hasn't been eating everything i give her i may have been missing a few bits of food in the after dinner clean up.
i will go and get some grit tomorrow to try to do something about my ph the water is very soft here but i wont use any products cos i don't trust them.
the temperature is about 19-20 everyday but a bit warmer today given the temp outside
i gave her a salt bath this morning because her tail seems to be a bit fuzzy, if i stare at it closely it looks almost as if she has bumped it on something and cut it and the cut looks manky the peeling skin seems to have gone overnight.
she eats, but not as much as i would like as she is a skinny wee thing i offer her food every day, but some days it is hard to get her to eat it. on the subject of food where do you other melbournians get your earthworms i don't have a backyard and if i did i would be worried about pesticides etc n the worms.

sorry if i am a bit ranty, again thank you for your help

bunnings sell 500 earthworms in a box for under $30. I put my ph up with a teaspoon of bicarb in the bucket of water at water change.. ( my preference my axies dont have a prob with my routine other peeps might..I also have piece of limestone rather than shell grit as the grit leaves grit everywhere....and it acts as an ornament for the bubs to clamber over..) my bubs went skinny but they putting on weight fast now they are having bloodworms and earthworms....

To stop the mess from shell grit you can put it in a stocking.

crisis

ok so i put sushi back in the tank yesterday night as her tail looked normal and the tank water was testing as:
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
ammonia 0
and ph 6.2
i thought i could put her back in and check the water daily and do 20% water changes.
so i warmed her up for five hours and then popped her back in tank temperature 21.
this morning i got up and she was covered in fungus? or blistery things? her tail is in terrible condition and im terrified that i have killed her, i put her back in the fridge (in fresh dechlorinated water) and i have just come home from work this is what she looks like:





is this fungus? or is it something else i dont trust myself to judge right now
any help would be very appreciated

Beka,

I'm sorry you are having a difficult time with your axolotl but that is catch that we fail to perceive prior to attaining an axolotl.

Regarding your crisis, this is not a fungal infection because open wounds/blisters aren't noticeable attributes that relate to fungus. I strongly recommend that you leave your axie in the fridge with a bottle of chilled dechlorinated water next to your axie's container. REMEMBER to perform daily 100% water changes of the water within the container.
As for these blisters, the only thing I can think of right now is that there was too much of a temperature change when you decided re-introduce your axie into its tank, i.e. heat stress.
For now I would strongly advice to you to correct the pH of your water. I would also go out and purchase a KH/GH test kit. Most people seem to think that the hardness of the tank water is irrelevant, however this is not the case- it is just as important as the other parameters! Upon testing your water, should your results indicate very soft water (which I think would be the case with your water because of your significantly low pH reading, even with 0ppm ammonia) I would recommend increasing the hardness of your water. Most laboratories use 40% Holtfreter's solution per 163L of water (ratio these figures to convert into required values) to create the ideal pH and hardness for their axie's to thrive in. Axies prefer hard water, and placing them in distilled or soft water will inevitably disrupt their ability tomaintain the integrity of their skin, their most important defense against infection.
Also, you need to find a way of lowering the temperature within your tank. Anything below 20 degrees should suffice and be a comfortable environment for your axie. There are numerous cheap and effective methods of lowering the temperature. For instance, I am using two 15cm desktop fans that are directed over the surface of the water to create evaporation. This method effectively lowers the temperature by approximately 6 degrees. I have also placed polysterene sheets on the sides and the back of the tank for insulation purposes, i.e. keep the cold in and heat out. During really hot summer days I place frozen ice bottles (600mL) into her tank and I will replace it with another one once when it has thawed out. Note, 3 ice bottles are not suffice- you will need at least 6. I have about 10 lined up in the freezer in order to prepare myself for Melbourne's unpredictable temperature.

For now Beka, the fridge is your best method and will be your axie's best friend. Do not use any medications and stop giving your axie the saline baths- this isn't going to help her condition. Given the lower temperature, your axie should be able recover by itself and the coldness will also deter any other problems that should arise.

I sincerely hope your axie recovers and that my suggestions can assist you in some way.

Jay.

thank you for your help Jay

i have had sushi for almost a year and a half and im at a bit of a loss as to what has suddenly changed, and started all of these problems, i am in the process of cycling a new larger tank for her.
She is in the fridge now with a bucket of dechlorinated water for changes (twice a day if she makes a mess ) and i havent given her a salt bath since yesterday morning (as she seemed to be having no problems).
i warmed her up for maybe five and a half hours yesterday and had her beside the tank,fed her then i floated the tupperware she was i in the tank for about 20 minutes so i thought the temperatures were pretty equal.
i will be at the petshop tomorrow to get some grit to try to get the ph up, as i havent been able to get to one yet. and i will look into Holtfreter's solution
i have a ice bottle stash but i normally only use it if it gets above about 23 and i have a standing fan also.
hopefully the fridge will sort her out

thanks again
-Beka

Yea I doubt it is reaction to temperature as you introduced her to the tank slowly but not 100% certain. Above 24C is when you should start to worry though ideally the temperature should be under 20C. For now I would recommend just keeping her in the fridge as that will be the least stressful place for her.

I really am not sure what could be causing your axolotl such trouble. If it were me (though others may have better ideas) I would take mine to the vet in that condition, especially if I had tried everything and all my parameters were normal. Your axie is very skinny too. Here are some names of Melbourne vets that can help with exotic animals that another member kindly posted here http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50661&highlight=Melbourne+vet

However these are just some things that occured to me... I would definitely try to up your PH. Are you 100% certain your test is accurate? I have had friends who had a lot of fish deaths as their PH kit only tested down to 6, so they thought it was 6 when in fact it was 3!

Also salt baths may have caused trouble if the disease is not fungus... did you follow the instructions for the salt bath?

Is there any chance some kind of weird chemical has been introduced to the tank? That might cause your axie to get sick rapidly... Not sure how you'd test for that. But yea if that is the case, keeping her in fresh dechlorinated water til your larger tank is cycled seems like a good idea.

Anyway, sorry I can't be of more help, I really hope it works out for your poor little axie~

she has been not eating very much for the past week or two and being in the fridge seems to make her smaller as well, she has always been so skinny(when i got her she was about the same size as now and had no gills).

feeding her seems to go in phases some weeks she will eat everything some she will ignore everything for days, which would suggest something in the water?

if she doesnt improve i suppose i had better try to find a way to get her to a vet, i dont have a car or know anyone that does, and the thought of taking a sick axie on the train in hot weather does not sound like a good plan.

maybe my ph is lower than 6? my test only goes down to six but the colour has been a bit darker than the usual six in the past day or two, i have the freshwater master test kit should i look for something else?
i am starting to wonder if something has got into the water though i cant think what would.. we wipe down the bar she is on but dont normally use chemicals and i wash my hands before and after feeding . i changed the brand of food i was using and the new stuff smells weird but i doubt that is a problem.

i havent had a problem with fungus before so i dont really know what it looks like,
in the blurry photos above the blobs are quite seperate and she has sort of specks of it in her gills? does that sound like fungus? her tail looks terrible and has lost skin, but she looks better than she did this morning.

sorry for rambling im just trying to think of anything that it could be.
thank you very much for your help

Beka, basically any tankwater temperature that fluctuates over 20C can be stressful to your axolotl. Your axolotl may have appeared fine but reintroducing her to the tank with the temperature being at 23C probably didn't help. Her immune system may be lowered so it may take her a while longer to heal.

Ideally the longer you're able to keep her in the fridge the better.

Yea I would recommend for sure getting a PH test kit that goes lower than 6. Just because of the skin peeling, it could be burns from the water being too acidic. I have no idea if that is the problem, I just know I have had friends who've had a large tank of fish die from the PH being at 3 (that is about the same PH as vinegar!). I know axolotls aren't fish but they certainly suffer as well if the PH is dodgy. If you can get to an aquarium they can test your PH accurately.

I have a PH kit that goes to 4.5 and it was about $15 from Boronia Aquarium, so I know at least one place in Melbourne that stocks them! I am sure Subscape Aquarium in Richmond (somewhere on Victoria St) will have them too as they are quite good there and stock a lot of stuff. They will also test your water for you. Seeing as you don't have a car I don't know if either of those places are accessible, they are the ones I go to and I can vouch for them being good, that's all. Most aquariums should test your water easily enough though and stock good PH kits.

Anyway with fungus, it looks kind of cottony. Sorry I can't tell from your pics if it is cottony or not. It could also be a bacterial infection. Some of them are described here: http://www.axolotl.org/health.htm Do any of them match your axie's condition?

hi,
just a quick note to say sushi is really improving in the fridge all the white stuff seems to have gone/fallen off. her tail still looks terrible but the rest of her looks better so far.
*fingers crossed she keeps improving*
if i cant work out what happened and be able to fix everything she may end up living in the fridge untill her new tank is cycled (but i have only had it filled up for about a week)
saspotato- i am near richmond so i will go hunt down that petshop as soon as possible
thank you all for your help

I'm really pleased that Sushi is improoving, being in the fridge will give her time to heal while the tank is being sorted out. When you next visit the pet shop take a sample of the tank water to be tested..I still take one with me to use as a comparison to my own tests. I keep a note of all my readings in a note book plus any observations that may have occured, i find it handy to refer to .

i miss her already

hi
i just came home from work and sushi has passed away in the fridge she has like lumps, and white fluff on her that she did not have when i changed the water this morning
i dont know what happened, she seemed to be doing so well
im nervous to set up my new big tank but i guess now i dont have anything to put in it

so sorry to hear that she has passed away ,
we all know how hard you tried.

Very sorry. Mine is in the fridge at the moment at it's too hot here, I'm a bit paranoid that might happen.