is she morphing???

Hi guys,

I hope someone can help. Our 4 axies have been going absolutely brilliantly until the last couple of weeks. Our previously very healthy girl Darwin has gone from a plump tyrant to a skinny little thing, and has now started exhibiting really strange behaviour. She was wildly swimming straight up and down with her head out of the water, and then sinking down to the bottom and doing it again awhile later. She only eats every third day or so, even when we tempt her with heart. We took her out of the tank today and put her in a container with a shallow end, she spends most of her time in the deep, but still enough time with her head out of the water to be a little worrying. She still has gills, and they are oddly, looking a little better than they were a couple of weeks ago.

Our tank stats are fine, although it has been very hot in Perth, we keep the aircon on cool for the dog anyway.

The others are completely healthy, eating, and doing well.

What on earth could the problem be? We are supposed to be going away tomorrow night for a few days and don't know what to do.

All assistance greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Beck

i live in perth too and yes it has been VERY hot... every other day is fine in eating... mine do that occasionally, Im not sure bout offering advice.. im new!! but mine did that when something was wrong with the water, my case was Ph problems.. ive been told it can be the temp etc.. mine went totally off heart.. I buy prawn bait which they absolutly lurve... blood worms brine shrimp and earthworms. one even took some mince once.

What are your tank stats - ie: temperature, ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. If pH is at 8.0 and there is any ammonia in the tank then ammonia becomes more toxic. Other than that the main culprits during summer months are usually temperature related which can effect water quality. Warmer water has less oxygen in it.

If you're able to keep her in a shallow container of water, keep it cool (if need be fridge or esky with icepacks) and you'll probably have to change the water almost completely daily (don't use tankwater from your axie tank - fresh dechlorinated water).

It isn't unusual for one axolotl to show stress symptoms while the others don't - it's immune system may be lowered compared to the others. You probably wouldn't have realised until this happened.

Hard to actually say if she's morphing (hence reason for photo if you can post one). Swimming to top for oxygen can be because of the warmer water/less oxygen factor.

Is there anyone you can leave her with to care for? If you can get earthworms try those as well. Some people get them from Bunnings, if you don't have a garden/compost heap.

tank stats & photos

Hi Kapo,

Nitrates were a little high at 5pm yesterday, and there was a little ammonia (between 0ppm and 0.25ppm) as opposed to none. Their tank was in need of a clean. We replaced about 60% of the water and gave everything on the substrate a good sift so it is fine.

I am posting pics here - she has been in the fridge since yesterday and been really active, but she has 2 enormous lumps in front of her gills now??

I am going to give her to my brother to keep in his fridge and hopefully she will be ok - but all input is gratefully accepted - we are supposed to be getting on a plane in 4 hours! Thanks

and..

sorry - forgot to mention - tank temp is 24 degrees - even with ice bottles I haven't been able to get it down any further. all other tank stats besides those mentioned above were 0ppm.
thanks

I would keep her in the fridge as much over 20 degrees has a bad effect on your axolotl. She'll need to have her water changes daily with dechlorinated water at the same temp. ( keep back up supply in fridge ready) Also cver her container with a cloth so that the fridge light does not startle her!! . I would also offer her food as she may accept it ( earth worm, chopped to size if needed) , she is rather under weight too.

Becks - probably missed you by now!

How high were the nitrates? Or did you mean nitrItes?

Nitrates is only considered high if it's over 60ppm/mg. Otherwise anything lower is fine.

60% might be too big of a waterchange, so tankwater may go through a minicycle.

Have you tried keeping polystyrene round the tank as well as frozen bottles? It might also pay to have a fan blowing over the surface!

its ok - in the fuss I misread the our itinerary We leave at 7am tomorrow, not 12:30 tonight

It was NitRATE that was 5ppm. I didn't think it was too bad. Ammonia, although higher than normal was still really low. We have live plants and snails and a couple of catfish in the tank, so it keeps it really clean most of the time. It was just us not doing a water change last week, and the heat.

I know she is underweight - this is why we are so worried. She was a monster. Big bad and scary, and now she has gotten so pitifully thin! We feed them individually, so it isn't that she is missing out - she just isn't hungry. We have a worm farm, so we can try worms for them. My brother will take her and our apparatus for the fridge.

It is supposed to be record temps again while we are away, and my brother was only going to come and feed them every 2 days - not sure what to do to keep the temp down. We are going to try some styrofoam...

Hi Beck, don't know if you'll get this as you're going away imminently. I'm in Perth too. I use a three sided foam "shell" around the tank and frozen water bottles to keep tank to 21-22c on these very hot days. I've read that a clip on fan on the tank can help lower it furthur but have yet to try that. Mine is currently in the fridge in a lunch box at 7 degrees celsius and seems very happy (48 hours now). And I am much less stressed about him. Weather forecast for the next week decided me on Christmas Day. Other than temperature being higher than ideal, my other tank stats have been perfect, but I still think he's lost a bit of weight over the last month, which I'm putting down to the heat, as he's eating.
I'm upgrading to a bigger tank over next couple of months, and really need to find a way to keep it below 20 degrees.

Enjoy your holiday.

Hi Beck

Nitrates isn't a problem then.

How long have you had catfish in the tank? Catfish, if not now, could pose an eventual problem for your axies (see: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/M...isasters.shtml , Axolotl & Pleco http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/8/37244.html?1118030284 , Axolotl & Fish/Algae eaters http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46900)

the fridge!

Right. I have just done a post-clean check, and the ammonia is rising. We are taking ALL of them out of the tank and putting them in the fridge while we are away. Otherwise we will just worry too much. Temps are going to be over 40 again next week and the house will be shut up. My delightful brother can just change the water for them daily instead. The tank can adjust while we are away and we will get it right before we put them back in.

Kapo - the catfish (only tiny) have been in for about 4 or 5 months now? I will read your links, and see what you mean, but we haven't had any trouble that we have noticed with them. Our tank is normally bang-on 0 levels for everything, and we do about 10-20% water change weekly. However, this IS our first summer, and we knew it would be a challenge in Perth. I will investigate fans and insulation when we get back.

We really appreciate you guys helping out - its really been worrying. We still don't know why Darwin won't eat, and has lost so much weight, but if we can take the stress away for a little while with the fridge, its worth a go.

At least all of them will be a lot cooler and alleviate some of the stress (for both you and your axies).

The ammonia could be increasing due to tank change as well as the temperature increasing speeds things up a bit.

Enjoy your holiday and hope you don't have too much to worry about while you're away.

I was going to suggest putting all in the fridge..consider it a holiday camp for axolotl!!. Maybe leave a note for your fantastic brother on what needs doing ( water changes/ food preferences etc..shopping needed for your return etc etc...) also a note on the link for this web site if he should need help!! Do have a good trip, I used to only worry about the plants and the garden before trips...now the axolotl win handsdown!!.

Update

Hi Guys,
All the axies have been in the fridge, and seemed ralatively happy - although none of them would eat. Their gills grew lovely and fluffy. We have had a few cooler days, and I manged to get the tank working all right, so last night, I took their containers out of the fridge, and let them aclimatatise slowly, then popped them back in their tank. They were ecstatic! They still haven't eaten, but 3 of them seem very happy.

HOWEVER, Darwin (sick axie) is not. Just a minute ago she did that very odd thing with swimming rapidly up and down the tank vertically with her head out of the water. Oh, AND, all of a suddden, she is a HE That bulge was never there before!

I honestly don't know what to do - I have been expecting her to expire at any time, and she keeps hanging there, but I don't know how to fix her or make her more comfortable, or anything like that.

She didn't poo out any pebbles or anything like that while she was in the fridge, which I was hoping for.

Water quality is spot on too. Temp I have managed to get down to 21 degrees, and I am going to Bunnings to buy a little fan today to try and reduce it further.

good luck....
My axies all love being at 21 deg....my constant temp aim is 20 , because here in perth the temp varies quite a bit between the seasons and naturally the tank likes to sit between 17 and 22-23 ( i have a 2 inch bubbler to help the oxygen in the water for this temp) and keeping it constantly colder is unrealistic unless you can afford to have chillers running 24/7 and having sluggish axies all the time... ( my axies sleep all the time in colder water.. in the temp range i have stated they sleep lots but actually actively go for their food, they dont gulp for air more often than needed, no reddness,no fungus or nasties)

The gulping yours is doing does sound like water quality problem. It might be temp but from my personal experience, temp would be minor part of it...

Hey my darling sister,
How is Darwin doing now? Is the fan from Bunnings working? Is it a confirmed boy now or is he/her perhaps ill with a pebble stuck down there or something??
Hope all is going ok, my dog isn't sick from eating those dried worm cubes for which i am eternally grateful. however, $20 worth of food has now gone down his stomach along with the jack daniels choccies.
Bummer.