A few more questions.

Hello again,

I hope I am not bothering people with my posting all the time. You are all very informative, I keep coming up with new questions !!

Ok here is what is happening with Xerxes. I put a container of water out to sit last night so that I can put him into it tonight, wrap in a tea-towel and put him in the fridge. If you saw my picture of him, you will see that he is horribly skinny and unwell. I will be salt-bathing him as directed twice a day- morning and night.

Question 1: How long should I put him in the fridge for considering he has zero body mass and will he cope with such a sudden change? He is looking very fragile but he still swims around his tank and peers through the glass at me.

His tank is approximately 2ft x 1ft x 1ft. It sits on the ledge between my living area and my kitchen. There is no direct sunlight, and it is not a terribly well lit area. I have a filter that hangs off the side of the tank and trickles back in. It does most definitely have a lid. I never use chemicals in or around my home as I have a young Quaker parrot and I cannot use them around him.

Question 2: Should I move his tank, or purchase a new filter? I now know to stir the sand on the bottom up when I siphon the bottom of his tank. I also fish debris out with a net every single day.

Question 3: While he is recuperating in the fridge, would it be wise to clean out his tank over a few days or would that defeat the purpose of cycling?

I never did it to start with, but there was zero ammonia/nitrite/nitrate last night when I did my test tube tests. I tried three times for each test, rinsing the tube thoroughly each time. I think the plants that are in there are helping his water quality.

Question 4: If you think I should cleanse the tank, could you please instruct me properly so that I know how to do it properly and safely in the future?

Question 5: I tried earthworms today. He refused to eat still –sigh- is there a way that I can force him to eat or encourage him? Its like he has completely forgotten what eating is, and has the greatest resistance to temptation I have ever seen.

All I want him to do is put a bit of weight on. I am so worried about him starving. That seems to be the greatest problem now considering all of the water tests were satisfactory.

Thanks in advance for helping us!
Nat

I don't have a lot of time to answer all your questions at the moment, but as far as feeding: drop a piece of worm about as big as his head is wide in with him in a small bowl, and leave it in the dark, on the counter, without disturbing it for a couple hours. Chances are he will eat without an audience.

As far as the fridge: you can just put the whole bowl in the fridge. You'll need to put in water to do water changes, so the old and new water are the same temperature. You'll need to change the water nearly daily.

Why are you doing salt baths?

Kaysie, Nat's axolotl has fungus so that is why salt baths were advised in another thread.

I'm at work so my answers will be rushed too Nat but will do my best:

1. I think you should fridge Xerxes until the fungus is gone. He probably won't eat while he was sick and the fridge will lower his metabolism and mean he requires less food.

2. Not sure why you are wondering if you should move the tank or replace the filter? Axolotls prefer less sunlight so it sounds like it is in a good spot. If your tank has cycled fine it sounds like your filter is doing its job.

3. As your tank is cycled you can do 20% water changes weekly and it should be fine. I do ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and ph tests once a week now that my tank is cycled and the water change.

4. Cleaning the tank. Well I just wipe the walls down with a sponge (one that has never had chemicals on it), I stir up the sand, suck up any waste with a turkey baster and remove and replace 20% of the water. I often take my axolotl out of the tank just to make it easier but this is not required.

5. I really doubt Xerxes will eat whilst he has fungus. Axolotls rarely eat when they are sick. So after the fungus is gone he should start eating again. You can keep offering food though, just in case. And if he doesn't eat it, well you can just clean it up and try again another time.

On a final note, he should need to eat less in the fridge so he is less likely to starve in the fridge. I kept my axolotl in the fridge for nearly three weeks in a heat wave, he did not eat and he was fine. Took him a day to start eating again when he came out and then he was fine.

Thanks Sarah, I haven't been keeping up to speed lately.

Fridging in conjunction with salt baths (make sure the salt baths are the same temperature as the fridge as well!) will help fungus.

Hi Nat and xerxes
The filter you have is very good at creating water flow ( I have 2 in my loach tank ) which might be causing some stress ( not wanting to eat ).
Have you turned down the flow rate ?
You could try making a ramp to distribute the water over the surface and stop it falling into the tank.
I used the plastic from an ice cream container to do this once.
I'm no expert , just something I saw in your photo.
Hope this helps

= D I have done everything now yay! And I am giving him salt baths. I made up a big covered jug of water to sit in the fridge so I can do changes and baths for him!

I also made a little ice cream container ramp for the filter!! I am so super excited about him being happya nd healthy again. I think he smiled at me! -corny-

And I tested the water again for interests sake - the same!