My Axie is turning black

[Jennar]

Hello guys my leucistic axolotl is starting to grow some black areas on the top of her head and spreading to her back. It started off red and looking white like she was shredding her skin. It has progressed pretty quick from white to black.

She's eating normally and my other axolotl is showing no change.

Does anyone have any advice they could offer me?

[Sky]

I think she just maybe developing more colour. Any change in water quality or food?

The first week I got my first axolotl, Alec, who is white and pink with bits of blue, he suddenly had more blue on his head and on his side to when I had bought him. He's still developing more blue over his head.

[Jennar]

Just the usual, changed 20% of the water added the water purifier, no change to diet they're on an earthworm a day. Since I posted this I added some disease & fungus water purifier as well just in case, it seems to have settled down a bit and she seems a lot more active.
Some of the colouring has gone but there's still one or two patches left.

So maybe it could be that and its just a layer of skin/slime that was ready to come off to reveal this colouring. I know that when they're are mature enough they do turn black in places, I think I was a bit concerned, and it's best to catch it quick then see how it goes and for it to get worse.

Your axolotl sounds like a beautiful colour! Thank you for the reply!

[Caitie]

Looks pretty normal for a leucistic- many of them have "freckles" which are pigment that naturally occur along their midline (forgot the technical term)- My Peta has freckles on his nose .
As to purifier, and anti-fungal, which ones are you using? Some are VERY dangerous for axies- if you haven't checked Axolotls - Health & Diseases yet, do it immediately.
Also important (Just in case), could you give us your tank's
Temperature
Volume
Substrate
pH
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate

It's also a good idea for you to have an idea of where your tank's sitting in terms of its parameters.

[Jennar]

The chemicals I'm using is Gold, I checked for the safe known ones but they didn't have any so I looked at the known hazardous ones and made an educated guess to go for ones which isn't on that list. I've been using it for 1year and 6months for the tank with no side effects until this.

I couldn't tell you all that information off the top of my head, (im going to sound like a really bad owner now)

Temperature 22degrees c
Volume 35litres in a 45litre tank

My other Axolotl has a freckled nose too he always looks like a mischievous school kid.
thank you for all the advice and I'll make sure i find out the other information to see if thats whats doing her any harm.

Thanks again.

[Caitie]

Right, some things just from what you've given us:

1. Might be an idea to get the temperature down a bit- a large fan straight onto the surface of the water works wonders.

2. Tank size- Having done small tanks with axies myself, it's a very difficult balancing act to do long-term. Each axie needs at least one hide (and one spare), you really need to make sure your tank is PERFECTLY cycled, and your water changes (2L/day works well) need to be frequent and thorough. Also, the better you can filter the tank (Without having the water flow getting too high- this will make your axie lose the rami/fluffy stuff and cause MAJOR freakouts on everyone's behalves). It's a good idea to start looking for a bigger tank (e-bayyyyy!!), and start thinking about shifting them to bigger accommodations :) Be warned- tanks are addictive (I went 20L>200L, and I'm about to go to 400L min )
Also, make sure you're listening to what your axies are telling you- if something's wrong, they'll put their gills forwards, and may even follow you to get your attention (As my original boys did when the 20L they were in to escape the summer heat crashed)

3. Levels- Don't worry- we don't want the levels off the top of your head, you need to do the tests to know, and because your tank's so small, it's a good idea to be doing them every day or two to monitor the chemicals that can be very dangerous to your axies. Don't use the strip tests- they don't work, get one of the tests with the test tubes- they're accurate enough to catch things before they go spiraling out of control :)

Welcome to axie-holics-anonymous!

[Jennar]

brilliant information thank you so much for that.
i'm at work at the moment but will get the fan on as soon as I get home.

At the moment im sticking to a smaller tank as I'm at uni and having a bigger one would cause a bit of a hassle when i go home, although i'm finishing soon so i suppose i wont be doing anymore trips but will be looking out for a bigger tank. they're still pretty dinky at the moment but thats ever changing.

I'll also now be looking to upgrade the filter on payday, i usually filter it for 45minutes on high then turn it back down for a gentler current, turning it off at night for about 4 hours as they like the still water more, I'm cleaning the filter everyday too but maybe 4 hours of standing water is too long. I do occasionally catch her sitting under filter too

The first thing i do is look at their gills and tale tip to make sure its not bent, when there looking paler ill give them another worm too . her gills are normal at the moment from when i last looked at her this morning, ill take another photo to update you with things may have changed since then.

haha pleased to finally join you.
I'm always on this site, but only just joined. should have done it ALOT sooner!

[Caitie]

Word of warning- NEVER turn your filter off completely unless you're cleaning it- All you're doing is killing off the bacteria (Another case of "Found this out the hard way"-don't worry, most people don't find out until they've crashed it a billion times and have an aquatic graveyard bigger than Westminister (The only place I could think of off the top of my head with dead people) ). I'd probs just be leaving it on low all the time- no need to put it full bore in a 20L, and you get used to the noise at night pretty easily. Perhaps also invest in some Java Moss- I swear by the stuff and its marvellous powers of cleaning and covering (just keep it off the filter's intake if its electric :P).
Also, congrats on nearly finishing uni!!

[Jennar]

Wont be doing that again then, don't fancy that many haunting's under one roof.
I've had ferns in there but never java moss, ill have a look into that too see what I can find, and thank you. Just a scary couple of terms left but I'm sure they'll be fine.