Gills Curled, Tail OK for now.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read my questions, i am posting here because i want to do everything and anything to help my little guy get through his stressed state, below is a picture of how he is:

What basically happned is i didnt fully understand the nitrogen cycle process when my we got him, and we introduced him in the tank that wasnt cycled, so now he is going through the cycle process with the tank, we have a 30 gallon tank with a Fluval 306 canister filter turned down to a very low flow rate i dont think its the current thats stressing him, the tank has a chiller set to 65 degrees so his temp is pretty constant. i tested the PH and it reads 6.8. i used 5-in-1 test strips and nitrate and nitrite are at or close to 0ppm. i used test tube style tester for ammonia and its been reading between 0-.25ppm due to the daily 10-20% water changes im doing. but his gills are still curled forwards.

any suggestions on how to un-stress him or do you think he will be stressed during the whole cycling process ? anything else i can do to make him more comfortable ?

thank you guys !!!

here is a better picture:

also, what is the absolute max level of ammonia and nitrate/nitrite that i should see before i get worried and do a larger water change ? i was told that .25ppm and under is alright, not ideal but alright for ammonia

chadgladue said:

here is a better picture:

also, what is the absolute max level of ammonia and nitrate/nitrite that i should see before i get worried and do a larger water change ? i was told that .25ppm and under is alright, not ideal but alright for ammonia

Click to expand...

The most ammonia and Nitrite should really get to, from what I have heard, is .25ppm after that you should start doing water changes. NitrAtes can get to 40ppm before a water change. You might also want to remove your axoltol from the tank until you can cycle it. Cycling with your axolotl inside the tank IS stressful. Fishless cycling is better.
This website helped me a ton,
Fishless Cycling - How to Start - A detailed guide from DrTim's Aquatics

You should also try using the drop kit when testing your nitrates and nitrites. You can get the whole sha-bang for $25 at petsmart, that lasts for over 800 tests.
*I tried using strips yesterday and got a reading of 1ppm nitrites when they were in fact at 5ppm.* (they are notoriously inaccurate)*

As far as the gills, It could just be because she is new to the environent she is put in. Curled gills are a more serious problem if they are touching their head, hers look to be barely curled.


Get a second opinion on all of this ^. That is just what I have learned from being on Caudata and I do not want to give false information. Good luck to you