debadog
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- Oct 9, 2016
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- Location
- London, England
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I've had my axolotl about 4 months, he/she's somewhere between 9-10 months old. He's normally pretty active and super friendly, and will come to the front of the tank when talked to (by my mum...she's completely dotty), swim up to greet me when I open the tank lid and generally hang out facing the front of the tank so I can nearly always see him directly.
As of yesterday he's been acting so oddly - squeezing himself right into the corners, and edges of things (like flat between the tiny gap between the filter and the tank side, I nearly had a heart attack), hiding behind objects, burrowing his face and lying flat against the ground (instead of resting on his legs, with his tummy elevated). He won't swim up to the surface for his dinner anymore I have to lower it down to him though I never had to do that before
He's also flapping his gills like crazy sometimes, like moving them more than once a second/constantly. The filter creates bubbles and disturbs the surface of the water, so I don't know how he could suddenly be low on oxygen! There is no current, I have plants in there that don't move at all and the filter hasn't changed since I got him. He lives on sand so no cause for impaction.
Since his behaviour hasn't changed in a couple days I tested the water and it was perfect - 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite and 20-40ppm nitrate - I did a water change yesterday. He's also still happily eating his earthworms! He looks in a generally good condition, no change to his appearance at all.
So things that COULD possibly be the cause:
- The tank is currently between 22-23C, I know its too warm but I'm working on a solution. I'm trying to look into a new tank with a mesh lid (my radiator is always off and its not even that hot in the UK atm so I have no idea how its that warm!), though this won't be possible for a little while. Its a temporary situation and I thought he could manage it for now.
- I recently (a few weeks ago) introduced plants which are doing pretty well. A couple of leaves died but I let them rot as i assumed that would be okay, and they are now gone. I've started letting INDIRECT sunlight hit the tank from the window across the room in order to keep them alive without putting the horrible bright flourescents on - he always has dark spots in the tank and can easily escape light if he wants to.
- I haven't been rinsing my filter at all and it looks pretty gross, I always forget because you aren't allowed to do it at the same time as changing the water which is the only bloody time I remember to do it! Is that a problem?
Is there something obvious that I'm missing? Shall I just keep an eye on him? I have no idea what to do
As of yesterday he's been acting so oddly - squeezing himself right into the corners, and edges of things (like flat between the tiny gap between the filter and the tank side, I nearly had a heart attack), hiding behind objects, burrowing his face and lying flat against the ground (instead of resting on his legs, with his tummy elevated). He won't swim up to the surface for his dinner anymore I have to lower it down to him though I never had to do that before
He's also flapping his gills like crazy sometimes, like moving them more than once a second/constantly. The filter creates bubbles and disturbs the surface of the water, so I don't know how he could suddenly be low on oxygen! There is no current, I have plants in there that don't move at all and the filter hasn't changed since I got him. He lives on sand so no cause for impaction.
Since his behaviour hasn't changed in a couple days I tested the water and it was perfect - 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite and 20-40ppm nitrate - I did a water change yesterday. He's also still happily eating his earthworms! He looks in a generally good condition, no change to his appearance at all.
So things that COULD possibly be the cause:
- The tank is currently between 22-23C, I know its too warm but I'm working on a solution. I'm trying to look into a new tank with a mesh lid (my radiator is always off and its not even that hot in the UK atm so I have no idea how its that warm!), though this won't be possible for a little while. Its a temporary situation and I thought he could manage it for now.
- I recently (a few weeks ago) introduced plants which are doing pretty well. A couple of leaves died but I let them rot as i assumed that would be okay, and they are now gone. I've started letting INDIRECT sunlight hit the tank from the window across the room in order to keep them alive without putting the horrible bright flourescents on - he always has dark spots in the tank and can easily escape light if he wants to.
- I haven't been rinsing my filter at all and it looks pretty gross, I always forget because you aren't allowed to do it at the same time as changing the water which is the only bloody time I remember to do it! Is that a problem?
Is there something obvious that I'm missing? Shall I just keep an eye on him? I have no idea what to do
