Illness/Sickness: Axolotl gills gone?!

Hey all, I'm really worried about my axolotl; his gills are gone! He's also really lethargic and looks thin. I'm going to test the water and I cleared some junk out of the water filter already [didn't change the filter, I know there's good bacteria in there]. Should I fridge him? He's not with any other axolotls but he has been eating live minnows. I have removed them from his tank now, though he was eating them before with no problems (I would throw in a frozen bloodworm cube occasionally to feed my axolotl for some variety and the minnows would eat the scattered bloodworms. I think they pick algae off of the marimo moss balls I have in the tank too, so I didn't think they would resort to eating my axolotls gills!) They should grow back right? Any suggestions on what I should do now to help him recover? Thanks for your help!

Don't fridge unnecessarily.

Put him in a tub of cool clean dechlorinated water and change it at least once 100% daily. Twice a day if you can.

Do you quarantine the minnows or breed them yourself? Feeder fish are risky as they can harbour disease and parasites.

Any fish can nip at axolotls gills that's why you should always keep an eye on it. It wouldn't have happened suddenly.

What are your water parameters?


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emdalliance said:

Don't fridge unnecessarily.

Put him in a tub of cool clean dechlorinated water and change it at least once 100% daily. Twice a day if you can.

Do you quarantine the minnows or breed them yourself? Feeder fish are risky as they can harbour disease and parasites.

Any fish can nip at axolotls gills that's why you should always keep an eye on it. It wouldn't have happened suddenly.

What are your water parameters?


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Click to expand...

PH is at about 7.6, Ammonia is 0.25ppm, Nitrite comes in at 0ppm. I noticed his gills looked a bit smaller than usual but didn't think the fish were the cause. I bought them from a pet store as feeder minnows, I didn't breed them myself. I didn't quarantine them but I've already taken them all out of the tank.
Today I tried feeding him and he did the usual inhale but then the food just fell out of his mouth, nothing stayed in. I'm worried he won't eat now, and I don't know if I can force-feed him if he's already stressed out because of his gills.