Illness/Sickness: Ammonia at 1ppm ill axolotl !!

My axolotl is around a year old. I moved him into a 20 gallon tank around the 15th and up until now he has been happy in it.

I do a 25% water change every week with dechloinated water. His temperature fluctuates some in the 15-20C range, a couple of days (in the first week of the new tank) it would go to 24C (but I would bring it back down). I ordered a chiller to keep it stable, it should arrive today. My filter is working fully. Right now the tank is at 18C.

I cleaned my filter (aquaclear power filter) on Monday with tank water. The mediums were very dirty and had a junk build up underneath them. I have not replaced the foam, carbon, or biomax since I bought the filter on 2/12/17. Would you recommend replacing any parts?

Also when I moved him into the old tank I kept all the decorations and mediums wet with old tank water and kept around 5gs of old tank water in my tank.

The water parameters are (liquid test kit):
Ph: 6.4
Ammonia: 1pmm (how do I bring this down??)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

Yesterday I noted two peices missing from his tail and a white bump on his head. His skin is also flaking off and floating around the tank. I did a 50% water change late last night and tested my tap water (it was all fine). I just used a q tip to lightly poke the white bump today and it came off, underneath it is a large red mark. I have attached photos.

He is eating and is acting a little slower than normal but still jumps around when touched.

Please let me know your recommendations to bring down ammonia, is a water change a day okay? Also any recommendations for changing filter media/issues with that.

Thank you!






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Anyone? The water is very cloudy as well. I've kept up with 1/4 water changes each week and the ammonia is not going over 1, but it's not going down past .5 either.


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Your new tank appears to be cycling, and you're in the ammonia spike part of it. With ammonia that high, you need daily water testing and most likely, large (50% or more) water changes. You might get by with every other day, depending on what your tests show your levels at. During this stage of cycling, I do daily changes unless the ammonia is .25 or less. I also add Prime daily, with or without a water change, as it will bind the ammonia for 24-48 hrs., meaning it may be there, but it won't be as toxic and dangerous. I also use Stability to seed in beneficial bacteria. Some people think that does nothing, I disagree.
Rinsing the filter mediums in tank water is good, but if they are really dirty, you're most likely not doing it frequently enough, which will impact water quality. Foam can be reused until it's looking really bad (torn, missing chunks, etc.). I'm not 100% sure what "biomax" is, but I'm guessing it's most likely a filter medium designed for bacteria to grow on, and as such, should not be messed with too much; only clean it if really solid dirt/debris are on it, and then a gentle rinse in tank water is all you should do. Carbon/carbon cartridges can and should be replaced frequently; at least once a month or more. Carbon loses its effectiveness very quickly, so replace it often. At this point, I'd do that weekly until the ammonia levels lessen. If it's a loose medium you put in a part of the filter, I'd use a carbon/zeolite (ammonia remover) mix or just straight zeolite. You can put loose filter medium in old stockings/knee highs/pantyhose/tights/etc. and put that in the filter, in place of a cartridge if necessary. I put two baseball sized "balls" of that mix tied up in old knee highs just sitting on the bottom of my tank during cycling and it helps lower ammonia levels. (Remember to rinse well under cold running water before putting it in your filter or tank.)
Here are a couple of links:
carbon/zeolite loose mix https://www.amazon.com/Marineland-PA0391-Activated-Neutralizing-Crystals/dp/B0002566YC/ref=sr_1_2/141-8701546-9482614?ie=UTF8&qid=1504639682&sr=8-2&keywords=carbon+and+ammonia+remover
plain loose zeolite https://www.amazon.com/Marineland-PA0382-Neutralizing-Crystals-1417-Gram/dp/B0002566XS/ref=sr_1_3?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1504639831&sr=1-3&keywords=ammonia+remover+aquarium
premade filter bags in case you don't have any pantyhose, etc. https://www.amazon.com/Small-Aquarium-Mesh-Media-Filter/dp/B01MY3L61V/ref=sr_1_9?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1504639897&sr=1-9&keywords=filter+bag+aquarium
Obviously, these are only examples and there are many different brands/varieties to choose from.
Water quality and basic aquatic stuff I'm good at. Axolotl injuries and diseases, not so much. To me, those look like tears in his tail; I'd guess from decorations. If that is lava rock I see in the background, I'd guess he's injured himself on that. Anything that is rough to your skin is rougher and potentially damaging to theirs. I'd personally remove anything rough. Watch for signs of fungus or other infection and read up on it now in case you see it later. That's all I can suggest.
Good Luck!