HELP! Is he sick?

Hello, everyone! My name is Tina. I am brand new to the forum.

I just received my VERY FIRST axolotls today. I have a leucistic and a wildtype. The leucistic looks strong and healthy, with pretty, frilly gills, but the wildtype's gills look like they've been eaten away by something! Maybe by another axie? Maybe by a fungus or bad water conditions? I don't know what the cause is, and I don't know to what extent I should be worried, or what I should do. Can anyone please help? Here are some photos of his gills:

EDIT-

Oh my god! Now the leucistic bit the wildtype on the arm!! A tiny bit of blood came out, and he's holding his arm up like it hurts! They are both the same size, and they're both about 4 inches long from the tip of their nose to the tip of their tail. I thought that axies who were more than 3 inches long are not supposed to nip eachother! So in addition to having bad gills, my wildtype now has an injury!! I put a partition in the tank and separated them so that this would not happen again. Look at the pic where he's holding his arm up! See the blood? Please help!

EDIT-

OK, since no one has replied yet, I've gone ahead and read other threads, and it seems that it would be a good idea if I put him in the fridge, so that's what I did. But someone suggested that you should do a 100% water change on him tomorrow?? That CAN'T be right! 100%?? I'm planning doing a 20% water change tomorrow. I have hard water in my town, so I treated a bunch of it with Aquasafe, and I'm letting it sit overnight. Then, I'm going to use it for the 20% water change tomorrow. But if anyone could please reply to this thread, I would REALLY appreciate it! Thanks!

(Message edited by velaria on April 26, 2007)

<p>

<p>
+++ jpeg +++ 82876 +++ ax3 +++

(Message edited by velaria on April 26, 2007)

Tina, RELAX! Breathe!

The gills look a little stubby, but I'm guessing they'll grow back with good care. Cool water, good quality, good food.

Mine bite each other all the time. They do that. It's ok. To prevent future fights, be sure your tank is of adequate size (at least a 20gallon long for two axolotls) and be sure to provide lots of hiding spots. And keep them well-fed.

I'll assume your tank is not cycled. Please do a forum search on cycling. This is important! You should also pick up a water quality test kit at the local fish store. You'll need to test ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. pH and others aren't as important as these 3.

If your tank is not cycled, you'll need to do frequent, regular water changes. This depends on how large your tank is, but around 20% three times a week is usually about right, depending on your levels.

I agree with Kaysie. As Monty Python would say, 'tis a mere flesh wound. Provide plenty of food, and plenty of hiding places in the tank, and this will reduce the chance of further nibbling. Just be very careful not to leave any uneaten food in the tank, as it will generate ammonia, especially during the cycling period.

Thank you for replying! I don't know what you guys mean by "cycled", but I had 2 guppies and a bullfrog tadpole living in the tank for a couple of months, so the water is "used". I have a weak filter, I did a ph test and a nitrate/nitrate test on the water last night, and those things seemed to be ok. The PH was 7.2, and the nitrate/nitrite water test turned a very light green, which I believe corresponded with .025 on the little readout thing that they give you, and then you're supposed to do some kind of mathematical equation with that and your water temperature (my temp was 68F), and I came up with a final nitrate/nitrite readout of .0023 or something like that. It was .00 something. That's good, right?

I didn't do an ammonia test, because I thought that the nitrates had something to do with ammonia.

he looks like he needs a little sling! but I suspect the little guys where unsettled and they just needed to find their 'spots' . one of mine claimed the tube and the other the moss balls( have 2 which she hers till they are together and then she sits on them). I am also having probs getting to understand this testing lark! did an ammoia test and all was groovy , then did the nitrate nitite thing and by all accounts my tank should be in dire trouble..so am now off to find an idiots guide to doing this!. All the best with your little guys

Yes, the testing thing is pretty confusing. The PH test is the easiest thing in the world, but I'm having trouble knowing what is considered a good nitrate/nitrite readout, and what is considered bad. And is it necessary to test for ammonia when you're testing the nitrites and nitrates?

Yes it is necessary to test for ammonia. Don't confuse nitrIte with nitrAte. Ammonia especially, then NitrIte are the two most important ones to test when a tank is cycling. If there is any ammonia in the tankwater and you have a very high pH level 8+ then your tankwater effectively becomes more toxic.

Tina, your test kit sounds very confusing to me. The one I have you just get a sample of water in the test tube add the drops (shake if necessary), leave for the required time then check what the levels are.

A good ammonia or nitrIte level is 0, anything above those levels should require a partial waterchange. Good NitrAte levels can vary between 10-40ppm/gm depending on if you have live plants in your tank which can effect these levels.

Nitrite and nitrate are two different things; I've never seen a single test that can test for both (but I'm sure there are lots of things in this world I've never seen).

These articles should help explain some of this:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishkeeping

Kapo, can you please tell me which test you use? The one that I have tests for nitrites and nitrates together, and yes, it is very confusing.

I have the Freshwater Master Test kit by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. I lost the link for some reason, will try and upload a photo of it!

(Message edited by kapo on April 27, 2007)

Thanks for all the fantastic imfo ( yet again!)..I think I'm begining to understand it more now. I was using the 5 in one testers but will look for the type Kapo has. I have just about tested every water source I have..the Water but appears to have a high ph, the warm tap ( our hot water supply fills a tank that drains into the boiler/ hot water tank thingy) ph was good but held traces of nitrite etc ( presume the chlorine will have gone)..anyway..off to spend money ....again

Kapo how much did you pay for that tester kit? Everywhere I go it always costs $80 and I cant really buy that.

Ours cost $45 including postage. But we got it online through the NZ auctionsite. You could try ebay or check out the online aquarium stores in Oz, Costs $58 through an online aquarium store, costs more at the petshop $75+ at last look.

this is a link to a website i buy all my products from on the net, they are very cheap and trustworthy, i payed $35.00 for the freshwater test kit that has everything you need http://www.aquaticlifeaquariums.com.au/

The 5-in-1 test strips are less reliable that the liquid kids - and now I think I understand what you mean about doing the two tests at once. But if you already have the strips, I think you can just use those, at least until they run out. As long as they're fresh, they are adequate for testing.

Stephen, if you can afford only one test kit, then the ammonia kit is the one to get. Ammonia is the most toxic, and serves as a good indicator for "things going wrong". On a routine basis, as long as ammonia is zero and you are doing the recommended water changes religiously, you'll probably be OK.