Miles update.....ph high!

Well....I was pretty happy with the way Miles was looking, and eating very happily, so I decided it was time to put him back in his tank yesterday (after two weeks at least in the fridge).
He wouldn't eat worms last night or tonight, but did try and was starving so I gave him a sliver of fresh beef both nights and he snapped it up.

My complete test kit came in today, (too late to test before I put him back in the tank) and I did all my tests tonight. Now heres the weird thing.
My tank has been cycling since November, but there was absolutely no nitrate reading! Ph was 8!! Thankfully ammonia and nitrite are both 0, but why no nitrate? I changed to sand probably 2 months ago, and added a plant about two weeks ago (which is showing the first signs of unhealthiness! )
Are these changes affecting the nitrate reading?! Does this mean the tank has gone into a mini cycle?

Miles himself is showing signs of stress from something....he is sluggish and wonky, with his whole tale curved around (almost like he is trying to help balance himself with it in the water!). The only time he looked at all normal was when I showed him food, but try as he might he could not keep a worm in his mouth.

I gave him a break from salt bath tonight because he just looked so exhausted....I don't know what else to do....

8 is getting on the high side for ph? How can I bring it down? Peat moss was suggested on my other thread, but also that it wasn't necessarily the best idea? (still haven't found out whether I can even get it here yet).

Temp is steady at 16 degrees. Just when I think I am getting the hang of this and Miles is looking better.....Help!

PS still can't post a pic...

8. is only bad if your ammonia is higher than 0.

Do you have many live plants?

Row, the live plants consume the nitrates, other than that I'm not sure what it means in a cycling or established tank.

Thanks for getting back to me Kapo! I have one live plant (that is rapidly going towards dying - the pet shop said it would never survive in water with such a high ph, so I am happy that it has lasted this long) and the ammonia is 0 so I guess that is ok!

Do you think Miles is just a bit wonky from re-adjusting to his tank? Yesterday he looked a bit like a moon walker struggling to stay on the ground, but he has settled down a little today and I will salt bath him tonight.....fingers crossed! His tail is still curved around in a semi-circle though....

Just tested the ph in both my filtered tap water (straight out of the tap) and dechlorinated tap water that has aged for 2 days and was surprised that they both came back at about 7.6. I am about to test my tap water straight out of the tap to see what reading that gives me....I shall be interested to see. It may be something in my tank that is pushing the ph up.....Is it true that aged wood in your tank can help bring down the ph? That is my next dollar saving project anyway, but I hope this is the case!
Thanks again Kapo for responding, I will keep you posted and keep trying to get a picture up (PS I am almost proud of his tank set up now....its starting to look like a real one!)

Test results in on dechl tap water straight out of tap...everything 0 except ph which was 7.9, so there must be something in my tank, or something I am doing to drive up ph. Am going to search now....(ph test was much redder from the tank, although 7.9 is close to 8 there was more of a visual difference!)
I will now age all water to go in tank for at least 2 days!

Row, the difference between 7.9 and 8 on a home-test kit is negligible.

I suggest getting a professional test done as a baseline, and basing your tests from that, as home test kits are notorious for being inaccurate.

Sorry Kaysie, been off line for a little while...I did have the ph tested at the pet shop and it registered there as 7.9 as well. I decided to get my own test kit as they didn't have any of the test kits for "ammonia and that" and I though I would rather be in control of my own testing!

Well Miles was doing a lot better until the last few days. He still eats well and has put on quite a bit of weight, but has a few spots of fungus on him! I tried to catch him and give him a salt bath, but after a couple of weeks of that and fridge treatment he had other ideas!

Now I notice (over the last few days) one of his gills are shrinking!? I have done some reading on the subject, and morphing and water quality were the main things I read. But why would only one gill be shrinking?

The pet shop sold me Melafix (I fell for it again!), and after reading was thinking maybe giving him the half dose....there must be something wrong in his tank! He hasn't been able to spend longer than a few weeks at a time in there without getting fungus!
There must be a way I can treat him in the tank without stressing him to death by trying to catch him?! (he was seriously evading me! I do not stand a chance of catching him...)

Row, did you manage to get tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? (it is a bit more expensive but you can usually pick up a master test kit which contains pH and these ones)

If you do have them then test your water before adding any melafix and see what your results are.

Damage can happen to one gill shrinking before the other one - not necessarily both - I've seen axies here with damage to one gill rather than both through water quality, usually at schools/libraries where they don't realise their axies are ailing.

How old is Miles again.

I did manage to get tests for all....my results were all 0 except ph at 7.9!
Haven't done a test for a few days, but am going to tonight. I think he is probably about a year old? I got him in November and he hasn't grown that much since then (but he hasn't eaten very well either) and is 15 and 1/2 cm. I think he has shrunk actually. He did have black tips on his toes for a while, but do they disappear? because he doesn't now.
He is looking a little better tonight, still has fungus, but is moving around a bit better!
Will let you know the results, and would like your advice on the Melafix too Kapo!

I'm probably not the right person to ask about Melafix. I don't like to use nor have ever had to use any medicines apart from salt baths.

A few other owners have used melafix, which is on the safe list, but think they may have used it at half doseage.

If he's a year or older, I don't think he can metamorph as it usually occurs when they're under a year old.

Our leucs have the darkish toe tips, but sometimes they're noticeable and other times not - or maybe i've just got used to them ; our dark wildtypes have the paler toetips.

Results are in! Everything comes back 0 except ph which has come down a little to 7.8. I was going to do a partial (10lt) water change tonight but decided not to after the results came in. It has been 4 days since I changed 10lt and will do tomorrow. Next time I go to town I will see if the pet shop will do a test for me, just to make sure everything is right....
Assuming my results are correct, I can't understand why Miles is still unhappy! Any ideas?
Am going now to do a little more research on Melafix....

I forgot to add the other rather disturbing development....Miles has had a defined lump on his chest for the last few weeks. Now at first I put this down to him being so skinny (you can see his hip bones and I thought maybe that was his chest bones showing through), but in the last few days it seems to be getting larger? (even though he is putting on weight)!!!!
I have taken photos, but still cannot load them!!!!!
Having just said that it allowed me to include this shot of Miles from his first salt bath (about a month ago?) Not a very good shot, but you can see the fungus on his body and on his eyes too...

Ok i tried but it wouldn't let me! Not fair at this rate I will never get a current photo up! <font color="000000">Miles has put weight on since this photo, and the fungus was gone when he went back in the tank, but has come back in the same places.... </font>

Try again
You can see the lump under there....it has changed shape now and I'm thinking maybe it is food getting stuck?

PS Have just noticed what looks to be the same fungus growing on the live plant!!!? Do I just pick off the effected leaves? I can't scrub live plants...The leaves are also starting to die, almost like they are rotting? There must be fungus in the tank!

Row, I can't keep plants alive either. They die no matter what I do. Fungus that infects animals is rarely the same as that which affects plants. I doubt the two are correlated.

If the leaves are dying, it's best to pull the entire plant out. Rotting leaves cause increasing pH. The fungus on the plant is causing the plant to die. I'm not botanist, so I can't say what to do to bring it back, but if you're like me, it's a goner.

As for the lump, I'm not seeing anything in the picture that looks too abnormal. Axolotls don't have 'chest bones'. They have ribs, but not a sternum.

Thanks Kaysie...I think i will remove the plant, but it looks so nice, and I am sure it must be better for Miles than having all fake plants (unless of course it is dying!).
I will see if I can get a better pic of his chest...the lump is now lopsided with the right hand side the same, but on the left hand side the lump has moved forward more under his chin! Looks rather disconcerting!