My guy is pink!!!

Okay, so I've been cycling my tank for almost a week now. I used an old filter to carry over some of the bacteria, as well as put the ornaments in w/o washing them, in hopes of getting the good colonies going. I monitored the water, and tested it every day. So tonight I moved my guy into his new tank, and now he's bright pink! He is normally all white (see icon) and right now his gills are standing straight up, so i think that means he's really stressed. He didn't like the temporary tank at all, as he wasn't eating, and jumped at everything. (Normally he's really calm)
But my tank did everything that the cycling article said would happen. There is no ammonia, no nitrites, Nitrates are at 20ppm, and pH is about 7.6. Now his tank had older water, in which the Nitrates were like 40-60ppm, and Nitrite was like 3.0.
Could he just be freaking out because of the differences in the water? I transfered water between the two tanks every day, for mixing, and tonight put in some of the old tank water with him. I'm afraid to go to bed, and i don't have any old water to put him in for the fridge. I mean, it would be just normal, dechlorinated tap water. Help!

He also seems to be flicking his gills a lot. Could this be an oxygen thing? omg, i'm so paranoid, sorry guys.

(Message edited by liquidpanda on September 29, 2005)

In his new tank, the water is cycled? If you have any nitrites, it's toxic to your axolotl.

If there was a change in temperature, such as the new tank is colder, this would cause him to go pink.

Gills straight up, and flicking the gills is usually a good thing. This means they're trying to move fresh water over their gills. If you want him to stop flicking, I'd add an airstone or such.

my leucistics go pink when it gets hotter, but its usually just the tails. you can use normal dechlorinated tap water to put him in the fridge just make sue you do daily water changes (make sure the water is the same temp as the old) he could just be a bit stressed out, mine go pink too when i have to move them around, as long as its not like blood thats come to the surface i wouldnt worry unless it persists

Thanks guys, for the info. lol, i figured that if he had flushed pink, he was like, going into shock or something, but it sounds like maybe he didn't like all the moving around.

My Nitrites are zero, and my Nitrates are somewhere between 20 and 40ppm. He's just acting odd is all. Like right now, he's walking around his tank.. like, he just made a lap, which is weird because he usually swims everywhere...

i'm keepin a really close eye on him, though, so thanks for the info on putting him into the fridge.

The older they get, the less they actually swim. Mine walk instead of swim. He's probably just exploring the new digs.

well, he's back to normal color today. i think that the water was just too warm for him. I read some other posts on here, and went and bought a thermometer. I didnt' think i'd need one, since i live in Norther Cali, and it's much colder up here, typically around 19C/66F, and we're not runnin the heater yet. But sure enough, the water was about 25C/78F. So i threw in an ice pack last night before bed, and voila!! Temp down = white axolotl!! Thanks guys!

Amanda - now that you have moved the axolotl into the tank monitor the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate daily for a few weeks. The waste from the axolotl may cause a rise in parameters again.

gday just wonderin if anyone can help me. my axalotl had the hole pink tail thing happenen wich i red about above. but it is continually goin to the surface and gulping, is this normal? it has also has been floating over the top of the filter, whats goin on there? i just cleaned the filter and a whole lot of <font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font> came out, so i dont no if that being dirty had anything to do with it.

Hi Reynolds, what are your water conditions? It could be a peak in any of the following: Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate.

If your axie's tail is pink, sounds like he/she might be too warm in its tank. Can you please post your water conditions, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and also PH and Water temp?

It sounds like your axie might be stressed from the water conditions. I hope this help a little

gulping is normal. dont worry about it, but i suppose if hes doing it excessivly (like once every half hour) you could have a problem, maybe not enough oxygen in the water. floating is normal when theyve gulped, the air keeps them floating till they let it out. if theyre having trouble getting back down put him in a container with just enough water to cover him and place it in a cool place (covered so it cant jump out!!)

thanks rheann and sharn.im had a good look in the tank sturred up the stones abit and to my suprise a whole heep of waste came up. so im replacing the stones and water tomoro. and i cleaned the filter which was pretty dirty. i didnt relise the axie was such a dirty animal (as its the first one ive ever had). so well c how it goes with some cleaner conditions.

STOP!!! dont clean out all of the water (maybe 30-50%)!!! and only use a gravel siphon on your stones! if you remove both of them there goes your cycled tank. if you do a water change when you siphon the gravel (30% every two weeks) you should maintain a healthy tank for you axie!!

dont worry sharn. thats what i did.