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Gills

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suvanna

Guest
One of my axie's gills is stubby and it has no fluff. and some of it's other gills are thin and see through -ish- at the end. Is this a problem???
 
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james

Guest
if i were u id just pop him in 2 a vets
happy.gif
 
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joan

Guest
Suvanna, gills tend to be quite variable, depending on your water quality and aeration.

What is your setup like? Do you have a filter or an airstone? Have you cycled your tank? What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature)?
 
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suvanna

Guest
Well at the moment the tanks a bit small but i have just recently got a new tank and we are going to cycle it tonight. We have an airstone. And our filter has just died on us so I need to get a new filter. I'm not sure about the ammonia 'cause I added some Ammonia eliminator and the aquarium people said it just makes the ammonia non-toxic. I'm not sure about the nitrite and nitrate because we don't have the test kits. The temperature isn't too warm but it isn't too cold.
I think the tank is cycled because we used to put our other baby fish in the tank but now we use it for my axie.
I'm not sure bout the vet because I dunno if it'll survive the trip.
 
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lexie

Guest
What's the substrate? Sand/river rocks/bare? Please don't use gravel, if thats what you had when you used it for the baby fish!!
Don't worry about a vet at this stage I'd say... It's difficult to find one that would know anything about axies!

Grab an ammonia test kit, a nitrate test kit and a nitrite test kit... They're important!! The bacteria is in the filter so make sure you put a filter from a used tank back in or give the tank regular water changes and stuff... you def. dont want an ammonia spike!

what colour is the axie - how long have you had it - how old is it?
in the pet shop were there other axies that couldve chewed on its gills?
 
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suvanna

Guest
I'm using gravel because it's not eating the gravel. If not i can take the gravel out and leave a bare floor.
I have an ammonia test kit but I need to get nitrite and nitrate test kits but my parents might not let me but i'll try to get it.
My filter from the used tank is dead and so I'm going to get an external hang on filters probably. and I do tank changes nearly every week. Well actually my dad does 'em and he changes bout one-third of the water in the tank.
My axie is a leucistic(don't have a name for it yet) I've had it since 18th June 2006. and I don't know how old it is.
Yes there were other axies and i dunno if they chewed on its gills but I know that some of the other axies iin the tanks were missing limbs. Also my axie was missing 2 toes from the front left leg when I got it.
 
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alex

Guest
how do you know that your axie doesnt eat the gravel?. i advise that you take the gravel out or swap it for sand asap. you axolotl is likely to accidently swallow some gravel sooner or later.
 
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suvanna

Guest
so should I leave it bare? because I don't really have a lot of gravel in there.
And about cycling is it compulsory because my parents are forcing me to put my axie in the tank tonight and i keep on telling them that it will die but that doesn't really affect them so what should I do to speed the process up a bit.
 
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suvanna

Guest
Oh and they say it doesn't need cycling 'cause whenever we had a new tank and we needed to put the fish in the tank we just let the filter run for a while and then we just popped the fish in and they were o.k
so I want to try and speed the process up a bit.
 

kapo

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Suvanna
Remove the gravel, leave it bare.


Do your parents want you to transfer your axie from the small tank directly to the large tank asap?

If so, fill the large tank and put all the decos and OLD filter media from their small tank into new one as well as the new filter (if you have it), airstone etc... (no need for substrate/gravel - if you can't get sand at this stage - don't even bother with the gravel if you want to keep a healthy axie). Apart from dechlorinator/water ager or water conditioner added to the water, don't add any other chemicals like ammonia eliminator or ph up or downs etc...

Your tank won't cycle overnight (if only it could be so quick! :D) There is no way to speed up cycling, it can take from 4-6 weeks to establish, from the time you set it up.

One thing you will have to be rigorous about is keeping on top of your water quality/tank temperature and checking the water parameters every few days (especially as your axie will be in the water while it is cycling).

Most importantly you will need a test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates, as stated above by others. If you/your parents won't buy them/can't afford them then you will have to ensure you get a sample of the tank water tested at the local petshop/aquarium for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate every couple of days. This is important, you don't want a sick axie. Post your figures here. Waterchanges will have to be done either daily or every 2 days.

Invest in a turkey baster if you don't have one, this is great for spot cleaning of uneaten food/waste or poos.

Also, don;t forget a thermometer, if you don't have one.

Don't be tempted to add fish to speed it up either, as fish tend to nibble gills and have higher waste/ammonia.

(Message edited by kapo on July 10, 2006)
 
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alex

Guest
the reason for your fish being perfectly ok during the cycling process is because fish can handle more ammonia,nitrites and nitrates than axolotls can. the fish are also a smaller bio-load than axies are.
 
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suvanna

Guest
Well I got a nitrite and nitrate test kit and the readings are currently at 0ppm. and the ammonia should be at 0ppm. Won't my axie die if I put him in the new tank.
oh and I can't take the gravel out at the moment coz if i do my parents are gonna kill me for taking it out again.
so how exactly do I cycle the tank while my axie is in the tank
 
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alex

Guest
just do what kapo said " Water changes will have to be done either daily or every 2 days. " the water changes will keep the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels down. it will really help if you put stuff from your all ready cycled tank into the new one as this will have the bacteria on it. stuff like filter media, ornaments ect..
 
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suvanna

Guest
Well there wasn't much in the old tank before. There's just the airstone, the heater and 1 lonely plant. but i'm gonna have to get more stuff to put in the tank.
Also, I wanted to ask if leaving the tank stand for 1 day without the filter on would be considered as the first step of cycling. because the tank has been sorta left alone for one day just with the heater on.
 

kapo

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Don't forget the thermometer (as long as you keep your tank temp below 23-34degrees celcius) - axies can live in temps down to 5degrees celcius; so you don't need a heater at all for an axie, so take the heater out.

If you choose to leave the gravel in, what will/can happen over time is an axie will inadvertantly swallow gravel, it opens its mouth and sucks/grabs the food (at nights they tend to snuffle if they think they can smell food)- it will soon build up in its gut and has only 2 ways to come out (vomiting/regurging or pooing it out). It doesn't always come out the front and sometimes they can get a blockage when trying to poo it out or at worst a prolapse.

So, its up to, but you have to decide if you intend setting up the tank for the benefit of your axie and its health to try and start out right. Maybe explain to your parents and remove the gravel, put into buckets.

Great to hear you have the tests for nitrite and nitrate.

Try and keep your filter on and throw the plant and airstone in too.

How long ago did the old filter die? Did you take it out of the tank straight away? Cos if you didn't you can just take the filter media out of it and put it in the new tank ( it will help start the new tank).

The first step of cycling apart from adding the water and decos really is adding waste, ie your axie poo/urine, which would kickstart the cycle.

If you can try and get at least one hidey hole/cave or log prior to putting your axie in. You could use a terracotta plant pot/pipe or pvc/plastic pipe as a hidey hole (my sister used a spaghetti plastic container/holder and cut off bottom end so her axie could go all the way thru (she used soft sandpaper to smooth the edges so her axie wouldn't get cut). Cheap alternative but it works.
 

kapo

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What is the water parameters of your smaller tank? Because what you could have done was move all the old water and just transfer it into the large tank and top it up.

Also, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates will always be 0 when you first start cycling a tank. As the cycle starts the ammonia levels will go up first, then the nitrite will start to rise. As the nitrite rises, the ammonia will start to drop back down, then the nitrate will start to rise. Once ammonia and nitrite have dropped back to 0, and nitrate levels are about 20-40ppm your tank is cycled. We've cycled tanks both with axies and without axies.

If you don't want to cycle your tank with your axie in it alternative is to leave it in it's current tank and monitor the water, doing waterchanges when ammonia/nitrite get too high.

Other alternative is setup your new tank without axie in it, keep your axie in a small container and do complete full daily waterchanges, no substrate needed in this, and just drop the occasional poo (I did mention turkey baster didn't I! :D) into your new tank to help your cycle. No need to do waterchanges at all on this tank if you do not have your axie in it while it is cycling.



(Message edited by kapo on July 10, 2006)
 
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suvanna

Guest
Well I'm going to try and take the gravel out when my parents are home and i'll just hope that my parents don't find out. Also the gravel's not too big. Most of it's probably less than 5mm or 1 cm. So i hope it's not that much of a problem at the moment. I'm not sure bout the parameters of the smaller tank but I wouldn't really want to use it coz it's not too clean that's why I want to pu the axie in the new tank.
Also I have just recently cleaned out all its poop so it might be quite hard to put the poop in.
Oh also I don't have a turkey baster coz I can't find any at all.
And I'm going to put my axie in the tank tomorrow night so should I put a piece of food in the tank for the night
 

kapo

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No need to put food or poo in, having your axie in the tank will be fine from tomorrow! Test the small tank water, because what might look dirty might be cycled water and if that's the case you can use it in your big tank (axies can be dirty beasts - they mess up the sand with snuffling, dig up the plants, and their poo disintegrates or hides everywhere; but we still love em!)
 
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suvanna

Guest
So should I take some water out of the new tank and put some of the old tank water in. If so I have to ask my dad. It might be better asking him to do it
 
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