I cant diagnose whats up

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TracyMD

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Hi
I would be most grateful if someone could offer any advice.
I have had my two Axie`s about a month now.When I purchased them they were the gorgeous pink colour
They are now virtually white.Even their little gills are white & have lost their feathering.

I have tested the water temperature, Nitrate, Nitrite, ammonia etc & all seem fine.

They seemed ok in their tank (sand, good filtration, regularly "hoovered" out etc) but just seem to lose their colour. I also never saw them eat.

Having read on here about "fridgeing" them I have done just that & am changing their water every day. I have tried to tempt them to eat with various foods but they are just not interested.
I did read on here that could be due to their metabolic rate beng lowered & am not unduly worried although they do look very skinny!

In themselves they seem just fine & happily swim around their container.

The questions I would like to ask in particular are :-
What do I do next?
How will i know when to return them to their tank?
How do I reintroduce them to their tank as I am sure the water will be warmer than in the fridge?

All suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks
 
What are your parameter numbers? Mainly temperature, nitrite, and ammonia, in this case.

Occasionally, the pink color of albinos is not a healthy color, but is caused by stress and irritation. It may be that your axolotls are less stressed in your environment and are no longer pink because of that.

What kind of foods have you offered? How long have you had them? What is their tank setup like?

Most axolotls won't eat while in the fridge. They have no need, as their metabolic process is low. I would suggest taking them out of the fridge and putting them back in their tank, if all is well in the tank, and then offering live, wiggly food. For reintroduction, I usually just leave their container next to the tank for an hour or two, then put them in.
 
Temperature 19.6
Nitrate (NO3) 10
Nitrite (NO2) 0
General Hardness (GH) 10
Carbonate Hardness (KH) 3
PH 7.2

Ammonia 0 (according to husband)

Tank has sand in bottom,
Filtration is taken out one side pumped through carbon filters & back in other side.
The tank is regularly "hoovered"

I have tried feeding bloodworms, liver, beef heart, worms & maggots (GROSS)

Axies have been "fridged" since Friday & seem absolutely fine in themselves. There is no sign of fungus.
They just appear white & their little gills are white & non feathery
 
So you put them in the fridge because they're pale?

I would take them out, and let them warm up to room temp and offer food again. Try offering food at night, with out turning on the lights. Or drop in some large chunks of earthworm and leave them be in the dark.
 
cut leg what to do ?

Our axie has a cut on her front leg, i think she did it climbing over her tunnel in the tank, it bled a little but this has stopped. She is not showing any ill effects from it, it is red, but very small, what do i need to do for her (if anything) will it heal on it's own or do i need to put something on it to help it heal? She is eating and swimming normally. Thankyou.
 
Tara, keep an eye on the wound and if fungus or if it looks like an infection is developing then do salt baths twice a day. That should help.
 
I agree with Kaysie, the lovely pink of any axie is not usually a good sign. How old are your axolotls, if known, if not what size are they? How long since you noticed their gills whitening? Do they have gill filaments (hairy bits) on their gill stubs or are they totally bare? Do they show any colour at all when they swim?

Reason, I ask, is two of ours (ones in my avatar) when we first got them were only juveniles became very anaemic looking (like little white ghosts) after about a month, and we removed them from their tank.

From memory Kaysie was one of the ones that helped me then!
 
I now feel like a very bad "mummy":(

I removed them & placed them into the fridge as they had both gone white & as I said in my first post they have lost all their feathering on their little gills,

The gills themselves are also completely white

One of them also spent its whole time floating -- 24 hours before I decided to remove them from their tank

I am unaware of their age but they both measure approximately 17cm

One of them is now starting to get black mottling effect over its head & proceeding down its back.

They are both still very happy in the fridge -- well as happy as one can be in a fridge. Ie Both are swimming around quite nicely but neither is eating which as I said previously having read on here I am not unduly worried about.

Should I reintroduce them to their tank or persevere with them in the fridge for a little longer?

I do appreciate all your help

Tracy-one-guilty-feeling-mummy
 
What kind of sand is it/what is the origin of the sand? Your water seems a lot harder than the pH would imply - seems a little suspect. I don't think this is your problem though.

The number one cause of non-eating is water flow (and could cause your problem). For every day an axolotl doesn't show interest in food its outlook is about 50% as promising. Good luck.
 
Sorry, Tracey, had to cut my post short as I was running late for an appointment.

I've no idea why my two were anaemic looking, their tank was cycled, water parameters fine and other 2 tankmates seemed fine. They had all been together from the start (came from same breeder).

One thing you could try, as long as your room temperature isn't hot during the day, is to remove them from the fridge but don't return them to the tank.

Keep them in their container/s and continue the daily waterchanges.

See if you can tempt them with a variety of foods (all wiggly and live if possible! ) each day.

I used the above method for our 2 axies, it took a lot of worrying/time and patience. Ours took a further 3-4 weeks before the colour returned to the gills and they regained their appetites, at which stage Brodie then a week and half later Fifi were reintroduced back into their tank. (Brodie regained her appetite/colour faster than Fifi)
 
Hi, I was thinking about your axolotl and wondering in general if they could become anaemic I read somewhere that a strain can show signs some time after they have grown limbs but i beleive it rectifies itself, this may not be at all relevant though. My water from the tap is rather hard ( not tough!) so I have been using rain water...though having said that I do have tests to make sure its not too acidic. . I have a feeling I have read on this site of something similar but the tired old brain isn't up to recalling it. I'll see if I can find it later tonight when the little treasures have gone to bed
 
The sand is just normal sand suitable for a marine fish tank that I purchased from a local pet store where incidentally I also purchased the Axies from.
The tank has been up & running for a long time

Axel & Lotty still havent eaten but seem a tad more lively than they were. They are still in the fridge & show no interest in live wriggly worms or live maggots. (Gross)

The black mottling effect I mentioned in an earlier post has not got any worse thank goodness.

My plan at the moment is to remove them from the fridge tonight & bring them in next to their tank to warm up prior to reintroduceing them.

I have no idea if this is the best way forward but it seemed to be what someone kindly suggested in an earlier post

I will keep you posted

My sincere thanks to everyone for their help
 
TracyMD said:
The sand is just normal sand suitable for a marine fish tank that I purchased from a local pet store where incidentally I also purchased the Axies from.
Click to expand...

See a problem there? I do. Are you sure that sand is ok for an animal from a high altitude freshwater lake?
 
So you think it could be the sand?

I did tell the pet & aquatic store the water temp, took along water for them to test & also the set up of the tank & they said everything was perfect.

Remove the sand?
What sand should I use then?

HEEELLLPPPPPPP
 
Calm down. Freaking out does no one any good.

The sand may very well be unsuitable for your axolotls. Marine sand isn't made for freshwater aquariums.

You can use pool filter sand (what I use), which is somewhat coarse. You could use children's play sand, which is very fine. You could use a couple of large pieces of slate. Or you could use no substrate at all. Avoid gravel, as it can cause impactions, and I suggest avoiding large pebbles (too big to be swallowed), as these are a serious pain to clean.

Since you have to remove the substrate, and I would suggest draining the tank as well, you'll have to re-cycle your tank.

Also keep in mind that pet stores usually don't know squat about axolotls.
 
Hi, i'm here in sunny uk too, would you like me to pm my number/mobile so we can chat? let me know...some times talking it through we might hit on whats going on..happy to try and help.
 
The sand may be a red herring. We're just throwing theories about.
 
I should also add that your axolotls are obviously unwell right now so even if you fix the problem you may not be able to fix them.
 
Just a quick thank you to everyone for their help
I am pleased to say that "Axel" & "Lotty" are now back in their tank & eating quite heartily.

Their colour has not returned to a nice pink as they were when i purchased them but their little gills are getting nice & feathery again, so, the pale ghost like colour I will have to live with

Many thanks

Tracy
 
Great news ..I was wondering if the red/pink on the gills was due to them being stressed, and now they are calmer and more settled they may be this colour..anyway I'm pleased for you that they are happier.
 
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