Help Herbie get better

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herbieandbonnie

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Help Herbie get better
Hello.. since yesterday my axolotl Herbie has been sick.. he is now floating on one side and bobbing up and down for air.. i have only had him a few weeks and he has been fine up until yesterday.. can anyone help?????:(:(:(:(
 
Did you cycle your tank? Do you test your water parameters? If your tank is only a week old, Herbie could well be suffering from ammonia poisoning. It's absolutely imperative that you do frequent water changes while your tank is cycling. I suggest doing an immediate 30% water change with dechlorinated water. Then you will probably need to do 20% water changes frequently, maybe every second day.

It's important to test your tank for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate levels. Ammonia and Nitrite should be at 0, while nitrate should be less than 80parts per million. This is VERY important. It's not something that should be glossed over.

Have you read www.axolotl.org yet? Also, another important article is Ed K.'s article on cycling an aquarium. It can be found at http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml Another important article will be this one http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/waterquality.shtml on water quality.
 
How has Herbie been doing since he was removed? Did you manage to test your tankwater?
 
herbie is doing much better since last night hes is back to his normal self.. he spent the night in the fridge and he recovered well .. i ened up fully cleaning his tank out removing all the gravel and placed marbles in there instead i also halfed his water down as i think that due to our water here it is to strong and yes i nutralised it i dont have access to a pet shop at the moment as we live an hour out of town .. i went to a friends house yesterday and got a fair few litres of TANK water which seems to be doing the trick i have noticed that he has got a four or five bubble like gowths of him.. r they harmfull ????
 
they could be blisters which may have been caused by water quality.

How big are the marbles? You'd do better removing the marbles and going with no substrate, means less mess building up beneath.

Also, now that you've cleaned out the tank completely you'll have to make sure you get the water tested before you reintroduce him to the tank as you will need to cycle it now. It won't cycle until something is introduced to the tank to start the ammonia (ie: a cube of raw meat dropped in will start the cycle)
 
The marbles are about the size of a 20cent piece and they r only one layer think in the bottom of the tank.. i will be sure to get the water tested before i put herbie back in thanks
 
Are they bigger than 2.5cm? That would be a better size, ours swallowed pebbles up to and just over 2cm in size.

I assume you kept all the other decos and didn't wash them.
 
Hi, I have two very large marbles in my tank that the axolotl nudge about, but I wouldn't use a full layer on the bottom as it'll trap all sorts of gunk under them..hope the axy is looking better today.
 
yes the marbles are big enough for him not to swallow... he ate some food tonight som ei am keeping a close eye on him ... the filter i have is really good.. i paid a fortune for it.. if herbie pulls through ok and his tanks water is ok after getting it tested he will be getting a play mate.. i want to get a black female axie for him.. though if herbie doesnt make it and there is nothing else i can do for him i will have to go back to my basic fish i think.. when i first brought herbie the pet shop said axies are easy to look after hmmm so far its been difficult.. i get so attached to my animals.. i hate losing one..
 
I dont think marbles is a good idea..It will get gard to clean when fecal matter gets trapped underneath.And you would be surprised at what axies can fit in there mouths.

sand or bare tank floor is a better option
 
Sand is really your preference. I use pool filter sand, as it's coarse and doesn't cause too much mess. Others use children's play sand, which is very fine (and probably harder to clean, as it clouds up a lot).
 
They get used to walking round on bare tank floor, we have four (3 juveniles/1 adult on bare tank floor - separate tanks) and its easy for feeding and cleaning up)

When you do get another axolotl make sure you quarantine it for 30 days, to ensure it is healthy and doesn't make Herbie sick. If you don't have a spare tank you can use one of those plastic storage tubs on wheels (they are handy as temperory tanks/quarantine containers)
 
I would probably have bought pool filter sand if I'd found a place that sells it locally. We ended up with children's playsand, available from any garden centre or hardware store - ie Mitre 10, Bunnings, etc. The playsand doesn't get that cloudy, then again my husband spent hours rinsing/cleaning it before adding it to the tank. The only problem we had was trying to find our then juvenile wildtypes which blended into the dark sand. Now they're a lot larger they're easy to spot.
 
ok thanks for your help..today herbie is doing great he still has those bubble like blisters on him and he is eating fine.. i am still keeping a close eye on him.. the marbles i have in the tank are to big for herbie to swallow as they r bigger then his mouth.. and due to the marbles been clear i can see the amount of stuff and build up if need be under then so i can keep an eye on that aswell.. i will see how things go over the next week.. i thought this was supposed to be easy ...lol
 
It's never easy when you don't have the right information, and you have to learn by trial and error, and in some cases your axolotl becoming sick.

I would suggest getting your tankwater tested now, ask them to write the figures down for you. Did you clean the decos or not? If you cleaned the decos that were in the tank, you would have scrubbed of any good bacteria that was establishing, so may need to use the meat cube method to start cycling.

Also, where petshop advice is concerned, don't be tempted to buy any medicines or chemicals that will help your tank on their sayso. Most fish medicines are toxic to axies. The only chemical you need is a water ager/dechlorinater/conditioner. Anything that gets rid of ammonia or cycles your tank tend to muck things up if your tank is cycling.
 
i didnt clean the decors as you told me not to in a previous post.. and i wont ask the pet shop for advice as i think i understand what u mean.. herbis is doing great his blisters have gone down and he is back to his usual self.. i put him back in his main tank today and he is doing well.. he like his new pipe my partner put in there for him.. i will get the water testes as soon as i am able to and also purchase a water tester.. hopefully all goes well once again.. thanks for your friendly advice Kapo..
 
well something is wrong with herbie again.. his water is reading fine so theres no problems there... and he has no gravel in his tank.. the last day he has been doing circles and trying to attack his bottom and has been keeping close to the top of the tank.. i have put him back in the fridge!!! was that the wrong thing to do??? can anyone help?
 
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