Not many gill filaments left!

Hey!
I've jst joined the forum cos I'm having some problems with my axie, I've had him for about a month now but lately he hasn't seemed too well. He used to be really good and swim around a bit but mainly stay on the bottom for the first few weeks but last week he floated on the top for about 3 days and I was really worried. I didn't know what to do but then he seemed alright and returned to the bottom. But now he has returned to floating on the top for almost a week now so I'm really worried. I used to have to little fish in the tank and I'm worried that they were nibbling his gills so I took them out today. But I don't know whether he is bloated or someone even said he might be metamorphasing as he has not many gill filaments left and at first he was gulping for air and trying to propel himself out the water at first and then just floating. I think he might be quite sick or something but I really have no idea what to do.

If anyone can help I'd really appreciate it
Cheers
Bec

hi
firstly remove him from the tank and place him in a container with just enough dechlorinated water to cover his back, this will prevent him from floating and causing more stress.
next cover the container in something dark and place him in the fridge.place a spare bottle of dechlorinated water in the tank for water changes.
temp should be above 5 degrees,the cover will stop temp fluctuations and light disrurbance.
next you need to check your water, amonia and nitrite should be 0 anything above is harmful and causes stress and illness.
if the water balance is off start to do daily water changes using dechlorinated water 20/30% a day until it has balanced out.
what substrate is your axie on?
if gravel remove it the best things are sand or bare bottom.
they will ingest gravel which can cause blockages. big rocks tend to hide their waste.
is your tank filtered if so is the flow slowed down as to much water movement causes stress also.
make sure you always remove uneaten food or poo daily as this will pollute the water.
good luck and fingers crossed you have acted in time.

ps
if you dont have a kit for testing the water take some to your local fish shop and ask themto test it for you.
you can also get dechlorinator there if you do not wish to stand your water over night.
do not add anything to the water to correct anything other than chlorine despite what your shop might tell you water changes will sort things out for you, chemicals harm axies.
good luck again

Are you really sure about putting him in the fridge? I'm thinking my tank water is too warm cos its 20 degrees Celcius but I don't kno how to cool it. I've put him in the fridge and put an ice pack in the tank to hopefully cool it but I dont know if thats the really problem. Do you think his gills will grow back or is it too late? I have a filter and I pulled one of the pipe parts out of the water cos I wasn't sure if this would make a difference, like adding more oxygen by acting like a fountain, cos I thought he might need more oxygen considering he has less gills.
I have gravel on the bottom but its fairly big so I think it's ok. I've had my water checked recently and everything was fine. Another thing is, I've never seen him poo! I have no idea what its meant to look like... like a fishes I guess.
Thanks for your help, I'll see how it goes.

hi
firstly anything that is the able to fit in their mouths [and they are quite large when opened] can and will be swallowed so i wouldnt be to sure he hasnt swallowed any.
if you havent seen him poo he could have an obstruction or it could have dissipated into the water, it tends to be like a pod, not at all like fish poo. lol.
you should check your water weekly as you can get spikes, amonia is particularly harmful and kill quickly.
fridging is the best option when poorly as this lowers their metabolism and enables them to recoop.
and will also aid them passing any gravel ect.
as for your filter you need to deflect the flow against the sideof the tank if it is hard as this will lessen the strength of it.
if you are concerned about oxygen you could always get an air stone.
good luck.

Hi,

I would suspect three possibilities as a problem:

• as already said - it may have swallowed a pebble and can not get rid of it. You might try to feel it if you gently touch his belly
• problems with your water quality - too much ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or phosphates (you said you checked it - what kind of test do you use? Maybe too old?)
• stress caused by waterflow - try to slow down your water outlet as said by digger

One hint on water cooling (although I think that 20 degrees is still within the parameters): icepacks or frozen bottles will not last very long. Try to set a ventilator on your tank constantly blowing on the water surface. This will cause some evaporation thereby cooling down the water.

Daniel

Hi,

Thanks so much for your reply, I put him in the fridge last night and checked him this morning and he looks like he's doing alright, I'll leave him in there for a couple of days and see if any gravel comes out. My tank already has a little fan that blows above the water but I might look into getting one of those ventilators.

I'm fairly sure the water test that I'm using is fine because I just take it down to the fish shop and they do it for me, but I'll check it again this afternoon.

Thanks again for all your help.

In some cases it has taken weeks for axolotls to pass all of the gravel consumed.

Ed

Hi,
My axolotl seems to be doing alright now so I've put him back in his tank and he seems quite happy. I know I didn't leave him for long in the fridge but the temperature was getting down to 3 degrees and I couldnt get it any warmer and I thought it might be too cold.
Got the water checked today and all is ok but the pH was about 7 and apparently it should be about 7.5 to 7.8. No signs of ammonia though.
Does anyone know how long it will take for the gill filaments to grow back and whether it will affect him, as there are very few left!
Thanks a lot
Bec

You need to check the tank for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. pH is usually fairly inconsequential in the scheme of things.

The fish shop checked those all for me and everything was fine, as I said there was no sign of ammonia, so I don't think the water is the problem. I think I really just need to put him back in the fridge but I'm too scared to because my fridge gets really cold even on the lowest setting, like 3 degrees and I don't want to freeze him!

He's back floating now but now on the very surface so thats a relief. I guess I'll just watch him and see how he goes cos I'm not sure what else I can do.

Bec

You should try and test your tankwater regularly, once a week before a waterchange and make sure to keep a record of figures that the petshop gives you don't accept it's alright from them, as what they may consider to be ok for fish is not for either fish or axolotl. Anything that tests over 0 for ammonia and nitrite is considered unsafe, or for nitrate 80ppm+ and needs to be fixed, through regular partial waterchanges, rather than adding chemicals..

The fish you had in the tank apart from nibbling at gills, also exrete a lot of waste which can contribute to ammonia/nitrite levels. The gravel can also harbour a lot of gunk/waste.

The gills can take several weeks/months to regenerate depending on water quality and age of axolotl.

Axies are live in pH levels of 6.4-8.0, as long as you have no ammonia levels as at a pH of 8 the water becomes more toxic for the axie.

Your tank temperature is fine at 20C, you just have to be careful if it gets to 24C, ie during the summer months, and above then you have to worry about maintaining cool temperatures.

Thanks very much for your advice Kapo. I think this weekend I'll change the gravel to sand and just keep an eye on him.

Thanks again
Bec

Hi all,

My poor little axolotl died this morning, I'm really not sure what was wrong. He had gotten sick again so I had put him in the fridge for about 5 days and had returned him to his tank last night because he was looking better. But he obviously wasn't, its so hard to tell what's going on!

I'm going on holiday for a week and then I think I'll get another one when I get back. I'm going to change the gravel to sand and check the water again but does anyone have any other tips that I should do before getting another one.

Thanks for your help
Bec

hi
sorry to hear your news.
if i were you the first thing i would do before getting another one is purchase a water testing kit of your own.
you need to keep an eye on everything not just ammonia.
nitrites are also harmful to axies.
ammonia and nitrites should always read 0
ph between 6.4 - 8
nitrates around 40 -80
remove your gravel and start to recycle your tank,
check water and when it is sorted then get another one.
always remember to remove waste or waste food a soon as you see it,
keep temp as close to 18 -19 degrees as you can.
plenty of plants and hidey holes for somewhere to relax.
hope that was some help and best of luck.

Thanks so much Digger, I'll do all of that before I get another one. Hopefully I'll have more luck with my next little friend.
Thanks for all your help, it been greatly appreciated.
Bec

you are more than welcome ,
at least here you know there are lots of people willing to give you all the advice they can.
good luck and happy hols.

Very Sad to hear about your loss.

Do get another one.

Best of luck