Sunburnt axie?

Hey everybody,

I've had my axie for almost 4 weeks now (and that's also how long the tank has been cycling for). I started recording the parameters almost immediately. I have read in this forum that during the cycle, the ammonia level will peak and start to decline, subsequently leading to the increase of nitrite. However, this has not been the case with my tank. In fact, the ammonia level hit its peak about a week or so ago and now it's at 0ppm, but the nitrite level is also at 0ppm along with the nitrate. Can somebody please explain to me what is going on here?
Also, I have been doing partial water changes daily (as adviced) to reduce the toxin levels. My problem at the moment is that my axie is looking like she is sunburnt because her body is rather pinkish (she is the leucistic type) and her tail is a darker pink- her gills are also redder (if there is such a word ) than usual. This happened back about 2 weeks ago but then it disappeared and now it is happening again. The water temperature is fine and has been steady at around 18 degrees celcius for the past week or so. She has also been eating fine and no signs of floating or that sort. Although, she has been shedding skin...don't know if that is natural or not...
My water parameters for the past week:

21/11/07 pH 6.6-6.7
NH3 4-5ppm
NO2 0ppm
NO3 0ppm

22/11/07 pH 6.6-6.7
NH3 2-3 ppm
NO2 0ppm
NO3 0ppm

23/11/07 pH 6.6
NH3 1.0-2.0ppm
NO2 0ppm
NO3 0ppm

24/11/07 pH 6.6-6.7
NH3 0.5-1.0ppm
NO2 0ppm
NO3 0ppm

25/11/07 pH 6.6-6.7
NH3 0.25-0.50ppm
NO2 0ppm
NO3 0ppm

26/11/07 pH 6.6-6.7
NH3 0.25ppm
NO2 0ppm
NO3 0ppm

27/11/07 pH 7
NH3 0ppm
NO2 0ppm
NO3 0ppm

The water has been slightly cloudy, but nothing drastic...

Any help would be appreciated.

Jay.

Generally if the water is cloudy, that implies that bacteria are growing (i.e. your tank is cycling ).

I am not sure what is going on with the water levels - though I only ever tested for ammonia when cycling mine so don't have a lot of experience. I now have the other two test kits for nitrate and nitrite but they always show 0 these days...

Gills tend to go pink when your axie is more active. Like my axolotl's gills go pale when he is sleeping and become much more vivid after he has eaten or if he is being particularly active. Also his body goes pinkish sometimes... all your water parameters are fine so perhaps it is just increased blood flow?

Also I have heard a few people mention that axolotls shed skin naturally, however sometimes it can be due to poor water quality. It sounds like your tank is now under control though Keep watching it for a little while longer every day, then you can probably go to once a week tests.

Eating is always a good sign That tends to be one of the first things that stops when an axolotl is stressed I have heard.

Krystal always goes redder when shes been active, eating/swimming etc so i don't think theres any need for worry

Your water parameters look good. The ammonia spike is what you would expect. It has been my experience that the presence or absence of Nitrite / Nitrate spikes is dependant on water temp, substrate choice, and stocking levels. Probably has something to do with the different growth rates of the bacteria (Nitrosomas, Nitrobacter etc.).

The pinking is normal. Gills have highly concentrated capillary beds to facilitate oxygen exchange. Depending on the level of blood perfusion they can look pale or bright red and can change appearance rather quickly.

MRIGUY, are you trying to say that there is a linear correlation between oxygen intake and the appearance of the gills? That being, as the oxygen level increases, the gills of the axie will appear more red? Because if that is the case, then that does sort of make sense...as does the activity of the axie. However, what should I do about the pinkish tail? I'm sure that isn't natural. Also, should I do another water change today or wait until tomorrow to do a 20% water change? Just to give the beneficial bacteria a chance to bloom.

That aside, I would also like to introduce a new ornament (a semi log) that I am going to purchase from the pet store. Do I have to wash the ornament with baking soda prior to adding it to the tank? Bascially do I have to take any measures before adding the ornament to the tank? Especially because no bacteria would've grown on it yet.

Jay.

For new ornaments, I usually just rinse them thoroughly and wipe them with the rough sponge that I use to clean my aquarium glass. If the object is porous, I soak it overnight, then rinse it. There may be some powder or dirt from the pet shop that you want to remove. It wouldn't hurt to soak it in either baking soda or vinegar or diluted bleach, but I don't think it's necessary.

Thanks for the tip Jennewt. However I still don't understand why my nitrite and nitrate levels are 0ppm despite the ammonia reaching its peak and then declining

On a seperate note, how long does it usually take for an axie to excrete faecal matter? Because I've been doing spot cleaning since last Friday and I have not found any waste (I fed her on the Friday and then the Tuesday- yesterday). It has been 5 days since my axie has excreted any sort of waste. Is this normal?

Jay.

I read on another thread today that it is unusual to have 0 for nitrite and nitrate but if you have live plants, that can explain 0 values. Also read the post by MRIGUY above.. I have never had a reading myself above 0 for those two, but then I didn't measure them during cycling - only after. Friends have had similar readings to yours during cycling so I don't think it is anything much to worry about. Ammonia and nitrite are the ones to be concerned about and yours are 0.

Axolotls digest food over 2-3 days.. however the fecal matter can disintegrate very quickly so I wouldn't be too concerned.

Ed will hate me for the anthropomorphic comparison but think of gills like lungs. Their function is the exchange of gasses. In with the metabolic gas (02) and out with the waste gas (C02). In a state of hightened 02 demand due to increased activity or poor air (water) quality there is a need to move more 02 into the body. In mammals that is done by increasing respiration. In the case of the axie it is done by increasing blood perfusion to the gills. The increased perfusion increases the rate of exchange and surface area (I think???) of the gills. The extra blood in the superficial capillary network also causes the gills to appear a different color.

I'm not sure if your tank is or has cycled though, because it seems you have never had a NirtIte reading. In my experience, a slump in Ammonia is always followed by a raise in NitrIte. This shows that the Ammonia is being converted to NitrIte. Perhaps your water changes are too large?

Not necessarily wreckgar - some people don't have the rise in nitrite. As MRIGUY said earlier in this thread

It has been my experience that the presence or absence of Nitrite / Nitrate spikes is dependant on water temp, substrate choice, and stocking levels. Probably has something to do with the different growth rates of the bacteria (Nitrosomas, Nitrobacter etc.).

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Also someone else elsewhere on these forums said that it can also be affected by having live plants in your tank. So yea, I think as long as the parameters stay at 0 for ammonia and nitrite, Kal El should be fine.

I was just wondering if the partial water changes were responsible for the reduction in the ammonia levels rather than bacteria is all. How big were the water changes?

Saspotato said:

Not necessarily wreckgar - some people don't have the rise in nitrite. As MRIGUY said earlier in this thread


Also someone else elsewhere on these forums said that it can also be affected by having live plants in your tank. So yea, I think as long as the parameters stay at 0 for ammonia and nitrite, Kal El should be fine.

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Well, I was doing 50% water changes because (in my denfense) I read up on an article on this website that if I was going to be cycling the tank with the axie in it and I got high readings of ammonia, I should I do large water changes. I haven't done a water change in the past 3 days, but I will do so today and it will only be 20% I'm also going to test the parameters again, and I will report back here ASAP. If I still get no nitrite/nitrate readings still...well, I just don't know what is going on anymore

Just quickly, does anybody know whether it is safe to put a slate (rock) that I purchased from Bunnings into my aquarium? Like I don't want to the slate to leak anything out into the water and pollute it or change my pH/hardness. I was told by the pet store that if the slate does not contain any quartz it should be fine...don't know how realiable that information is. Anybody got any suggestions?

Jay.

Slate is a safe and good looking addition to your tank. Just make sure there are no really sharp edges.

I guess you'll just have to keep an eye on the parameters. I only mention it because I keep goldfish and I have experienced a cycling 'false dawn' before, where I was doing large water changes to alleviate stress on the fish - the actual cycle ended up taking about 3 months (!) because constant water changes (although completely necessary when high levels of ammonia is present) do lengthen the cycle significantly. Like other people have said though nitrIte is not always detectable as part of a cycle. Just keep an eye on it, i'm sure it will be fine and sorry if I've worried you!

With regards to the slate just make sure that you can get underneath it every now and then to vacuum up any accumulated gunk!

Kal El said:

Well, I was doing 50% water changes because (in my denfense) I read up on an article on this website that if I was going to be cycling the tank with the axie in it and I got high readings of ammonia, I should I do large water changes. I haven't done a water change in the past 3 days, but I will do so today and it will only be 20% I'm also going to test the parameters again, and I will report back here ASAP. If I still get no nitrite/nitrate readings still...well, I just don't know what is going on anymore

Just quickly, does anybody know whether it is safe to put a slate (rock) that I purchased from Bunnings into my aquarium? Like I don't want to the slate to leak anything out into the water and pollute it or change my pH/hardness. I was told by the pet store that if the slate does not contain any quartz it should be fine...don't know how realiable that information is. Anybody got any suggestions?

Jay.

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I've never done 50% waterchanges during cycling only daily partials of 20-30% waterchanges, after water tests, which really hadn't effected the cycling length.

Our tanks cycling varied between 3.5-8.5 weeks. Some of the tanks that cycled with the axies in and daily partials took 3.5-8 weeks. The others (no axolotls/no waterchanges) took between 4.5-8.5 weeks. So I never really noticed a difference (our smallest tank, 2 foot, took about 8 weeks to cycle).

Hi Kal El,

In light coloured leucistics and Albinos the body colour will change, same as the gill colour thing. Its a matter of transparency and increased blood flow due to activity.

I have a very light coloured leucistic juvenile who looks almost white when it is inactive and has a pink tail when its active.

Thanks for your replies. I am doing partial water changes every 2-3 days now, and keeping an eye on the parameters in between.

I do however have a question regarding my axie's gills. Well, more so the filaments rather than her gills. Her filaments appear to be disappearing (I know that she's not morphing though because she never spends her time at the surface of the water) and they (filaments) are starting to clump together. I can't figure out what could be causing this because based on my water parameters (as shown in first post) there is nothing wrong. My filter is turned right down as well. Am I doing something really wrong here?

Jay.