Sand question/tail-ridge spots

Hello everyone,

First off, this forumn is great; I have been the proud owner of several frogs and salamanders in the past, but everything in here has helped me over the past week to take care of my first Axolotl. However, I have encountered some situations described on this forumn that have caused me to worry about the conditon of my axie and the tank he/she is in.

Gravel seems to be a problem, and I have been considering replacing the gravel in my tank with sand. Unfortunately, I know neither where to get safe sand nor what kind of sand to use.

A more troubling concern of mine involves several spots along the top and the bottom of the axie's tail. He has an albino coloration, yet the spots are several shades whiter than the rest of his body. I have been changing about 20% of the water daily since I got him, and he is alone in the tank. The water temperature is normally about 16 degrees C; however, never having dealt with a fully aquatic salamander before, I did not realize I had to "cycle" the water, and I did not read about it until it was too late. I have started giving him salt baths, and although this seems to help, it still does not take away the spots. I plan on doing PH, ammonia, and various other tests tommorow; are these spots natural, am I missing something obvious, or are they somethign to worry about?

I would greatly appreciate help with either of these matters. Thank you,

Sergeant Boppo

I'm not sure about the spots but the sand is an easy solution. At most pet stores they will sell aquatic sand about 10 times as much as its actually worth, you could ask someone there and they could point you in the direction of safe, freshwater sand. OR you could go buy play sand from Home Depot. Now it might sound easy, but its really not. You can cleanse this sand by rinsing it out about 6- 10 times in 1/3rd sand 2/3rds water dilution until there is no fog and the water above the sand is clear and stays clear, its a long grueling process, but this is also what the man at the pet store told me :] I would recomend buying the petstore version, but if you arn't willign to pay the extra 20 dolalrs a bag, theres always the home depot solution.

Ok firstly, yes you should get rid of the gravel as soon as you can. As joneum42 said, you can buy sand at a hardware store or an aquarium, it just needs to be washed first. I use hardware sand as it is cheaper. Sand is easier to clean than gravel, its easier to spot waste and uneaten food and also much safer as a substrate. I would recommend twirling the sand around every week or fortnight to make sure any waste underneath is exposed so you can clean it. For spot cleans you can use a turkey baster as well.

Are the white spots fluffy or cottony? I am guessing not from your description... I think they are probably normal colouration and if so, continuing to do salt baths is not a good idea. However, it is hard to confirm this without a picture. Are you able to post one? I found this pic on the net of an axie with normal spots http://www.o-fish.com/Spesies/images/04-AxolotlGoldenAlbino.jpg is that what yours looks like? Cos that is normal...

Your temperature is fine but to see if your tank is ok you really need to do the testing of the other parameters so it is good you will be starting that soon. In case you aren't sure PH should be 6.5-8, ammonia + nitrite 0 and nitrate 40. I too didn't realise I had to cycle my tank before buying an axolotl but I just did frequent water changes when ammonia was a little high and my axie came through ok so just keep up your changes and you should be right

When you do the water changes are you using dechlorinated water? If not you should use a dechlorinating agent first. Also does your tank have a filter as if it does, then once your tank is cycled you can do 20% weekly water changes. If not, you will need to continue do 20% water changes daily.

The daily waterchanges will keep things relatively safe while your axie is in there so that's not a problem.

The whiter spots, a bit like white flecks, sound more like colouration, which is normal if your axolotl is a type of albino (either golden or white).

Gravel can be removed, sooner rather than later, and you can keep it bare substrate till you find the sand you want. You can also get pool filter sand or use a playsand. Sand whatever the case, has to be rinsed. Husband spent hours rinsing the sand, decanting water from one bucket to next (using a pillow method as well). Depends how fine your sand is. Regardless of how much you rinse it, you will still find once you add it to your tank it may take anywhere from a half hour to several hours to eventually settle.

Whew, that's a relief... the spots on the axie in the picture are almost exactly the same as the ones on mine. I didn't notice them the first few days, but I guess I was just oblivious XD.

In case you are still curious, Sarah, I have been a dechlorinating agent on all the water before I add it and I have a decent filter as well. I'll make sure to take out the gravel as soon as possible; I'm looking for local pet stores that sell sand, as I would rather skip the "Home Depot solution."

Thank you for all your help.