Axolotl Death

Today at approx 12:30 PM EDT my 30cm axolotl died I only had him for 5 months he seemed happy he always use to look at us and come over to say hello when ever you walked near the tank. Lately he had been really active which now that I look back on was odd hes home was a 2ft x 47cm tank, sand for under lay and some plants along with a sand stone cave. When I saw him I knew he was dead but the odd thing is at first I thought it was sun burn and I may have killed him that way however it was blood. The blood was coming from his gills and running down his body what could cause this? I'm scared as I think I may have killed him, I stuck salt in another tank could this have traveled threw the air and killed him?

I cant find any reference to this on google, I know salt can burn a fresh water fishes gill plates / insides but I have never heard of internal bleeding.

PLEASE HELP

Sad Sad New Years Eve

Today at approx 12:30 PM EDT my 30cm axolotl died I only had him for 5 months he seemed happy he always use to look at us and come over to say hello when ever you walked near the tank. Lately he had been really active which now that I look back on was odd hes home was a 2ft x 47cm tank, sand for under lay and some plants along with a sand stone cave. When I saw him I knew he was dead but the odd thing is at first I thought it was sun burn and I may have killed him that way however it was blood. The blood was coming from his gills and running down his body what could cause this? I'm scared as I think I may have killed him, I stuck salt in another tank could this have traveled threw the air and killed him?

I cant find any reference to this on google, I know salt can burn a fresh water fishes gill plates / insides but I have never heard of internal bleeding.

PLEASE HELP

Thats very sad, I'm sorry. I see you're in Australia. Do you know what your tank temperature is? Depending on where you are, we've had some stinkers, and they don't cope for any length of time over 20 ish degrees. Otherwise, I don't know and I'm sure someone much better informed will respond to you soon.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Salt in another tank cannot be the cause. A trace amount of salt would not harm an axolotl. Red skin can indicate something akin to "redleg" disease, which is a bacterial infection. Since you are in AU, I suspect that heat may have been a factor, if not the direct cause of the illness. Being "really active" could be an indicator that something was wrong, perhaps with the water quality or temperature.

I have merged these threads, as the same question was posted twice.

temp 20c max of 24c due to water volume / tank position.

so sorry to hear of your loss,
if you have not removed the water yet i would take a sample and get it tested for nitrite nitrate and ammonia.
if it was a water quality issue it would be better to know now,then, if in the future you get another axie you will know what sort of things to check for. hot water and bad water together would be lethal

The Ph level was odd it was dark green nothing on the scale matched it, acidic is yellow akaline is blue nothing around the colour I saw on the Ph read out. The tank is still full cant bring myself to empty it for obvious reasons.

i was thinking you might of had an ammonia spike , this can cause death very quickly especially in the heat, if poss i would get that checked. im not sure but im almost certain that i read somewhere about ph.
cant remember ifit was high or low, but combined with a high ammonnia read is almost certainly lethal.
this maynot be an accurate memory but i am just trying to help you discover the cause so as it can be avoided the next time.

I want to know what killed him if it was my fault or not that way I can either hit myself or stick my head in the tank to feel what he felt. j/k although at times I wanna do it real bad.

Could the ammonia cause him to become really active like be in distress for approx 12 hours before hand? he was fine this morning not that active but still active. I came back from the shop getting vodka and beer for new years. and he had already jumped on the mid night express.

I still dont understand the blood issue, it was a red liquid not a skin rash or anything. his gills were also bright red from this.

ammonia burns this def could of been the cause i would check

can ammonia test kits be purchased?

yes but i would advice you to get a kit that checks for all things. ammonia ,nitrite, and nitrate if you intend to get another axie, but for now take some water to get tested at your nearest fish shop

All closed at the moment, I just finished water cycles on my other tanks to be safe changed an internal filter on my oscar tank however left the HOBS in tact the keep the bacteria alive and heathly.

ok,
well let us know how you get on would be interested to know if it was an ammonia spike or something else.
good luck with future axies

Thank you for all your help digger, if you lived closer I would invite you over for some drinks for new years.

If pH levels are high (8.0+) end of the scale, and there is ammonia present in the tank, then ammonia becomes far more toxic.

When buying freshwater test kits, you can buy them individually, but this usually works out more expensive than buying the Master test kits - which include tests for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, low pH and high pH. The AP master test kit brand is pretty good. (Their low pH tests from 6.0-7.6 - yellow to blue; high pH range tests from 7.4-8.8 )

Axies can live in pH levels of between 6.4 - 8.0 as long as you monitor the other levels, ensuring ammonia doesn't go above 0. When it does it's usually due to overfeeding/hidden waste etc...

If your tank water temperature has been fluctuating between 20-24C then that could very well be the problem. During summer, are usually the times most australians experience health problems with their axolotls; especially if it's the first summer they've been through.

Axolotls are cold water creatures, prefering temperatures below 18C, so temperatures rising over 20 and not being cooled could very well have stressed it out. What may appear to have happened overnight could have actually been happening over the past week or so (or even longer); just that when an axolotl does exhibit signs of stress/sickness that you actually notice might be out of the ordinary/overnight (excessive swimming/floating/redness etc and sometimes fungal infections or other)- then this is when they're at their worst and can't cope any more (lowered immune system).

Until you can get the test kits, take a sample into the petshop and ask them to test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrates and pH.

There can be several factors for a "sudden" death: either it was an (bacterial) infection or something was wrong with your water parameters.

I agree with Frances and Kapo - let someone from a petshop do a water test. If your readings with the pH were right (sometimes these tests are too old for proper measurement) I am still curious how the pH could get so off the line? Do you know your normal pH from the water you use?
Do you have any filter installed in your tank? In a tank running for 5 months, no ammonia should be present - that is one point I am not sure if it really was ammonia or nitrite intoxication.

A dead axolotl bleeding from it's gills is rather normal - the tissue is very soft and soon after death starts to disintegrate.

thankyou,
that was a nice thought.
hope you have a good new year that ends happier than this one

Tap water Ph. = 7.8 the max well rather the max my test kit handles, average I test is weekly keep it at 7.0. The spike I cant understand I cleaned out his/her waste a few days ago his turds, un eaten blood worms, etc.

hes erratic swimming started the day before yesterday. I thought he wanted excercise but I guess he was trying to tell me something was wrong.