Question: A couple of questions: gills and water

Hi all,

Our 4 young (3-4") axies have been in separate small containers (about 1 L, bare bottom) for a few weeks. The water is changed daily and the thermometer in their temporary tanks say 65 degrees F. We treat the water for ammonia, chlorine, and heavy metals in a big tub and use that water to change their water. I tested the water in their small tanks for ammonia and nitrite and get a reading of zero. We started to notice them becoming less active and poo-ing less. Nothing has changed since we first got them...and they are still eating well twice a day (live blackworms). 2 out of the 4 have upturned gills that are shaped like a "C" towards their noses, one has gills that look like they are "on alert" but not turned forward, and one has his/her gills looking normal and relaxed. Why are they behaving differently when they are in the same water and conditions? Does anyone have an idea as to what is wrong? We don't want to lose them, please help!

Second issue: The water in our 55 gallon tank that is cycling, when we look through the tank from the side, it looks yellow-green. It was more clear a week ago. Is this algae or something else? And is it dangerous?

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

First of all, juvis will overreact to water changes/conditions and are often seen with gills pointing forward.
it sounds very complicated that you treat your water for all those things and THEN change it with theirs
have you considered just cycling your tank, surely the chemicals you put in to treat the ammonia/chlorine and heavy metals would do more harm to the axolotls if it came in contact with them?
sorry i'm not very awake at the moment, haha. forgive the sentence structure and spelling.
do you feed them seperately or do you just chuck in some bworm and they all eat when ready? if so it's possible one or two of them will eat all the worms and leave the others with nothing.
that's all i've got.

The dechlorinator you use is probably Ammo-lock or something of that sort. I suggest NOT using a dechlorinator that treats for ammonia. This can cause problems with cycling.

How do you change the water in the juvie's tubs? Could it be the movement that's stressing them?

Hi Stef, thanks for your input and sorry for not being too clear. The 4 juvies are housed separately in 4 separate tanks so they wont have a chance to hog each other's food or bite each other's limbs off. I am cycling the water in my "real" tank that is 55 gallons so in the meantime the axies are in temporary containers with daily water changes. There is a tub of water that is kept separate that I add a water conditioner that treats ammonia, chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals. Every day I change the water of the 4 temporary containers for my axies with water from that tub (as it's been sitting out to make sure all the chlorine dissipates). This is what is recommended by the Ambystroma genetic stock center, no? Are the chemicals in Amqel and API conditioner harmful to the axies?

My decision to keep them in separate containers is to not cycle the tank with them in it, for I feel that is a bit cruel. Forgive me for not including all the necessary information. I was not thinking clearly either as I was worried.

I think you have got a good point though. Maybe they are overreacting to any changes. As a first time owner I am overreacting to changes too I think

A friend pointed out to me that my thermometer might not be correct and that I should calibrate it. I will do that and in the meantime, I'll try cooling down their containers to see if that will do the trick.

But the green water in the tank is still a mystery, any thoughts?

Hi Kaysie, I must have missed your post while replying. The ammonia treater (Amquel) is only for the water changes in the temporary containers. I treat for ammonia in their containers this because my water has chloramines and when I treat it for chloramines, it leaves a high amount (0.25 - 0.5 ppm) ammonia in the water when the chlorine dissipates. For the big tank with cycling water I use the API conditioner which does not treat for ammonia. What is the lesser of the two evils, introducing chemicals to treat for ammonia, or leave 0.25-0.5 ppm of ammonia in their containers?

Yeah while changing the water I pour the axie into a net, and wash the container with a baking soda/sea salt (2:1) combo and rinse it. Then I pour in the clean treated tap water and release him/her back. Then this is repeated with the all other ones. Maybe they hate being in a net? Is there an alternative that will allow a 100% water change? In the meantime, I'm mentally willing my tank to cycle faster Thanks for your advice Kaysie.

tran said:

Hi all,
Second issue: The water in our 55 gallon tank that is cycling, when we look through the tank from the side, it looks yellow-green. It was more clear a week ago. Is this algae or something else? And is it dangerous?

Click to expand...

The green color could be just a reflection off of green plants or ornaments. It is not unusual for the water to get a little bit cloudy during cycling. It is generally too early for a tank to be developing algae this soon, although I suppose that's also a possibility.

When I'm keeping critters in temporary tubs, I usually try and scoop them up in a cup (so that's like a 90% water change, not quite 100%). I usually scrub the tubs they're in once a week, not every day. Maybe there's some residual chemicals in there? Maybe they're just stressed out by the moving. Some are more laid back than others.

As for the ammonia treatment: they don't remove ammonia, just transform it into a less-toxic form. I suppose in your position, I would probably treat for ammonia as you are. Just be sure you're using the right amount. Out of curiosity, what kind of test kit are you using?

Oh scooping them out in a little cup is a fantastic idea! It sounds much less stressful than pouring them into a net with no water submerging them at all for a minute. I'll give that a shot! Thanks Kaysie; my axies thank you too! And my test kit is the API freshwater master test kit with the four test tubes that test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Yeah I noticed the melanoid one doesn't get stressed out by anything when the other ones are little fraidy cats I'm happy to report that their gills have relaxed considerably when I chilled their water using frozen water bottles kept sandwiched outside between their tubs. I guess my thermometer was busted. I think what read 65 degrees F may have been more than 70+ degrees! That's the last time I buy cheapy thermometers at the pet store ...

Also thanks Jennewt for your comments about the water. I'm happy to hear that it is more or less normal.