Question: Axo temp and water qual question

I've had a male albino for a couple of months now, i hve him in a 30l tank with an undergravel filter and gravel, up untill a few days ago thats all there was. He was ok to start off, feeding ok but he soon started to decline, his appetite greatly reduced and had a opaque film over most of his body which at first i thought may have been his old skin coming off but then was told no it was fungal, after he started to refuse food completly i decided to do a water test which revealed a low ph and small amounts of ammonia and nitrites were present in the water so decided to do a water change at which time he was very lifeless, i could pick him up and he wound just sit there limp, anyway i continued with the water change to see if it may help. After the water change he started to look better and started moving again, approx a week later i tested the water again, ammonia and nitrite gone but ph still low. his appetite is still not good, has eaten i tiny ammount of food but nothing substancial, i have bumped the ph up to 7-7.5 and added plants for shelter, anything else i could do to help him?

oh yea and what the max temps an axo can handle? Here in queensland australia it can get quite warm, without a heater his water is already about 25c during they day

G'day hornet.

Bad news is, it doesn't sound like you've done to much homework on how to look after the little guy

Good news is, you are in the right place to learn, and you have asked for help, that's really good!

First step - take this link and do some reading - Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander

From what you have described, here is what i reckon though -

1 The tank might be a little small - Axolotls - Housing in Captivity - they say 1 foot of tank per axie, so the tank you have might be ok for one axie, but you will find a bigger tank easier to keep cooler

2 Get rid of the underground filter, and the gravel Use sand, or nothing as a substrate (less than 1 mm diameter) and a hang on or canister filter

3 The skin thing - i'd suggest that is from the temp - above 24 c is bad news - 16 - 20 ideal

Cure the skin thing - read here - Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity

To keep the temp down - use the search function in this forum for all sorts of tips - home made chillers. ice blocks, ice cubes (made with de-chlorinated water) - aquarium fans (ebay) - evaporation, air stones bigger tank , different room - all sorts of ways to lower tank temp

4 For his immediate well being while you get the other stuff organised - (if you are worried he might die) you could fridge him in the short term which could help

Search this forum for tips on how to fridge.

5 With the ammonia spike, you might have had a cycle glitch for some reason, but looks like you have it under control. Keep an eye on it, but i dont think it's the main problem. If you get rid of the gravel and the underground filter, it should stabilise.

The low ph level would have made the effects of the ammonia spike worse, but you fixed that

You really need to get this temp thing under control fast, because it is only gonna get hotter for the next few months where you are. If you are having temp problems in winter / spring, a qld summer is gonna be tough on the little guy

Pretty sure there are lots of other Qld'ers here, what do you guys do?

Bren

A good way of lowering your tank temperature is to get a small desk fan and cover it with a wet cloth facing the tank. Works like a charm.

not to mention - chilling fans - which are the same thing, just less DIY and made to be clipped to a tank.

Article on Cooling (CLICK ME)

please keep up updated on the health of your axolotl. MAX temp is definitely around 20C - healthily, anything higher, even though they may stand it is just far too damaging, and 20C isn't all that healthy either.

i did a bit of reading but it was very basic didnt really give much info, since adding the plants he has gotten 10times better, alot more alert and just looks more vibrant then he was a few days ago, i know they are ment to not tolerate high temps but my gf's in the same climate as me, summer temps in the high 20's low 30's and hers has been going fine for 2years so far but i do plant to lower it, my mate who also is in the area reared some from larvae fine and just used ice packs in the tank to keep the temps down

With ice pack it is possible that they can leak, also there is the problem of the tank being cooled down too quickly, and then the temps rising again when the ice has thawed. This can be more damaging to your axie than keeping the high temps.

It doesn't really matter what has "worked" for other people, as their axies could be very stressed.
That cooling article I linked you too has many different methods, if you pick one that suits you best they're all very safe - with exception of the 'ice bottle method' for the same reasons as above ^

I live in brisbane Queensland and it does get very hot in summer. I have hose running from my canister filter through a tuckerbox freezer and back into tank at the moment my tank is sitting at 16oC during the day. When the days are really hot i also add frozen 3lt bottles to float around the top.
lea