Should I leave dead fish in with my axies?

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aollivier1

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I have had my three axies only for a couple weeks now, and they seem to be doing great. However, since I live in China, the shop that I bought them from sold me live fish as their food. The axies had the same fish in the tank that they were in in the store, so I am pretty sure that they eat them. Although I have never seen one of them eat one alive, I have seen them eat dead ones that have been floating around for a while. For some reason, all the gray fish in my tank are dying out really quickly now (I have orange and gray ones). Whenever they die, they seem to grow a fungus all over. Can this fungus be harmful to the axolotls? Normally, I just leave the dead fish in the tank, as they get eaten anyway, but I am not sure of these fungus covered fish. Please respond.
 
Not that I have had a equality situation, but since even their poo ( from the axolotls) can be harmful for the axie's when there is growing fungus on, I guess you should take those fish out asap. whenever they are covered in fungus.
 
Fungus is a very visible sign that the dead fish is breaking down. Other processes in the break down of this dead animal will cause changes to your water chemistry including a sharp spike in ammonia, etc. This is NOT a good thing for your axolotls.

I don't think that feeding them fish is a good practice anyway. My axies don't make a concerted effort to catch fish so I'm wondering if yours are getting anything to eat while they're waiting for a fish to make itself available (die). I'd remove the fish since a die-off surely signals some disease or other condition that could be affecting your axies. And, I'd change to feeding the axies worms and small crustaceans like shrimp.
 
I wouldn't leave anything dead in there.

Question - Why are the fish dying?

Keeping an axie alive is a higher maintenance job than keeping a fish alive - so to me, there seems to be some underlying problem with the tank.

Water quality? Temp? Disease?

I'd -

* Use a better diet (pellets & worms) as well as the feeder fish
* If you can't keep the fish alive, then dont put them in - just more problems you have to deal with
* test the water thoroughly and ensure you dont have some other problem to deal with
* Ignore the advise of pet shop owners in general - come here and ask questions & read instead.

Bren
 
Maybe you should try some pellet food. I have success with sinking cichilid pellets, although other might object to it. Otherwise, you may go with earthworms.

However, it is most important that you change water more often until water is cycled. Also ensure that the water chemistry is normal.
 
There's another issue here with them eating fish - bones. there's a couple of examples in the link in my signature of this.

nothing that's dead or dying should be left in your axies tank [unless it's the food you're feeding them]

You need to find out what's been killing the fish - and remedy it fast. - illness/water quality

you're going to have to fix your water quality now anyway, and all fungus is bad and needs to be gotten rid of.

I suggest trying to get hold of earthworms, as they're a much better diet for your axolotls.
 
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If your fish have died they were probably ill and could pass illness onto your axolotl, any fish even if used as food needs to be quarrantined for 30 days minimum to avoid this! Feed worms they are alot better than fish!
 
My axies seem to be doing fine, and all the fish have suddenly stopped dying. I will try and get earthworms as soon as possible, though I am not sure where I can get them.
 
aollivier1 said:
My axies seem to be doing fine, and all the fish have suddenly stopped dying. I will try and get earthworms as soon as possible, though I am not sure where I can get them.
Click to expand...

Go out digging! Might find some other tasty axo snacks while you are at it! They eat most bugs just be warey of slugs and snails as they can harbour huge amounts of parasite and chemicals!
 
I went digging in my backyard for worms, but didn't find any. However, I did find a sort of small grub. Would it be good for a snack?
 
I think I remember reading posts from people in the USA about getting hold of worms ... I vaguely remember reading that you can buy them in Walmart? Anything like that near you?
I think what we call earthworms are called 'nightcrawlers' over there. Try having a look in hunting / bait retailers etc.
The grub might be ok as a one off feed but you need a more wholesome staple. Have you read this page? Axolotls - Feeding
 
One resource for live foods that I am always forgetting is the bait shop. They sell an array of critters including wax worms, red wigglers, earthworms, meal worms, crickets, grubs, leaches, crayfish and bait fish of various sizes. They are usually cheaper there also.
 
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