Yukari's Gills

Hey I've recently noticed that my axie Yukari hasn't got his fluffy red gills any more, they used to be big red beautiful gills, but now they are white and not so fluffy. I only noticed this a couple of days ago. He hasn't been his usual self, swimming around, eating like a pig and following me around the room, which is strange as i don't know what could be causing him not to be himself. I tried to feed him 2 earthworms yesterday but he just sicked them back up. I feed him every other day and iv scanned him for the cotton woolly like fungus but no signs. He lives with a tank mate who seems to be losing his fluffy gills too. They have several plastic plants, a hiding place and a sand bottom in their tank. Please if you have any advice or help it would be much appreciated . Also yukari has red veins showing on his tail is this normal? Pictures are below, sorry for poor quality x thank you Sian x

My tank is 2 foot by 1 foot
Yukari is 5 1/2 inches long.
Ammonia - 1.0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate- 40ppm
PH - 7.8
Temperature - 18/19 C I do 20% water change daily.

The tank is too small for 2 Axolotls...I would guess the shrinking gills is a result of poor water quality. The ammonia should be 0, and since there isn't much water volume and Axolotls produce so much waste, I would blame that for your issue.

Hi, Im goingto buy them a 4foot tank after christmas asap as they are growing so quickly, im trying to get the ammonia down, will ammo lock solution help with the ammonia? Thank you sian

I agree. Your tank is obviously cycled, since it has 40ppm nitrates. The only reason you would also have 1.0ppm ammonia is if the tank is so heavily over stocked that the biological bacteria isn't able to keep up with the bio load being produced. ammonia should always be undetectible in an established tank. anything more is a problem, which usually results in burning gills of aquatic critters, and stress.

A quick search of ammonia lock leads me to believe that it's a waste. The only real way to get rid of ammonia is through water changes.

I would increase those daily 20% water changes to daily 50% water changes until you can get a bigger tank.

Ok i will do thank you very much shall i still add my dechlorinator ? thank you xx

yes you should always be using the dechlorinator.

Yeah i always use the dechlorinator thank you x

hey i've got my ammonia down to 0ppm, as i've been doing 50% water changes but yet yukari's gills are still pale and short. How long will it take him to grown them back? Is there anything else that might be bothering him? Thanks Sian x

Without a proper sized tank, there are a lot of things that could be stressing your Axolotl, affecting the gills. A healthy Axolotl requires ideal conditions, which are not currently being provided.

Their gills are mostly pale when they're not active.

Oh thats good news then, thank you snake xxx