Gulping air frequently

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oroxine

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Hi all!

I bought three axolotls today and everything seems to be going OK, I have a 3.5 ft tank set up.

The breeder i bought gave me a black one (which he had just bought and is healthy and energetic and eating and acting great!) However the other two (albino and golden) he had kept in a smaller tank and are not looking so great and healthy :(

They aren't moving around very much, but more worrying is how frequently they are swimming to the top of the tank and gulping for air.

They both have very small gills and I am worried my tank isn't getting enough oxygen. The black one however has not needed to gulp for air once, so I don't think it is a tank problem, rather how small their gills are.

I have attached a picture of the three of them (apologies for cruddy quality, was just on my iPhone) and was wondering if anyone had any advice?

Thank you in advance!
 

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its oxergen you could get a air stone to let more oxergen desolve.

this is just a theory and a sort of question. wound that make the axalotal start to become a mexican salimander because there is not anough oxergen in the water and there would be more in the air.
 
Axolotls use their gills to breathe, obviously lol, so if they have small/damaged gills they will have to supplement this with gulping air more often than an axolotl with full gills . The fact that your melanoid doesnt gulp for air indicates that the water is ok and it is down to the condition of the other twos gills. Try adding a small airstoneto help oxygenate the water, if you keep the water paramiters good the damaged gills may grow back
 
I've added two air stones and that seems to be helping slightly. Should I add more?

I've just started cycling the tank yesterday (with the three axies in it) and after the 20% water change I did this morning they all seemed happier and two even gulped down a worm! (my little albino is still shy)

I just hope their gills will grow back! Would salt baths help with that, or are they more to get rid of fungus and things like that?
 
gee, they look a little rough around the edges, bit of a concern a breeder passing off axies in that sort of condition. As you said, little hard to see due to poor quality photo, but they look a little underweight too.

Anyways, 2 air stones should be enough i think for a 3 footer.

I always thought that the air stones actually infuse the oxygen into the tank, in which case more would be better - but i was wrong.

Air stones actually dont infuse oxygen into the water, they actually simply break the surface tension of the water and allow gas exchange to happen more easily - so, once the surface tension is broken, it's broken - therefore more would not make much of a difference.

thats my thoughts anyway - happy to be proven wrong.

You could put some live plants in too, like surface plants, underwater plants use carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. If they grow high enough to reach the surface or float, they also break surface tension so allow more gas exchange with the water.

Those gills should grow nicer with care and clean cool water.

Bren
 
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Oh, and i would not use salt baths unless there is a fungus etc, it wont help the gils grow back. Clean, cool water and good care will grow the gils back

Bren
 
Yeah, my albino and golden are definitely underweight :(

Sorry about the shoddy picture quality, have been too busy doing water changes/fretting to charge my nikon.

Bax (the golden) is much healthier then lancelotl (the albino) but I'm still very worried about both.

I'll consider the live plants idea!!

I've been constantly checking the water parameters and doing a 20% change a day and they have all stayed safe, so hopefully their gills will grow back, they'll fatten up and stop worrying me!!!
 
its ok they are very hardy creatures and will thrive in propper care, even if they were given to you in a poor condition. I have had ones like this from pet stores, and even after a few weeks there was massive improvements. Gills grow back very fast if the water is cool and they have a good diet, which they do you are doing a great job.

One of my axies had tinsy gill stubs when i fist got her, and i noticed she gulped a lot more than the others, to make up for oxygen obviously. She is gulping less and less ans her gills grow back, and she is getting fatter fast. Remember they can also breathe through their skin, and the airstones would be helping a lot with that. Like Blackdog said it just increases the amount of oxygen intake from the surface of the water. Thats why tanks can be plenty aerated from having something simply breaking the water like a filter trickling. Remember cooler water holds more oxygen too, and plants also help :)
 
Today I looked at Lancelotl and realised his gills have begun to grow back! And on the plus side they are a beautiful deep red!!!

They are still small but at least he has SOMETHING now (unfortunately Bax still doesnt seem too have grown back but time heals all wounds and all that)
 
They're adorable, it sounds like they're doing better which is great :). Live plant or plants would help, air stones, sponge filter, fan breaking surface..etc.
 
They are all doing much better!

Unfortunately Bax (my golden) now has a little bit of fungus on her back leg so giving her some salt baths to get rid of that!!

Im really not keen on the idea of live plants but I have air stones and fake plants which are also breaking the surface :)

Also dont think I need the fan as I struggle to keep the tank warm enough for them anyway hee hee
 
haha I also have a axie named Lance - Alotl! (he's the golden one in my DP)

feed them regularly until they gain some weight and the gills will recover fast.
 
Great minds think alike Chris ;)

Bax has been eating like a little pig!! She is def fattening up and anytime I put my hand in the tank she comes over and nips me in hope!!!

Lance unfortunately isn't eating as much. When I first got him he didn't eat for 4 days, then had a worm every day for four days, then didn't eat four another four days then FINALLY had another worm today!! It's amazing what a schedule he is keeping!! But he is getting so thin and inactive I hope he will be ok :(
 
Has he always been a bad eater or is it something that has changed in, let's say, the last few months? My axie had the same thing. Turned out he had internal parasites. I don't want to scare you right now, but just want to let you know that it's also a possibility.
Funny thing tho, I also had an axie called Lancelotl :D (I sold him, and I still don't know why... *sigh* He was awesome!)

But good to hear that Bax is doing well.
 
Unfortunately I have no idea what his normal eating habits are because I bought him from a breeder who kept about 15 of them in a tiny tiny tank.

Him and bax came from that tiny tank while Toothless came from a different place.

He could have internal parasites though I guess as I don;t know what the breeder feed them......
 
what did you mean about keeping the tank warm enough? You want it about as cold as you can get it; the colder it is, the faster they heal.
 
Every site I've read has said 15 - 20, with 16-18 being ideal. My tank sits at about 15 and I have no idea why!

But def do not want it any colder!!!
 
15 is fine :) They can survive temperatures about 5 (for example... in the fridge).
I wish I could keep my water temp. at 15. It's always about 18-19-20 over here. My room gets hot pretty fast...
 
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