T-Rex has died, my little boy devastated. Is keeping an axolotl just too hard? Hoping to hear from people who have had their Axie long term

T-Rex died suddenly yesterday. He had been eating as usual, the temp was 19*C and the water params were fine. When I found him, his neck was swollen and his body had turned white. The whole family is devastated we tried very hard to learn to be better at keeping him, upgrading the filter, regular water changes, adding a chiller to the set up, spray bars to reduce flow... I'm so determined to find out what went wrong that I'm having a vet carry out an autopsy. My husband thinks it was too complicated a pet to keep and we should never get another one, my son says he hopes we can get another one day. I'm just not sure, I think it depends on what the Vet says. I mean we do have a full set up just sitting here now it would be a shame to waste it.
But I don't want to have to tell my little boy that his pet died again. Is it really too much effort to get it right?
Theres an awful lot of posts in the sick axolotl forum, I did my research, I'm a walking encyclopaedia for these little guys now, and I still couldn't keep him alive. Are they just too hard to keep?

With neck/throat swelling, it sounds like it was probably something like kidney failure.

Sometimes animals just die. It's not necessarily anything you've done wrong. There is definitely a disproportionate number of people here with ill axolotls as well, when things are going well, you don't seek out the help of people on the internet, right?

Best of luck with the vet, and tell your husband to give it one more go. After all, you've already got all the equipment, and all the information. It would be a shame to let all that go to waste, and to disappoint your little boy.

Thanks, I think I'll let Heath pick a new one when he's ready and we'll try again. Like you said with all the equiptment here it would be a shame to waste it. Should I empty out the tank or leave the water there? I turned the filter and chiller off, so not sure if the filter will still be ok? It's a submersed bio filter. I'll probably leave it till Christmas before I get another one. At least this time I'll actually know what I'm doing, poor T-Rex suffered as we learnt everything the hard way.

My two cents: it's easier to keep adult axolotl, so if you can find a fully grown one, I would recommend that over a juvenile.

You should drain the tank, clean everything, and start anew. I recommend cleaning with a little vinegar and letting everything dry thoroughly.