Hooked tail sick axie?

lovesheraxies · Mar 11, 2013

Hi there, I am new here, been reading this site for a couple months tho. I have 3 axies, all from the same hatching, they are just shy of 3 months old. They have all been doing very well, they eat like pigs, have character and live together comfortably in a 30g tank. They are not cannibalistic. The water is very clean with 30% changes done every few days. The temperature is usually between 65 and 69. I try to keep it around 67/68 tho.

Anyways 3 days ago my little Sheldon was fine for the most part of the day but later in the evening when I went to feed him I noticed his tail was hooked. I know this is a sign of stress. His gills aren't horribly curled, he is eating, staying at the bottom of the tank, darts when touched, he has no fungas or bacterial problems from what I can tell and his color is fine. It's just this hooked tail. I notice when he swims his tail becomes straight, it's when he settles down it slowly curls again. I don't know what's wrong! This started 3 days ago.

I took him out of the tank and put him in his own tub just to be on the safe side but is that necessary? Is there anything else I can do for him? Will this pass? He's been in the tub by himself for 2 days now. The only thing I could find online in regards to this was possibly the flow from the filter was bugging him. I have since turned it towards the wall which has further stopped motion in the water but there wasn't overly a lot to begin with as I had my filter on a spray bar setting. Penny and Leonard aren't bothered by it at all.

I'm really worried, Sheldon is my very favorite and I would be so upset if he were to die.

I am attaching a photo of him with his tail hooked.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide me with.

Mortimer · Mar 11, 2013

Do you know what your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels are?

Mortimer · Mar 11, 2013

Do you have plenty of hides in their tank?

lovesheraxies · Mar 11, 2013

Yes, I have lots of hides. No I do not know the levels. I had bought the disks you stick inside the tank but the sensor fell off one of them so I had to return them, just waiting for them to get a new shipment in as they were sold out.

jeromeetabuzo · Mar 11, 2013

lovesheraxies said:
Yes, I have lots of hides. No I do not know the levels. I had bought the disks you stick inside the tank but the sensor fell off one of them so I had to return them, just waiting for them to get a new shipment in as they were sold out.

Give us the water tests as soon as possible

xxianxx · Mar 11, 2013

The axolotl is to old for the "hooked" tail die off sign, it is also eating so is unlikely to flake out. I dont know what the problem (if any) actually is.

Kerry M · Mar 11, 2013

Perhaps you could take a sample of your water to the pet shop. Most will test it free of charge. Hopefully they will use liquid tests. I would recommend that you buy yourself an API Master Test Kit. It really is the most useful tool to check what is happening when axies don't look perfectly happy. I'm testing at least once a week now and it is very helpful. Your little guy is cute by the way

lovesheraxies · Mar 11, 2013

Yeah, it dawned on me this morning that Pet Smart does them for free, I'm going to take in a sample today and I'll update with the results.

lovesheraxies · Mar 11, 2013

I ended up just buying some test strips and did it myself.

I'm not sure how to figure out if they are normal or not.

GH is 180
KH is 120 - ish
PH is 7.5
NO2 is 0
NO3 is 0

His tail isn't looking as hooked as it was earlier.

FX1C · Mar 11, 2013

lovesheraxies said:
I ended up just buying some test strips and did it myself.

I'm not sure how to figure out if they are normal or not.

GH is 180
KH is 120 - ish
PH is 7.5
NO2 is 0
NO3 is 0

His tail isn't looking as hooked as it was earlier.

I really wish shops wouldn't bother selling those test strips

As mentioned repeatedly on these forums the test strips are incredibly unreliable - especially for ammonia & nitrate as the tests need to be 2 part to be accurate & nitrate must be shaken very well to make sure the solids are activated in the liquid.

It's a shame but if you can buy a liquid master test kit you'll be working with accurate data - without that you may as well be guessing the results.

<3 >o_o< <3

Kaysie · Mar 12, 2013

My guess would be water movement. How powerful is your filter?

lovesheraxies · Mar 12, 2013

I use the Fluval U3 filter. I have it on the spray bar setting. I've since turned it towards the one wall to reduce further water flow. There wasn't a whole lot to begin with. I just took a look at Sheldon and his tail seems to be pretty much straight but it almost looks like there is a crimp in it. I wonder if he could have injured it?

lovesheraxies · Mar 13, 2013

Here are some pics I took of Sheldon today, on the left side you can see what I mean by a "crimped" like tip of the tail, it's not hooked anymore tho. I returned him to the tank today and he seemed pleased, even admired himself in the glass.

I am also adding a few pics of my two others. I noticed Leonard has a v shape at the end of his tail, like it's been injured, it's very small tho and he doesn't seem bothered at all by it. He is also working hard to regenerate a lost gill he received about a month and a half ago. His gill started to grow back about 2 weeks ago. Penny and Leonard are around 3.5 inches and Leonard is by far the biggest at at least 4 if not more inches.

EJgraydon · Mar 13, 2013

My Charmander has a nick in his tail that is very small he got a few weeks ago, I watched carefully and it hasn't seemed to bother him yet. It doesn't look like a tear or anything. But it never bothered hi,. just keep an eye on him is what I would recommend

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