Illness/Sickness: Can't solve problem...

Hi Im pretty new to axolotls... I did my research but still unsure. I have my axolotl (I think he/she is about a year old, 2inches) He is in a 33 gallon long tank, sponge filter attached with air pump, a small HOB filter rated for 10-15 gal just to filter out the debris so I dont have to siphon every week. the HOB filter I drilled holes into to disperse the flow to lessen the water current. Water I use is tap with chlorine conditioner... water temp stays at 65f-67f has a small fan on top to cycle the water and lower temp. The fan evaporates about a gallon a day so I put a fresh gallon of water in daily...But his gills have been shirking since I gotten him, I had him for about 6 months now. He doesnt have any more of the "feathery" looking gills any more just the main part of the gills. They are slightly curled but he has been like that when i purchased him from a breeder. He likes to stay by the sponge filter? IDK if that means anything.. he can swim away from it easily so i figure it doesnt stress him out if I have a few hides in the tank but he prefers to be right by or under the sponge filter... is he sick? I heard somewhere about their gills shrinking when the water aerated so he doesnt need all the feathery gills?


Also he does not come up fir air that much he stays on the bottom more. He eats every other day. The tank is a foot high.... that's all the details I can come with at the moment.
Is my axie sick? How do I help him

I'll call your axxie 'he' for the sake of argument, hope that's okay!

I've read threads by other owners whose axxies have luxuriously big gills, and they have all sorts of methods. Some have good genes, others recommend lowering the flow of your filter as much as you can. I have also read before that if the water is well aerated, their gills won't grow as much.

It doesn't sound worrying to me, but if your axxies gills are curled you might want to look at the filter's flow. If it's still a little strong you may need to lower the flow - if this doesn't work then, like a lot of others I have read about, your axxie's gills are just a little curly.
I'm not sure your axxie is a year old if he's only 2 inches. Most axxies average about 6 inches or more by a year, plus his toes will be dark (if he's light coloured) or lighter (if he's dark coloured). He sounds more like 3 or so months, but I'm no expert. I have no idea how old mine are.

I don't think he's poorly at all, it sounds like you're providing all the right care. But I would like to ask, to be sure...

1) Do you 'age' your water by leaving it to stand overnight or for 48 hours?
2) What do you feed him?
3) What are your water parameters like? Ammonia, PH, Nitrite, Nitrate?
4) Do you have anything else in with him or is it just your axolotl on his lonesome?
5) Does he look paler, or has his behaviour changed significantly? Any signs of wounds, fungus, etc? There probably isn't any of this stuff but I check both of mine every day just in case.

These questions will give us a clearer picture of what your little guy's lifestyle is like. If he's chilling a lot, that's normal. Lotls like to laze!

Hi,

in the most things I agree with Petersgirl and I´m very concerned about his age. You told us, that he is nearly 1 year old and you got him 6 months ago. That means, that he is definately more than half a year old. Normally a 2 inch axie is ~ 3 months old. So, he is much too small.
He lives in a 33 gal tank, which is much space for a 2 inch axie and he is fed every other day.

So, I suppose, that he didn´t get enough food in the past.
1) Small axies <3 inch should be fed daily.
2) Too much space makes it hard for him to find the food.

This could be the reason for the shrinking gills, too. When an axie becomes thin, the gills are becoming smaller, too.

How do your axie look like? Is his body well rounded?
Please, could you provide a picture.

Has the tank been cycled before putting him in?
What do you feed him?

Greetz, Tina

Hi thanks for the replies! I might of exaggerated, I had the axie for about three months so I think hes about half a year old. I hope the size and age matches up now! :happy:

But as far as friends he lost three of them suddenly... a two months ago? I guess thats sort of when I noticed his gills shrinking... Im about to get two more axies about his size soon, will three(maybe 4) total be fine in the 33 gal?

I do cycle the fresh gallon that goes into his tank daily a day or two before, I also had a question regarding this method as well. Because the fan evaporates the water rapidly, therefore I replace a gallon daily... with the two filters do I still need to siphon weekly? how often should I do it...

Also when I got him I was unsure of how to feed him...therefore I fed him with tweezers! he got used to it and comes up when hes hungry every other day. He seems to eat fine on the schedule too. Can this cause him to be skinny if he's not getting enough? I feed him frozen bloodworms. How do I teach him to eat from the bottom of the tank if he seeks for the tweezers or my fingers to feed? How much worms should I be giving him?

His color has stayed the same since I gotten him, He has grown a little bit I can tell. but as far as fungus and other sorts I havent noticed anything.

here are some pics of him today. If you noticed anything wrong with the tank let me know!

Your axolotl is very underweight. If he was mine I would take him out of the tank and place him in a plastic tub, not too big, approx 30cmx20cm floor space. I change 100 percent of the tub water daily with cool, clean and dechlorinated tap water. I would try to increase the quantity and nutrition level of the food to help him put on weight. Live black worms would be a good choice as they are small and nutritious. As they are live they will get him used to eating live food from the bottom of the tank. They can live in the tank and your little guy will love them. He should put on weight. You can use a syringe to place the black worms on your axie's head, he should respond the movement and gobble them up.

While your little one is in its separate tub this will give you the opportunity to balance your tank. It sounds like you are not testing the tank's PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. This should be done at least weekly before your water change and any other times when you are concerned that something is wrong for your little one. By simply adding more water to the tank you are not removing the toxins in the tank. I do this by siphoning the bottom of the tank where most of the waste and debris accumulate, this waste can create harmful ammonia spikes.

Just wanted to say that live black worms may not be a good choice to feed on a sand substrate as your little one would eat lots of sand with the worms. But they would be fantastic in a plastic tub or bare bottomed tank.

Where can I get live black worms from? A local pet shop? Or reptile shop?

And I will thanks so much, but also if i wanted to keep him in the tank can i just provide a eating area? Large flat rock or dish/bowl?

As far as siphoning Ill start doing it once a week. I just thought that the sponge filter and bio was supossed to break those levels down, am I wrong?

How long do I keep him in a tub till? Can i keep more then one in the same tub.

What should the water levels be at? Whats the best was or kit to test with?

Hi

I am sure that someone in the US will be able to recommend where to get blackworms. In Australia there is one major supplier and we can order from pet shops too. Blackworms need to be kept in the fridge in a Tupperware and they need to be rinsed daily (or even twice daily) with refrigerated aged water (no drops).

Axolotls require very specific water quality. Ammonia must be no more than 0.25, it should really be 0. Nitrite should be 0. Nitrate should have a relatively low reading, under 40ppm. The PH should range between 6.5-8.
You need to get an API Master Test Kit for Freshwater so that you can measure these parameters. In the test kit you will get a low PH test, high PH test, ammonia test, nitrite test and nitrate test. You may discover that you have high levels in your tank now and this has impacted upon your axie.

As far as keeping the axie in the tank, this would be fine if the water was safe, and you don't know whether it is now. Once you know it is safe the tank should be fine, however for convenience I would remove the sand. I just took all my sand out this weekend as my axies where consuming it. I don't think this us beneficial to their wellbeing. You could try a feeding dish, perhaps a large Pyrex that will provide a clean surface for eating. Your axie is little so consuming sand may lead to impaction.

I'll answer more questions soon, just got to do something.

Do you have knowledge of the nitrogen cycle? If not have a look on the web, I am on my phone and not so good at sending links. I have a cycled tank. even though it is cycled I and need to remove water and replace it each week in order to dilute ammonia and nitrate levels. Recently my ammonia reached .25ppm and nitrates reached 40ppm. Any higher and my axies would have been harmed. To reduce your nitrate levels you can increase your plants and replace water more frequently. This is one of the main reasons that I siphon water frequently. If I don't change water the levels just creep up to dangerous levels. Apologies for my explanation, I am seriously still new to this and have difficulty explaining things at the best of times ☺

Concerning putting other axies in the tub, I would keep yours in a separate tub for a little while as it seems to need a bit of TLC. I have three babies in individual tubs. I like to keep them by themselves so that they don't nip at each other. I still do need to constantly squirt blackworms their way, little axies respond to movement when eating. I'm not sure how old your new ones will be. The new ones could just go in the tank if they aren't tiny provided that the water is safe. I really feel that the priority should be getting the water safe first before getting new axies.

As I supposed, your axie is much too skinny and the tank is too big for him.
You should put him into a box and feed him daily with blackworms, bloodworms, enchytraea, cutted earthworms (pieces 1 - cm in length), small fresh water shrimps and guppy babies.
While he is in the box, you should cycle your tank. You need a test kit for testing the water quality - best are drop tests. They are easy to handle and give you exact results.

Before you buy new axies, you should take care, that this little guy is on the best way - so, I would wait some weeks. When you´ll got the new ones, you have to quarantine them for 3 - 4 weeks, to be sure, that they are healthy.

Greetz, Tina

whats the best way, or how do I quarantine them? thank you all, ill remove him today, test the waters and feed him lots ill post pics in a few weeks! so doing all this his gills should regenerate?

Hi I called around and the only location with live back worms is VERY FAR... would live brine shrimp be a nutritious solution as well? or can the little axie be able to feed on them?

Brine shrimps would probably be too small. Any live bloodworms in your area?
Have a look online too, someone might ship them.