Very sad time and I just dunno what to do other than cry... :'(

I am very sad to say that today when I woke up was hart braking,. My handsom pink boy and gorgeous little gold girl were passed away. My precious black girl was swimming with them keeping them near the top and she was very upset. I just burst into tears, I am still distraught and crying on and off. I took my black girl out and put her in a bowl of clean water. I also put the other two in a bowl and that bowl is in the bath, as I am waiting 12 hours to see if either of them is still with us but I know the chances are very slim ( oh now im crying again**). I have re clean'd the tank, water change, tested water levels, etc. And now precious/toothless ( my black girls name :* ) is back in her tank she is ok but is searching all over for her tank mates**. I am absolutely heart broken and I still love them to bits but toothless needs company so I will be getting two more axolotls if my two dont pull through tonight**. I am not replacing them at all!, i am doing the right thing and I will never forget how amazing they were and will forever love them. The reptile shop has apologised and given me a credit note to get two more or some other stuff for the tank, or food. I dont know if maybe I should get the two from one of you though?I need to stop typing now as, well too emotional. RIP my two amazing and beautiful babys, our family and my self will always love you and you will never be forgotten xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x

I'm sorry for your loss, very sad indeed

But it is important you find out why they died before you get any more - you really don't want to get any more just to have them die too.

Post your water parameters, a photo of the tank, details of food etc and we'll see if we can help.

And if you do get any more I'd advise getting them direct from the breeder if you can - you'll find plenty in the 'for sale or trade' section on here.

Thank you.

They Just werent right from when I first got them. I am going to wait a bit befor getting them and am doing alsorts to make sure all will be perfect. The little yellow one was known not to be too grate before I got here from the shop but I wanted to try giving her the best and the male just started floting etc after having him for a few days and I sorted out adivce from here and did everything everyone suggested.

So just going to let the tank and my axolotl be for a bit and clean it etc regularly.I dont wont a repeat so I will double cheack everything and make sure my girl stays happy. When ready I think I will get them from here like you suggested, thank you x

I hate to interject with any negative thoughts but I hope your keeping a close eye on the surviving member of the group. If her searching seems frantic and all around the tank I'd be more concerned about internal distress from something she possibly ate.

What's the background on these guys? How long have you had them, how big are they, what type of aquarium were they in and what with? What are you feeding? Is it a new tank or a cycled one with a cycled filter? Etc. I agree with auntiejude, do not go and get more until this problem has been resolved otherwise you could just end up with more casualties.

Also I'd suggest keeping the other two in cold water, they may still possibly be alive, it seems like sometimes they like to play tricks or sometimes when sick appear dead but come back from the grave. I've never dealt with a dead one before so I'm unsure of their appearance when so, but if their eyes get cloudy like fish do after passing I suppose that's a good way to know for sure if you want to wait that long. I'm sorry for the losses otherwise, it is a heart breaking experience to lose loved ones.

I am, I havent stoped looking at her, I was worried that she may too do the same. But thank god she is fine right now and has gone back to normal behaviour

They are from a reptile and fish shop, had been there quiye a while but are from a breeder they personaly know. I have only had them for just nearly 2 weeks. Black is around 7.5inches, pink 6inches, around4-5 inches and just the three of them in the tank. Freedimg dafnia and redbloodworm frozen and live wax worm, live mini mill worms. Not all types of food at the same time, differnt one each time. Tank cycled as well as filter. I am not purposing to get any more till i feel ok with it and 100% with tank. Will continue to read water levels and make sure they stay right and if all is well from now till weekend I might start looking into a new pair. I dont womt to go through this again and will do my level best to aviod it, I promis x

I still have them im the cold water and I am praying they are going to be ok!, there eyes arent cloudy at the moment but how how long do I wait?
Thank you for all the help and support, I miss them so much right now xxx

That's good to hear honestly, I would hate for you to lose all three. Slight side note but its a little risky to keep one under 5 inches with other ones cause they can cannibalize.

All those foods, while okay for snacks dont sound like enough of a food source for axolotls that big. Even my smallest ones are eating red wrigglers at 3 inches, I would suggest moving Toothless up to earth worms if you can find some chemical free ones. Not to mention the excess food that stays and lives off the water/pollutes the water can be a factor. If its a big tank I wouldn't be as concerned about that but I dont know what size tank you had the three in.

As for cloudy eyes with my fish it usually takes around a day or longer, I'm not sure how long it generally is but like I said, keep them in cold water and keep an eye on them.

Yes I was aware of that and thats one of the reasons I rescued her. I keep a close eye on them and saw no signs of cannibalism, they were very friendly with each other and would snuggle with each other.

Ok I will see if I can find that, thank you!, any othere foods that would be better? or stuff like live white cloud minnos or ghost shrimp?. Yes the food dose sometimes stick to the bottom of the tank when not all consumed, but I do clean up as much as I can, due to knowing about it polluting. They are/were in the right tank for there current size and I was going to get a very big one when nessecery so they would have tones of space ..... :/

Ok I will do that thank you.

I have just read anouther thread about some one ells loosing a new axi that had been on gravel in the pet shop. My axolotls were on gravel in the shop and I picked all of the stones out as I found them.. but they are on sand and my pink one was showing very impacted behaviour and I kept finding the little one with stone could this have been a factor in this tragedy?... that they had consumed stones in the shop and not have been able to pass them, they seemed perfectly fine yesterday but were floting/ swimming alot recently.

I think we have our killer. Impaction is highly likely, you should call the shop and request they remove the remaining axolotls from gravel and either leave the tank bare bottom or with sand because the gravel is killing them. Even if they passed some stones not all of them pass at once, it can take quite awhile. One girl around here I spoke to said hers were passing stones for months after she rescued them. Sometimes they can pass them, sometimes not. You should know it had nothing to do with you however and was on the reptile shop. I would most definitely give them a call. The floating and swimming a lot can be a sign of distress or discomfort, because they cant poop or pass gas.

As for food worms are all around the best and healthiest thing you can give them. I feed mine minnows on occasion, I just let them free in the tank and the next day all of them are gone, my axolotls love to hunt them but they should be considered only a treat! Feeder fish in general aren't healthy and can impose problems with parasites, ich, and all that fun stuff. Call some local bait shops and see if they have worms that are for all intents and purposes, organic. No chemicals, fertilizers and such. It can kill the axolotl. If all else fails people suggest all the time to go into your own yard or a area nearby that you can search/dig for your own, but again, make sure that there isn't any chemicals. I can't express this enough. I dont have enough knowledge on shrimp to answer that one, I would refrain though, as I would fear the shells may pose as a choking hazard or discomfort in digesting, but again axolotls are fond of snails so I'm not sure. Maybe someone else can answer that on here. Wow I rambled a lot here.

well I feel abit more at peace that we now know what has happened. I will most definitely ring them tomorrow!, and I know they will fix it asap as they are very good but newish to axolotls, they were only on stones cause they were put in there as there tank just gave way. Im so sad and I am relived that I did do everything I could ! And now I know that was the problem I dont need to worry about toothless as she didnt have stones in her tank *pheeew* and I can get two more when ready x

Thank you for food advice! Will defently follow it going to get some worms tomorrow and possibly some minnows on the weekend. I feel betterish now and like im heading towards being at peace with it. So thank you very much for all your help, it means alot xxxx

I'm glad it was resolved. When you get your worms make sure they stay in a cooler room and don't get too warm. The smell of dead worms is not something you want anywhere in your home. If you weren't before, I'm most definitely sure you can teach Toothless to hand feed with the worms as well! Just make sure to wash your hands and wait 24 hours after painting nails/getting nails done if you do that.

Anyway I hope you get more beautiful babies and they live a long time.

Ok I will do yes I already hand feed her and have been "bitten" :happy: oh thank you I didnt know that!, will make sure I dont do that x

Thank you so do I !, and now Im happy that I know I was doing the right things, also that It wouldnt be selfish of me to get more because I didn't do anything wrong.

Thank you so much for all your help xx

If you can put some close up shots of the dead axolotls in the thread it may give a clue to what the problem was.

I see how that could help but I cant, sorry. I just cant bring myslef to do it x thank you for trying to help though x

Thats understandable but I am not convinced that two axolotls would die of impaction within a couple of hours of each other. There may be a different reason. The pics could potentially have helped.

Ok, thank you for advice I will have a read up

Since you aren't able to do pictures of the other two, we may be able to get another idea from a picture of Toothless currently. There is a valid point here about both of them passing so soon from it, while its not impossible there could be something else that pushed it to happen so close together along with the possible impaction. Other view points are always good to have.

Kk, I have attached three photos of toothless from this morning (showing nearly all of her). She seems fine and happpy, and she also looks like her normal self. X

Very pretty baby. Other than being on the kinda thin side in my opinion, she seems healthy to me.

I still think impaction is likely. Did you get the other two at the same time from the same store? I have a theory thats plausible though not a guarantee over what happened.

I would like to but in for just a moment. Could you please give us these specifics. It has been asked a few times and you just say the levels are good. I would really like to see the numbers.

Although impaction could be likely. I would feel more comfortable getting tank readings first before coming to this conclusion. Though this guy looks healthy and happy, a little thin but nothing a few worms wont fix! I find darker axolotls are less sensitive to water quality issues. Like my white melanoid I have no idea what is wrong with him, its only at night his tail gets all red and his gills turn really bright pink. By morning its fine. Nothing else wrong with him and I keep my levels in check. And i have 5 axolotls and he is the only one that it happens to. I am still in the process of finding out what causes it because I know its the water, but not sure what.

If you could tell us

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Ph
Temperature
Size of tank
I know you already said what you fed them, but where did you get the food source for it?
Did you add any live plants recently? Where did you get them? Any feeder fish?

These are very important questions to answer to help you out. I will not come to the conclusion of impaction until i exhaust all other areas.