Reddish leucistic axolotl?

My leucistic axolotl seems to be not doing well on top of its arm being twisted anf the other one sometimws bullying now his whole body seems to be all vieny and pinkish red

Re: Redish leucistic axolotl?

If there is bullying - separate them.

What's your parameters like? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and temp?

Pink reddish body usuall indicates heat stress, stress or ammonia burn.

Is your tank cycled? How big is your tank and how many tank mates do you have?

Re: Redish leucistic axolotl?

Can you post a photo so we can see?

Re: Redish leucistic axolotl?

As you can see the gills have turned reddish, and it is smaller in size, and has a pinkish veiny mess all over its skin. still active, though wont eat much.

Re: Redish leucistic axolotl?

Honestly I didnt know much about these little guys before getting them and the person who sold them to me said they didnt need much, he told me to run the tank with the filter and the water and the conditioner he gave me for 2 hours then put them in. So i did that and every 5 days i do a 20% water change, I try to spot clean as much as possible. I've been trying to research online what to do since none of the pet stores in my area have any idea how to care for these creatures. I dont know how to check the water levels, im trying to find out the levels but alot of things say different things. my temp is always 17-19 c

Re: Redish leucistic axolotl?

You haven't attached a picture.

To test the water you have to get a ph test, ammonia test, nitrITE test, and nitrATE test. You can get these at most pet stores and local fish shops. Get the liquid tests they may be more pricey but are more accurate and last ages.

Ammonia should read 0, nitrITE should read 0, nitrATE should read under 40, and ph should be between 7.4 - 8.4. If you don't have these readings it is most likely your tank is not cycled and you will need to do 20-30% water changes daily until these readings occur.

Poor water conditions can lead to ill health for axolotls and eventual death.

What dechlorinator do you use? And what do you feed them?

Re: Redish leucistic axolotl?

i was only using a conditioner previously didnt know you needed things as such. I have now started a new tank with water and i now have PRIME for fresh and salt water. for clorine cloramine ammonia nitrite&trate and slime coat. Previously was only using TOPFIN conditioner.

Got the AMMONIA NH3/NH4+ liquid test kit as well as API's 5 in 1 test strips. I got night crawlers but now they wont eat at all. The petstore guy said i have to run my tank for a week testing it every couple days and doing 50% water change daily till it reaches to the right levels. but i am afraid my axolotls are not going to make it a few more days, the one is severely sick

she has lost a lot of weight she looks to have some kind of chemical burn, and her gills are very red and curled forward. the tail is curly too… I feel so guilty and i hate myself, but all i can do right now is fix what i did wrong as best i can, i am begging for some kinda help.

Re: Redish leucistic axolotl?

Cycling most likely will take more than one week. If it's easier on you and the axolotl, perhaps put her in a big enough tub with dechlorinated aged water, and do 100% daily water changes until you get the right tank readings. Did you buy nitrite and nitrate readings too? In liquid form?

You can also add black tea to the water with your axolotl (make sure the tea has well and truly cooled down). This will help sooth her skin from the most-likely ammonia burn you can see.

Don't beat yourself up, you're doing what you can to fix this and you could use it as a learning curve. We all make mistakes!

no i dont, i have test strips for everything else

i know its probably not ideal, but i need a quick fix untill the new tank is ready what should i do?

I have left them both together in the original tank not wanting to stress them out by moving them to a new tank a week before moving them to their permenant home.

The water is murky yellowy/cloudy and they are staying close to the filter even though i try to keep the filter away from them. I do water changes daily but the water goes back to being cloudy and murky very quickly I dont want to loose my patches, shes awesome, usually more active and playful then maxie. i dont wanna loose either of them but truth is i think i may loose patches. shes not really moving as much she kinda floats at the top for a short time. then swims elsewhere and sits for a bit at the top…

I know I messed up and i feel terrible, But I am going to do everything I can to fix this. Thank you so much!!! Any more advice or help on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Buy a temporary tank and do put them in that. Do 100% water changes on it. Have your other permanent tank cycling. Here's how to cycle a tank Cycling Your Fish Tank (What's really happening?) - YouTube I recommend that you do the fish cycle with fish because it will be put natural bacteria in your tank witch is better for Aries. If you want to do it quicker do the fish less cycle. I am currently doing the fish in cycle.

whats the best way to do it with fish for an axolotl tank. i want to make it perfect so i have been changing the water to both cool the water and get rid of anything in it in the new tank today and readings in this one are already much better! ammonia is at 0 already. gunna keep an eye on the nitrite and nitrate tonight.

im going to test the water the axolotls are in now, just out of curiosity though i havnt been able to get it to change the colour of the water even with the daily water changes lately

I'm slightly confused - you're keeping them in the tank that's cloudy and murky and cycling a different tank? I think it'd be best to go for dechlorinated tubs with 100% daily changes - I'd rather them be a bit stressed then hang in potentially yucky/toxic water.. I don't think it would help with patche's skin.

Try giving her a tea bath today and see how her skin looks?

Poor babies...I can see you want to fix it, so please help us help you
What tank are they currently in?
What kind/type of filter are you running?
Are you changing all the water they are currently in, everyday?
What else is in your tank with the axolotls?
What are the exact test results on the water?

Hope they are doing better :angel:

Hey so i've been AFK fighting with this water in the cycling tank and because ive spent so much on tank purifiers and such i dont quite have enough to get another tank so i put them in the cycling tank i honestly was so scared patches was trying to get out of the water, so i have them in the new tank. it was what i felt was an emergency situation.


OKAY SO

what is a dechlorinated tub, can u explain in detail how i would go about doing this?? i would like to try doing this so i can get a tank into perfect condition for them. Also what is a tea bath can u explain this is detail? I am so sorry i just dont want to get it wrong in any way!!

the water they are in now is at
0.25 ammonia(this is using liquid test)
nitrite and nitrate on the stick read normal
the ph reads 7.0
but the hardness is way off the charts 180

What tank are they currently in? they are in a 28 gal aquarium filled 4/5th of the way with water. they are in the new tank i had started cycling but upon further inspection of my lil guys i knew they needed out and fast.
What kind/type of filter are you running? curently running tetra's 10 gallon whisper filter. supposed to be soft running and quiet sounding but it seems to have alot of flow, i wanted to using a smaller filter thinking it would have less flow...
Are you changing all the water they are currently in, everyday? previously i was not honestly. i was every 3-4 days doing 20% water change, till about a week ago. now i do 20% water change daily
What else is in your tank with the axolotls? nothing, just the axolotls, they have two hides, third one coming soon, its being build, plants crawls big rocks but no gravel on the bottom its bare bottom.
What are the exact test results on the water?
read above.

Thanks for such helpful responces, hope to hear from you soon!

A dechlorinated tub is just an average tub - big enough for your axolotls to live in temporarily, some people use normal BPA free Tupperware plastic food storage tub. Age a large quantity of dechlorinated water so you can do a COMPLETE water change everyday. Preferably use two tubs so you can transfer them easily and fast. This will be your best bet to keep patches. Keep her out of the tank whilst cycling

A tea bath is just normal black tea, not green, not herbal just plain black tea. Brew a cup of tea, wait for it to cool and add it to your treated water. It will help soothe their skin.

Personally I wouldn't use big river rocks, food and poop and who knows what else can get trapped easily. Bare bottom or sand is the best choice.

Ammonia is high, once ammonia drops to 0, your nitrites will get high, then your nitrates whilst your nitrites drop. Ammonia and nitrite should read 0, and nitrate under 40. Then you will know your tank is safe and cycled.

so i have tested all the waters, the water is the same as it was earlier, ammonia 0.25 i will try the dechlorinated tub tomorrow its 4:18am here. in the morning i will do the dechlorinated tub with a tea bath, and restart the cycle in the new tank. I will have to go get the stuff, but its all worth it for my patches biggest problem i foresee is the water hardness, we have really bad water hardness in my city.

Okay, so i will go get a new filter tomorrow, as well as i am going to get one of those vacuum cleaners, i dont have gravel but i do feed the injured one blood worms atm because she was so badly hurt she couldnt eat the earth worms.

Patches skin was so bad tonight, i should have gotten a picture, but its gotten amazingly better in only a few hours. on her tail where she looked to hav been bleeding almost has already begun to soften the red colour.

and she is eating the blood worms i baited her with, and now she is swimming around happily like the other with occassional pauses for a short break. they are swimming to the top and going down quickly and really seem to be a lot happier. they were even cuddling without nipping at each other!

Will post pics in a few! phew already 5:00am