Tank change issues.

I havr had my axi since before he got back legs, and is now 3-4 months old. He had large vivid pink gills and was rather fat. We had him in a 10gallon aquarium and we decided he didnt have enough room. We purchased a 20 gallon long tank and move everything out of the old tank to the new, with the exception of a live plant, 1 piece of decor and a second 2-10i whisper filter its all the same down to the sand. Got everything set up, checked all water perimeters and temp, once it was good we moved him from the small tank i used when cleaning the 10 to the 20. I went to bed that night with him looking fine. Woke up and the feathery parts of his gills had turned white and almost disappeared. He wasnt moving much and wouldnt eat. Its been 3-4 days and hes started acting more normal and started eating some not nearly as much as he did though. His gills are red/pink again but the feathery part is almost non existant. It does seem a little longer than sunday morning though. But now he swims up to gulp air quite often. Im worried his gills might be shot, but im not sure from what. I was told the behavior was probably from stress of moving and the water not being cycled yet. Can stress cause loss of gill feathers? Is that why he is going up for air? Thanks for any nput. Sorry for the long post.

Was your new tank fully cycled before you moved him? Ammonia is the most common cause of skin and gill issues.

You need to test your water daily and change water accordingly, keep the ammonia under 0.5 until your tank and new filter are cycled.

I dont believe it was fully cycled, but it is now. All parameters were fine, and i check it daily since all this happened. Sometimes twice a day. He is now a lot more active and gill color has returned. He is eating some. Could the live plant have caused an issue? And if his gill feathers regrow, will he not need to gulp air?

Can you post your parameter readings? Stress can cause loss to the filaments of the gill. Water quality and good temperature will allow them to grow back.

Axolotls gulp for air to breathe too. They use gills and lungs to breathe and even though my axolotls have beautiful, healthy gills, they do go up for a gulp every so often.

Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0
Hardness - 75(soft)
Alkalinity - 20
Ph - 7.2
Ammonia - between 0 and .25

With no readings of nitrate it seems your cycle doesn't even exist. The presence of ammonia also backs up that the cycle has only just started.


If you used the same media filter and preseved it whilst moving (i.e. leaving it on as long as possible, leaving the media in old tank water, and then turning it back on as soon as you could) it could just be a mini cycle. Just keep an eye on your parameters and do not allow you ammonia to reach above .5ppm. Your ammonia will spike, then drop as nitrites increase, and then those will drop as your nitrates climb up.

A fully cycled tank will read 0 ammonia & nitrites, and a reading of but less that 40ppm of nitrates. You will need to do daily water changes to allow conditions to be livable.

My nitrate level doesnt seem to change, maybe a tiny tint pink as i use dip strips, but its not nearly as dark as the 20 on the chart. Nitrite hovers between 0 and .5. Hardness stays 75 (soft) alkalinity stays between 0 and 40. And my ph is between 7 and 7.2.

Test strips are a joke and are so inaccurate. You need liquid test kits. Expensive but worth it.