why axie tail gets so dark whats wrong!?

why my axolotl tail is red? im very worryed
http://s121.photobucket.com/albums/o217/muffin_XD/?action=view&current=sdgmk007.jpg

here is water cycle, i dont understand anything thought is it ok?
http://s121.photobucket.com/albums/o217/muffin_XD/?action=view&current=sdgmk008.jpg

help please
it got darker yesterday

Hi Doki,

The test kit you used is a dipstick, which is highly inaccurate. Furthermore, you were testing for water hardness and pH etc.

I would recommend you get a colourimetric solution test kit. These are more accurate. You want tests for Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates. Tests like pH, hardness although informative are less essential.

The axie's tail region looks red because of increased blood circulation through the blood vessels in the region. Sometimes impacted axies can present with a reddened tail and cloaca area. They also tend lose their appetite and may have a bulge in the abodomen area. An inflammation, such as trauma, parasites etc. could also all cause the reddish appearance.

Once you invested in a good water test kit, check for water parameters again. Also what is the water temperature? Are there excessive currents? I can see you have sand as main substrate, however are there also pebbles that the axie can ingest? I am not sure what are those pebbly looking things near the water plants.

Has your axie shown other signs of illness and stress? Curled tail tip, forward facing gills, inappetance, odd behaviour, floating etc?

I would recommend you fridge your axie.Fridging your axie will destress it, boost its immune system and render harmful pathogens (both bacterial and fungal) less viable.

- Set your fridge to about 5 degree celsius.
- Put your axie in a container large enough to allow it to stretch its limbs and tail comfortably.
- Fill with fresh dechlorinated water enough to submerge it but not allowing it to float.
- Cover with a lid. You can use a perforated lid or netting to prevent it jumping out.
- Use a tea towel to cover it to keep the environment dark.
- Perform 100% water changes daily with clean dechlorinated water.
- You can pre prepare bottles of water in the fridge.
- Continue to offer a variety of nutritious food daily. Try live wriggly food like blackworms, bloodworms, earthworms. You can also try the usual pellet, offer treats of shrimp and fish etc. Otherwise you can also blend everything in a food processor and then roll the resultant mash into a pea sized ball to try offer your axie. Remove uneaten food within 20 min.

I would try fridging your axolotl for 2 weeks and continually monitor for improvement. Please update on the progress every couple of days.

Cheers

fridge? in small room to move? i feel bad for her, wont it pass by itself?
her gills are ok, tail not curled, good appetite, moves around, temperature 15C in 80l aquarium i made same water for her as for fishes and they are ok. (in separate aquarium) but when i took out my hand it got all too dry, means its water is hard?

Hi Doki,

Axolotl gills and tails redden with activity as Ray says the more blood flow the redder they get, I wouldn't worry about the colour.

From the photo your axolotl looks a bit on the fat side which could mean its well fed or as Ray suggests perhaps impaction. How often are you feeding?

ianclick said:

Hi Doki,

Axolotl gills and tails redden with activity as Ray says the more blood flow the redder they get, I wouldn't worry about the colour.

From the photo your axolotl looks a bit on the fat side which could mean its well fed or as Ray suggests perhaps impaction. How often are you feeding?

Click to expand...

oh i feed her every day with fish as much as she wants and takes, she looks skinny to me, and i'm always worried it's hungry. i feed it 1nce or twice a day. is it the problem it cant swim to take some breath sometimes?

Hi Doki,

There are a few things which i feel could be improved. I shall just list them.

1 - Your axie is definitely not skinny. You do not need to feed her twice a day, thats way too much. You would be doing her more good if you feed her in moderation. For a full grown adult axie, you need to feed only once or twice a week. For younger juveniles, maybe even three times a week but definitely no requirement for more.

2 - Fish as a staple diet is not appropriate. You can definitely offer fish, but only as occasional treats. You may like to limit 1 small piece of fish twice a week and thats it. Suitable food to feed as staples are live earthworms, blackworms, bloodworms and pellets.

3- Axies breathe through their gills primarily, a certain extent through their skin and oral mucosa (inside of mouth) and they can also take occasional surface trips to gulp in air. They do have rudimentary lungs. However, the frequency of surface trips vary between axies. I would not be overly concerned your axie doesn't go to the surface much as long as there are no other accompanying signs of stress or illness.

4 - If you intend to fridge your axie, a container large enough to allow her to fully extend her limbs and tail comfortably and tall enough to have her submerged in water will suffice. This facilitates your daily water changes. And no, she will not be miserable in the fridge. She is likely to love it. By all means get a larger container if you wish, but it would only be more cumbersome with water changes.

5 - I don't understand exactly what you were trying to ask by your 'hands get dry when you take your hand out" in relation to water hardness. From my understanding, regardless of the water's hardness, it will still get dry when wet hands are exposed to dry air. Its just normal water evaporation. Perhaps soaking your hands in the water has stripped off some of your skin's natural oils(sebum). For that, the only solution i can recommend is a good hand moisturiser after.

Cheers

Darkmaverick said:

Hi Doki,

There are a few things which i feel could be improved. I shall just list them.

1 - Your axie is definitely not skinny. You do not need to feed her twice a day, thats way too much. You would be doing her more good if you feed her in moderation. For a full grown adult axie, you need to feed only once or twice a week. For younger juveniles, maybe even three times a week but definitely no requirement for more.

2 - Fish as a staple diet is not appropriate. You can definitely offer fish, but only as occasional treats. You may like to limit 1 small piece of fish twice a week and thats it. Suitable food to feed as staples are live earthworms, blackworms, bloodworms and pellets.

3- Axies breathe through their gills primarily, a certain extent through their skin and oral mucosa (inside of mouth) and they can also take occasional surface trips to gulp in air. They do have rudimentary lungs. However, the frequency of surface trips vary between axies. I would not be overly concerned your axie doesn't go to the surface much as long as there are no other accompanying signs of stress or illness.

4 - If you intend to fridge your axie, a container large enough to allow her to fully extend her limbs and tail comfortably and tall enough to have her submerged in water will suffice. This facilitates your daily water changes. And no, she will not be miserable in the fridge. She is likely to love it. By all means get a larger container if you wish, but it would only be more cumbersome with water changes.

5 - I don't understand exactly what you were trying to ask by your 'hands get dry when you take your hand out" in relation to water hardness. From my understanding, regardless of the water's hardness, it will still get dry when wet hands are exposed to dry air. Its just normal water evaporation. Perhaps soaking your hands in the water has stripped off some of your skin's natural oils(sebum). For that, the only solution i can recommend is a good hand moisturiser after.

Cheers

Click to expand...

oh i see thanks! i did some other thing that others sugested to change water, and i puted her in 100% new water as i moved her in bigger tank and it seems her tail is returning to normal, but should i still fridge her? also is it a good idea if i let live worms out? so it eats whe she needs to?

Hi Doki,

Was your tank water fully cycled before? I actually would not recommend 100% water change unless you refer to fridging in which case you need to perform 100% water changes daily.

I guess since you have already done it, the best thing you can do now is to monitor the water parameters. Assuming your tap water comes chlorinated, i hope you did use a dechlorinator before you changed water.

Live earthworms can survive several hours even days when left in the water. However, they do drown and ultimately rot if not cleaned up. I would recommend you feed a known number of worms each time and if possible hand feed by dangling in front of axie and waving it about. You can leave 1 or 2 worms in the tank if you want your axie to go hunt for it. You do have to take note to remove the worms if they are left uneaten.

If your axie appears to be on the mend, i don't see the necessity in fridging. You have to continually monitor.

Cheers

Darkmaverick said:

Hi Doki,

Was your tank water fully cycled before? I actually would not recommend 100% water change unless you refer to fridging in which case you need to perform 100% water changes daily.

I guess since you have already done it, the best thing you can do now is to monitor the water parameters. Assuming your tap water comes chlorinated, i hope you did use a dechlorinator before you changed water.

Live earthworms can survive several hours even days when left in the water. However, they do drown and ultimately rot if not cleaned up. I would recommend you feed a known number of worms each time and if possible hand feed by dangling in front of axie and waving it about. You can leave 1 or 2 worms in the tank if you want your axie to go hunt for it. You do have to take note to remove the worms if they are left uneaten.

If your axie appears to be on the mend, i don't see the necessity in fridging. You have to continually monitor.

Cheers

Click to expand...

i just changed tanks so i had to change the water compleatly. i discloroled it and added bio bacterias as needed.today i puted bloodworms in little plate and axolotl ate from there by herself. feeding with frozen worms is too hard as worms just turn in dust after melting in water and makes it dirty.

Hi Doki,

Its a great sign that your axie has a good appetite. I like your method of feeding worms (from the other thread). Its a good idea.

Cheers

Darkmaverick said:

Hi Doki,

Its a great sign that your axie has a good appetite. I like your method of feeding worms (from the other thread). Its a good idea.

Cheers

Click to expand...

thanx.
xD her appetite is too good she is alvays hungry.
her tail seems to get better now with each day so i wont fridge her for now. =u=

When you say you added biobacteria, do you mean that you used a product that was supposed to add the bacteria or that you transferred plants, filter media, substrate, or water from your old tank?

oregon newt said:

When you say you added biobacteria, do you mean that you used a product that was supposed to add the bacteria or that you transferred plants, filter media, substrate, or water from your old tank?

Click to expand...

the ones for plants off course : D is it bad?

Nope. I was just wondering if you used a product to add the bacteria because most of them don't work.

oregon newt said:

Nope. I was just wondering if you used a product to add the bacteria because most of them don't work.

Click to expand...

really? i'm not sure but i still use it : <

Hi Rita,

As amphibians, axolotls breathe through their skin. This makes them much more sensitive to chemicals than, say, fish. For this reason, you should never add anything to the axolotl's aquarium water unless you have a specific, legitimate reason to do so. "It might help" is not good enough - it is easy enough to answer with "it might hurt".

If you have chloramines in your public water supply, you will need to use a dechlorinator before adding tap water to the tank. If you have chlorine in your public water supply, you only need to let the water stand for a couple of hours before adding it to the tank, because chlorine evaporates.

Starter bacteria usually do not help at all. There is one I have been reading about in the forum lately that supposedly really works, but I can't remember what it is called. In any case, your tank will cycle by itself and if you keep changing 20% of the water every day until the cycle is complete, you should not have any more problems.

P.S. I think it must be about time for more pictures!

-Eva

blueberlin said:

Hi Rita,

As amphibians, axolotls breathe through their skin. This makes them much more sensitive to chemicals than, say, fish. For this reason, you should never add anything to the axolotl's aquarium water unless you have a specific, legitimate reason to do so. "It might help" is not good enough - it is easy enough to answer with "it might hurt".

If you have chloramines in your public water supply, you will need to use a dechlorinator before adding tap water to the tank. If you have chlorine in your public water supply, you only need to let the water stand for a couple of hours before adding it to the tank, because chlorine evaporates.

Starter bacteria usually do not help at all. There is one I have been reading about in the forum lately that supposedly really works, but I can't remember what it is called. In any case, your tank will cycle by itself and if you keep changing 20% of the water every day until the cycle is complete, you should not have any more problems.

P.S. I think it must be about time for more pictures!

-Eva

Click to expand...

thank you!
should i change 20% water every day even if tank is 22 gallons? i got some japanese new disclorol that works with few seconds that what seller told me it's some new.

Hi Rita,

THe best way to determine how frequently you need to change the water is by performing water chemistry tests. If you have yet to invest in a kit, get a colourimetric solution type kit rather than a dipstick as those are inaccurate. You want tests for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH for starters. You can get them as a master kit that contains all of them or buy them individually.

In a fully cycled tank that is well maintained, you should get a reading of 0 ammonia and nitrites and <60 nitrates with a neutral pH of around 7. Traces of any amounts of ammonia or nitrites in particular can be harmful to your axie. You want to time your water changes such that the water chemistry levels are well maintained.

If you have not got a test kit yet, just to be on the safe side, perform the 20% water changes daily.

As for your new dechlorinator, also have a good read through of the instructions. Check whether it gets rid of chloramines, chlorine and detoxifies heavy metals etc. Follow the instructions to add the right amount per volume of water.

Cheers.