Axolotl Worries

EmmyKayy · Jul 17, 2014

Hi! about 3 or 4 days ago my partner were given an Axolotl (I named him Mudkip) and when we got him, the tank he was in was FILTHY! we couldn't even see him and there was only 6-8cm of water in the bottom of the tank. the first few days he barely moved, he was very sluggish and just quite subdued he wouldn't eat and pretty much just made himself as small as possible in the corner of his tank.

A couple of days later he seemed to be perking up (his tank was cleaned the day we got him and we got some extra filters to help sift out the **** that was in there originally, though all of them are pointed at the tank wall to avoid currents that would make him unhappy) he was moving around more and even seemed to be happier though he still wasn't eating.

Today he ate maybe 2 pellets and 1 meal worm. He has been swimming to the top of his tank and back and moving around a lot more. He seems a lot happier than when we first got him I am still just concerned that he isn't eating very much.

blushed · Jul 24, 2014

EmmyKayy said:
Hi! about 3 or 4 days ago my partner were given an Axolotl (I named him Mudkip) and when we got him, the tank he was in was FILTHY! we couldn't even see him and there was only 6-8cm of water in the bottom of the tank. the first few days he barely moved, he was very sluggish and just quite subdued he wouldn't eat and pretty much just made himself as small as possible in the corner of his tank.

A couple of days later he seemed to be perking up (his tank was cleaned the day we got him and we got some extra filters to help sift out the **** that was in there originally, though all of them are pointed at the tank wall to avoid currents that would make him unhappy) he was moving around more and even seemed to be happier though he still wasn't eating.

Today he ate maybe 2 pellets and 1 meal worm. He has been swimming to the top of his tank and back and moving around a lot more. He seems a lot happier than when we first got him I am still just concerned that he isn't eating very much.

I'm going to assume the tank isn't cycled, and that he's been exposed to high levels of ammonia.

I would get some dechlorinator (Seachem Prime, or Tetra AquaSafe Plus are good options) and a bottle of TSS (Tetra Safe Start). You basically set up the tank, and do your water change and dechlorinator... then 24 hours later you add the ENTIRE BOTTLE of TSS and don't do anything to the tank for 2 weeks, then test your water with your API liquid test kit, and 9/10 time the tank will be cycled

Also, mealworms aren't a good diet for axxies, they should eat earthworms or nightcrawlers.

So, maybe offer your axxie that to entice eating...

And, by now you probably know that they need cold water, so if you don't already use a fan to blow on the tank to keep it cool, you should do that, too.

allied123 · Jul 27, 2014

NO OMG DO NOT TRY TO USE SOME MAGICAL QUICKSTART WITH NO WATER CHANGES WITH YOUR AXIE IN THE TANK.

This my or may not be some magic way to cycle a tank but it only takes about 3 weeks to cycle anyway so this is not an optimal way to cycle a tank. Just do water changes every 2-3 days until the tank is cycld to keep the ammonia and nitrites and nitrates down ad test the water with a liquid test kit often (you want the test to ideally say 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and LESS than 40ppm nitrates).

However earthworms are a good suggestion as meal worms are hard to digest, I'm sure you've done your research on pellets and hopefully on tank cycling so you didn't take that last person's advice. (no water changes in an uncycled tank will kill the axie if not give them severe ammonia burns especially after adding whatever magic quickstart she's trying to sell you on.) And finally yes the water temperature should ideally be below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

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