Illness/Sickness: Extremely pale leucistic, please help!

[Tuesday93]

So I got 2 axies from a shop nearly 2 weeks ago, a leucistic (around 4 inches) and a wild type (just over 5 inches). I’m worried about my little leucistic axie, she’s lost all her colour, looking extremely pale. She’s not eating and I’m having issues with the water quality.. (ammonia and PH too high). Been doing daily water changes. I feel like I’ve put her under a lot of stress over the past few days. I’ve been searching the Internet for answers but she doesn’t seem to be getting any colour in her, I’d say she’s been pale for 4 days. My wild type seems to be okay, he’s a bit calmer than usual, just took that as he’s settled in now.

Is there anything that I can do to help her eat some earthworms? I’ve tried blanching them but she doesn’t like still food so she’s not interested unless they’re alive, even when they’re alive she just spits them out. She was eating live bloodworms but they get everywhere in the tank and I’m worried about the water quality so would rather not leave them in there. Or is she okay not eating?

I hope this makes sense!

[Nacho]

Use Seachem AmGuard for ammonia. You could fridge the leucistic axolotl for a week no food is needed in the fridge. Fridging helps them get better, Or take it to an exotic vet. Feed
it bloodworms it will not be bad for water and worth it.

[Isabella]

Is her tail curled or her gills forward turned? If so, then I would say to stop feeding her for a couple days, separate her from her tank mate and keep her in a dark, cool area with minimal water movement. Curled tails and forward turned gills are signs of stress. Once you fix your tank water, she should go right back to normal. What are your water temperatures at? And what are your water parameter readings at right now? The discoloration could just be because your axolotl has been less active recently. This happens often on lighter colored axolotls. When the axolotl is very active or hunting for food, the blood flow increases causing the skin and gills to become more vivid or brighter, but when your axolotl is calm or less active the blood flow slows, causing the skin to have less color. Another cause of discoloration is parasites, but it's not very likely that your axolotl has them. Could you post some pictures? It would help a lot.

[Tuesday93]

Her gills are constantly upright, wouldn’t necessarily say that they were facing forward, pointing upwards, definitely.
She’s moving round a little bit more since last night, her gills have a tiny bit of colour back (maybe cause she’s moving around more?)

Does fridging stress them out? And do I need a big tub? Put holes in it etc?

Water temperature is 15 degrees and water parameters are PH: 8.2, ammonia: 0.25ppm,
Nitrite: 0ppm and nitrate is about 20ppm if not a bit more. The colours aren’t exactly perfect against the chart!

Every time I go to take a picture she’s hiding somewhere, but I will try. Is there anything I can put in the tank that will naturally bring the tank water to it’s right parameters?

Thankyou so much for all your help!!

[Tuesday93]

Here’s 2 pics I got...
Also, since I got them both 2 weeks ago, I’ve only cleared out 2 poops. Slightly concerned about that too?
Originally had sand in there but when I fed them the bloodworms they decided to bury themselves right in the bottom so just thought it was easier to remove all the sand. Looking to get some large stones to put in the bottom of the tank now. They’ve got no weight to them so I often see them just floating at the bottom.

[Isabella]

The ideal water temperature for axolotls is around 17-18 Celsius. If you increase the water temperature just by a couple degrees it might help. In colder water temperatures, axolotls tend to eat less and become less active. Fridging is mostly used for sick axolotls or axolotls who have become constipated/impacted. I wouldn't recommend it just yet, especially since the problem may just be stress, but if you do end up needing to do it I will post a link for instructions. Has your axolotl been floating lately? When was it that you took the sand out of your tank?