Help My Baby Axie

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aesimpson6

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I'm a first time axolotl owner, and I brought home my first baby about 4 days ago. He started eating yesterday (I fed him chopped earthworms) and everything seemed fine, but today, I got home and his gills were extremely curled forward. I added a frozen water bottle to the tank (because the temp was bordering on 69 degrees Fahrenheit) in the hopes that lowering the temp would relieve a little stress. I currently have a bubbler in the tank, because the breeder recommended I use one. I turned it off just in case. Is there anything else that could be causing him stress/making his gills curl? Thank you guys so much!! He is only 5 moths old and I have been waiting forever to get an axolotl, so I really want to keep him healthy.
 
First of all test your water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
How much of a current do you have in the water? If there is too much movement in the water it can stress them and cause their gills to curl. You can turn your bubbler down to a low setting. What kind of filter are you using? If the output is too strong you can reduce it using decorations or even attach a sponge :)
 
Thanks so much! The nitrate and nitrite levels were good, and the ammonia was 0.25ppm. Is that high? The breeder recommended ammo lock, but is that the best way to lower ammonia levels? There isn't much of a current, and I think the bubbler contains a filter. The temp in the tank was at 71 F this morning, so I added the frozen water bottle back.
 
As far as I know, any amount of ammonia can be too high over a prolonged or sometimes short period of time. Is your tank cycled? One of the best ways I can think of to lower ammonia in a tank is to increase the biological filtration in your aquarium. You can also buy bottles with beneficial bacteria in to add to the tank. Best wishes and congrats on your new axie :)
 
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