holdonbaby
New member
My leucistic axolotl is roughly two years old and lately (last week or so) his water has been extremely cloudy. I moved him to a small glass bowl today so I could do a thorough scrubbing and partial drain of the tank. I noticed that his tail has a tear and the blood vessels/veins around it look irritated. He's had tears at the end of his tail before but they've never appeared irritated like this. I'm worried it may be infected. I'm also wondering if the reason his water is cloudy is because he's stressed because someone recently told me that axolotl's "slime" when under stress.
P.s. Looking at the pictures makes me realize I need to get him up to a better weight...he borders on skinny. That being said, the pictures make him look thinner than he actually is.
Here are my tank and water parameters as of two days ago:
Tank: 20 gal reptile (long)
Average temp: between 67-69 F
Ammonia: less than or equal to .25 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 20-30 ppm (strange because I thought it would be a lot higher given how cloudy the water is)
I didn't test the pH but it's usually around 8.
Whenever I add water I use bottled spring water. I recently got him an Ovation 700 filter which has increased the water flow, especially paired with the fan I have over the water to keep it cool. I think this stresses him somewhat but I don't know how related it is to the tail tear. He is eating and responding to stimuli but he does appear stressed (gills tipped forward somewhat, reddened). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
P.s. Looking at the pictures makes me realize I need to get him up to a better weight...he borders on skinny. That being said, the pictures make him look thinner than he actually is.
Here are my tank and water parameters as of two days ago:
Tank: 20 gal reptile (long)
Average temp: between 67-69 F
Ammonia: less than or equal to .25 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 20-30 ppm (strange because I thought it would be a lot higher given how cloudy the water is)
I didn't test the pH but it's usually around 8.
Whenever I add water I use bottled spring water. I recently got him an Ovation 700 filter which has increased the water flow, especially paired with the fan I have over the water to keep it cool. I think this stresses him somewhat but I don't know how related it is to the tail tear. He is eating and responding to stimuli but he does appear stressed (gills tipped forward somewhat, reddened). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
