Axolotl is losing their gills and keep floating and wont eat

mikeg · Aug 5, 2012

HELP!! my axolotls havent eaten in a couple weeks they were on pellets, earth worms, and frozen shrimp, my small black female axolotl when i got here didnt eat at all then slowing started eating then stopped again! then she started to just float around. a couple days later i noticed the other axolotls in my tank gills didnt look so good they started losing thier feathers, then they all started to float and non of them would eat, one axolotl looks to be health again while one looks to have fungus and the other is lossing his gills fast they look to be rotting away not fungus just rotting, and curving back into the axolotls body, so i gave them all a salt bath 2 times a day for 15 min for two days, they started to look fine, now today one axolotl is healthy one died with the side of his head wide open and no feathers on gills and they were pushed into its head and the other other albino looks like to be having the same gill problem while my last black one is just hidding and her gills dont look so well either

PLEASE HELP I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!!!

i noticed this all went down after my black axolotl layed eggs

Bdyoung · Aug 5, 2012

What are the levels in the tank (ie. ammonia, nitrates, temperature, etc)

DeCypher · Aug 5, 2012

We need details of their conditions. Water quality, temperatures, setup, substrates, etc.

mikeg · Aug 5, 2012

DeCypher said:
We need details of their conditions. Water quality, temperatures, setup, substrates, etc.

not sure about nitrate and amonnia for i do not have the kit to test but water was been cycled for about a year. on of my albino looks to be healthy again just not eating yet, water temp is around 68 have large gravel about 3" to big to fit in mouth

JMcCune · Aug 5, 2012

Is there anything else living in the tank with them?

Bdyoung · Aug 5, 2012

I have a sneaking suspicion it's your water levels. Give us some more detail on your tank. How big is it?
What is all in it?
Give us a picture of your whole tank as well.
What filter are you using?
What media is in your filter?

Kaysie · Aug 5, 2012

How do you clean the gunk out of your substrate? I know from experience that cleaning that type of substrate is time-consuming and terribly hard to do thoroughly. How often and how much water do you change when you do a water change? I imagine this is a case of poor water quality, as others have alluded to.

mikeg · Aug 5, 2012

to answer all questions yes they live with gold fish and mountain minnow they have been with these fish the whole life, tank is 75 bow front, not sure filter brand but its not a heavy flow quiet filter goes up one tube comes out two. i clean my tank every friday with a vaccum that attached to the sink

mikeg · Aug 5, 2012

also a planted tank with drift wood and flagg stone, media in the filter is just carbon and the filter pad

also here is a pic of my tank

DW THE HEATER IS NOT PLUGED IN IT WAS BEFORE I HAD THE AXOLOTLS BUT SINCE IT IS A TWO IN ONE I LEAVE IT IN TO SEE THE WATER TEMP

JMcCune · Aug 5, 2012

As far as the gills go, fish (especially gold fish from what I understand) are pretty notorious for nibbling on axolotl limbs.

JMcCune · Aug 5, 2012

Also, a lot of those rocks look easily small enough to be swallowed.

mikeg · Aug 5, 2012

the rock are 3" havent seen them out any in thier mouth also they are hand fed, well they were untill they stopped eating, also never seen the gold fish go near the axolotl maybe at night :crazy: but if they were nipping at the gills would that make them curle back (kinda looks like they were folded back) and what about them phyically shrinking in size went from 8" to 6"

other than the water level idk what to do:violent:

mikeg · Aug 5, 2012

also saving up with in a month or so going to white sand safer for the fish

mikeg · Aug 5, 2012

also for later on, how do i post another thread? i am new to this site

Bdyoung · Aug 5, 2012

As much as you want to believe your tank is safe since you haven't had a problem in a year.. that tank is a death trap! Gold fish will eat your axies gills they don't have a stomach so they constantly eat and poop! I wouldn't call you filter a filter at all especially with all you have in that tank. carbon doesn't get rid of ammonia or anything all carbon does is make the water clear. Usually there is a little sponge in front of your filter and that's the "Biofilter" when all it really is is junk. Those rocks are definately small enough to be eaten.

Just because they are hand fed doesn't mean they wont suck up from time to time and get a rock. Also fish can transmit parasites and diseases. So I would.... get rid of the fish, get rid of the gravel and get sand, get some bio media in your filter like this and if you need to put them back in soon get enough of this to cycle your tank immediately and make sure the axolotls are in cold pure clean water to let them heal.

mikeg · Aug 6, 2012

Bdyoung said:
As much as you want to believe your tank is safe since you haven't had a problem in a year.. that tank is a death trap! Gold fish will eat your axies gills they don't have a stomach so they constantly eat and poop! I wouldn't call you filter a filter at all especially with all you have in that tank. carbon doesn't get rid of ammonia or anything all carbon does is make the water clear. Usually there is a little sponge in front of your filter and that's the "Biofilter" when all it really is is junk. Those rocks are definately small enough to be eaten.

Just because they are hand fed doesn't mean they wont suck up from time to time and get a rock. Also fish can transmit parasites and diseases. So I would.... get rid of the fish, get rid of the gravel and get sand, get some bio media in your filter like this and if you need to put them back in soon get enough of this to cycle your tank immediately and make sure the axolotls are in cold pure clean water to let them heal.

okay thanks!!

i will take out all gravel and get white sand, i will also ask big als for the best filter for axolotls and buy a ammonia kit, also i have about 100 axolotl babies was going to trade about 50 of them to buy a device to cool my tank to 60 do u think that is a good trade? and i will take out the gold fish but i heard the mountain minnow eat parasited is that tru?

PandaHuggaz · Aug 6, 2012

Just saying, please do not wait to take the rocks out until you get the sand. It might not be the nicest looking tank with a bare bottom... but if he even swallows one rock that he cannot digest, it could mean the end for him :/ Just because you haven't see him eat any, it doesn't mean that he never has.

I personally hate dealing with sand, but a couple of other things that you can put on the bottom of the tank are slates of rock across the bottom, or take some bathroom tiles and flip them upside down.

(not sure if you know this or not) But having a bare bottom in the tank for a long time can be stressful situation for axolotls because they will not have any traction to go anywhere if they want to walk around.

And even though I am really not sure if mountain minnow eat parasites or not, I would not have anything else in the tank with the axolotl. Fish are prone to nibble at the frills on axolotls. And even if you don't see them nibbling, it doesn't mean they don't do it. Just imagine a world where you have to live with something coming up to you trying to eat your ears off... it wouldn't be a pleasant situation.

mikeg · Aug 6, 2012

okay thanks alot

any other suggestions from anyone i am open to them

mikeg · Aug 14, 2012

just wanted to say thanks alot for everyones post my axolotls are healthy and active again

Axolotl is losing their gills and keep floating and wont eat

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