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Question: Help, What do I do!?

Best Poop and Silica Sand cleaning gear?

  • Siphon

    Votes: 13 54.2%
  • Turkey Baster

    Votes: 13 54.2%
  • Net

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • Total voters
    24
  • Poll closed .

Zeusa

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Hi everyone! I'm from New Zealand and I've been looking after a cutie pie, Zeus :love: just over a month now. I have made many mistakes and am trying to inform the **** out of myself now. I joined Caudata.org so that i can be prepared and I was hoping you might have advice for a fair few questions I have :wacko: :confused: :crazy:

A bit about Zeus: He was bought from a pet store and I think he was quite young, half his size around 8mths-1yr ago, I don't know. He's yellow with pink gills and red and yellow eyes. He started developing a brown growth on the back of his jawline, underneath the gills either before purchase or during early home life. (It hangs off like a brown pellet has gotten stuck to him. The human equivalent of where the growth is, would be like a brown mole growing on your throat where your right gland is)
His tank was 10L (non filtered) and he still has his little tri-tunnel.

I started looking after Z maybe 5-8mths after he was bought. (The owner had to leave for work far away and is meant to be getting him back when he finishes.)
I started to get freaked out and took his water for sampling. The ammonia levels were atrocious.

So, I got him: An Eheim Pickup 60 Internal filter, API Melafix Antibacterial remedy and a second-hand 60L tank (which i didn't cycle :/ It was a very sudden affair and I just focused on cleaning the tank out and getting Zeus out of the ammonia sitch ASAP. Petstore man advised to do so incase there were other diseases too.) (Also, I use API Stress Coat+ to dechlorinate the tap water for his water changes)

Zeus responded well.
The Melafix worked a charm, the filter was a bit obnoxious and the current a tad strong, but Z curled his tail less and his white spots starting clearing while his gills got their colour back.

Here's where I messed up.. I put the river-stone gravel as his substrate that came with the tank, messed up his feeding (stopped feeding him for awhile :(), panicked a lot and left foodies in his tank... I also stupidly almost suffocated him a couple times, ignorant about metamorphosing. I've frightened him a lot.

My current predicament: Zeus is a big boy now 19cm, his jaw growth is bigger. (Petstore guy said it's the human equivalent of having a boil or the like?) He has a bit of fin rot at the tip of his tail and just recently I Melafix'ed some nasty red spots that formed there as well. He's still covered in white spots, his cloaca looks swollen but I don't know the best way to check for sure and I'm not sure how regularly I should feed him anymore. His slime coat sucks too. I recently got him a thermometer and changed his substrate to silica sand.

Upside :proud::happy::
I don't panic anymore and giggle and play with Zeus during feeding time now. He doesn't curl his tail so much with me anymore and lets me stroke it gently. Sometimes I give him gentle chin tickles. (Well actually his lips, just for a second after the pellet goes in; affectionate feeding? haha.. he doesn't like his head pet and not so much his stomach either)

The burning questions:
What else do I need to get him? A heater? (Water temp sitting at 18-20C) Do 5 n 1 testing strip kits work accurately? Or what test kit should I buy for cheap? What media should I put in the Eheim for a healthy tank.. can I put bio and sponge? What easy to manage plants can I grow in the silica sand? Which is best for cleaning up poop and also the substrate; a turkey baster or a siphon filter? What other tools might I need? I feed him pellets only, (JBL Novo Lotl; I let them sit in a teaspoon of tank water to soften before I feed Z) but want to put more in his diet; what else can I feed him that will help him get healthier? What does it mean when you gently touch his side and he spazzes out?

Sorry for the length!!
But I needed this all outta my head! Hope you guys are able to help me make a plan of action and I look forward to getting to know you too :happy:. Lutza luv: ZEUS n Sa
 

leandrah

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The temperature is perfect. Dont use the strips, they arent as accurate - rather use the testing tube things with the liquid. Bio and Sponge is good :). A turkey baster is apparently the best to use when it comes to sand (the siphon will suck up all the sand). You should feed him earthworms as his staple diet - its very good for them.

Let him get used to your hands first before touching him. I hand feed my Axolotls the earthworms and it really helps them to become tame
 

Zeusa

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Awesome! Thanks for your help :) Turkey baster it is. As for the earth worms, how do i go about switching his diet to those and where should I get them from?
 

Asevernnnn

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You can get them out of the ground.
Just start feeding them to him daily - they love them


I'd thought I'd add to this,
You can get them out of the ground from a pesticide free area, if that isn't an option you can get worms from bait shops, though, I don't know what you have where you live
 

Skudo09

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I prefer syphon over Turkey baster. I find it you only hover the syphon just above the sand you shouldn't suck up sand or you only suck up a very minimal amount of sand. But I do use the turkey baster for spot cleaning and syphon during weekly water changes :)

Start your own earthworm farm if you can :). There is a thread on doing this on the forum :).
 

Hellabeck

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Mar 18, 2015
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I agree with getting worms at a bait shop, i switched mine to axolotl pellets from flymeat.com, they ste them easy feom day one. I, however, dont think a turkey baster is all that great. I prefer half inch tuning from a hardware store long enough to go down to a bucket, and siphon the water.
 
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