Back What's new
By:
Filters
Caudata.org: Newts and Salamanders Portal

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Did you know that registered users see fewer ads? Register today!

Illness/Sickness: Axolotls die without reason

B

Benja

New member
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Bs as
Hello this is my first post here, and i'm posting with sadness. Today's morning i woke up like normal and when I went to feed my axolotls one was dead,(i got a recently bought one that is a little old and black called Arthur and a young little one called Jhin) both of them were quite lively but jhin started to move less and less but always kept moving.

The mayor problem is.
One more axolotl died a while ago whithout a reason.
And we are doubting that another died from putting ice cubes on the aquarium(temperature was a little high, like 22°C.)
I clean the aquarium once a week, since there are only 2 it was quite clean. I fed them with balanced food and sometimes worms they seemed to enjoy them.

Also Arthur stoped eating a few days ago, he didn't "like " his food nor worms. But I felt reliaved today when I gave him dried shimps.

Veterinarian's also said that they might have been sick from the very beginning and we didn't didn't notice


I love axolotls, they are the first animal I felt this much attached with andthe the last thing I want is to keep watching them die. What am I doing wrong? Suggest me some other things I gotta be careful with.
 
GalLuvsAxolotls

GalLuvsAxolotls

Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
Messages
121
Reaction score
3
Location
Tacoma, WA
What is the PH, ammonia, and nitrate readings of your water?

Are you using treated tap water for the ice cubes? If not, you could be introducing chlorine and/or chloramines into your tank when you add the ice cubes which will burn your axolotls gills. Would you be able to instead freeze a 2L or 1L bottle filled with tap water and use that to cool the aquarium? That way you would not have to worry about unintentionally adding caustic chemicals to your tank.

I recently had an axolotl die for what seemed like no reason. It was winter, so the house is closed up most of the time and with newer windows the house gets higher levels of CO2. High levels of CO2 drop the PH sometimes drastically. The PH of my tank was 6.6 (!) and who knows what the dissolved oxygen content was... That along with decaying biological matter from egg laying in the tank dropped the PH into a dangerous level. I did a massive water change and added an air stones (while trying to open the windows at least once a day) and no more unexpected losses. In my case, there was no ammonia either.
 
B

Benja

New member
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Bs as
GalLuvsAxolotls said:
What is the PH, ammonia, and nitrate readings of your water?

Are you using treated tap water for the ice cubes? If not, you could be introducing chlorine and/or chloramines into your tank when you add the ice cubes which will burn your axolotls gills. Would you be able to instead freeze a 2L or 1L bottle filled with tap water and use that to cool the aquarium? That way you would not have to worry about unintentionally adding caustic chemicals to your tank.

I recently had an axolotl die for what seemed like no reason. It was winter, so the house is closed up most of the time and with newer windows the house gets higher levels of CO2. High levels of CO2 drop the PH sometimes drastically. The PH of my tank was 6.6 (!) and who knows what the dissolved oxygen content was... That along with decaying biological matter from egg laying in the tank dropped the PH into a dangerous level. I did a massive water change and added an air stones (while trying to open the windows at least once a day) and no more unexpected losses. In my case, there was no ammonia either.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your answer! I'll check those ph and those thanks, which would be the "proper" amount of them that should be?

The room is not the most ventilated one, but a big door from the room is a lot of time opened, maybe the aquarium itself is the problem? It's light sometimes makes the plastic a little hot, but the water is Always less than 22°c without doubt.

About the ice cubes yes. Now I take care of de-cloring the water before freezing it.

Then leaving PH, ammonium and nitrate lvls, is there another thing that may come to your mind? The other problem I got, is that where I live, doesn't exist a specialist in amphibians.

Thank you again and waiting for your reply!
 
B

Benja

New member
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Bs as
Benja said:
Thanks for your answer! I'll check those ph and those thanks, which would be the "proper" amount of them that should be?

The room is not the most ventilated one, but a big door from the room is a lot of time opened, maybe the aquarium itself is the problem? It's light sometimes makes the plastic a little hot, but the water is Always less than 22°c without doubt.

About the ice cubes yes. Now I take care of de-cloring the water before freezing it.

Then leaving PH, ammonium and nitrate lvls, is there another thing that may come to your mind? The other problem I got, is that where I live, doesn't exist a specialist in amphibians.

Thank you again and waiting for your reply!
Click to expand...

Also gotta ask you something, when I took Jhin's body from the aquarium he had a strong scent, couldn't identify it, but my mother says that it could be ammonium so i'm changing the water, Is there a reason of why the ammonium could grow?
 
GalLuvsAxolotls

GalLuvsAxolotls

Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
Messages
121
Reaction score
3
Location
Tacoma, WA
Mine seem to do best in the 7.0-7.4 PH range, and we also have fairly hard water where we live which they seem to like.

I see online that the acceptable ranges are a bit divergent, from 6.5-8.0 to 6.8-7.5. IME, with the water in our area, I need the PH to be 7 or a little higher for my axolotls to do well.
 
GalLuvsAxolotls

GalLuvsAxolotls

Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
Messages
121
Reaction score
3
Location
Tacoma, WA
Also, does your tap water contain chloramines? If it does, does the water conditioner you are using neutralize chloramines as well as chlorine? Chloramines are apparently starting to be used in water plants that used to only use chlorine so something else to check for.

Benja said:
Also gotta ask you something, when I took Jhin's body from the aquarium he had a strong scent, couldn't identify it, but my mother says that it could be ammonium so i'm changing the water, Is there a reason of why the ammonium could grow?
Click to expand...

Decaying animals can start to smell pretty quickly... As the axolotl's body decomposes in water, ammonia is released so that easily could be the smell.

A water change after losing an animal is IMO always a good idea!

I am sorry you lost your pets! I hope you get this figured out and get to enjoy your other axolotl for many more years to come.
 
Last edited:
B

Benja

New member
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Bs as
GalLuvsAxolotls said:
Also, does your tap water contain chloramines? If it does, does the water conditioner you are using neutralize chloramines as well as chlorine? Chloramines are apparently starting to be used in water plants that used to only use chlorine so something else to check for.



Decaying animals can start to smell pretty quickly... As the axolotl's body decomposes in water, ammonia is released so that easily could be the smell.


A water change after losing an animal is IMO always a good idea!

I am sorry you lost your pets! I hope you get this figured out and get to enjoy your other axolotl for many more years to come.
Click to expand...

Thank you, i'm doing better now, I just changed Arthur's water and cleaned everything properly I hope I can enjoy him for a lot of years, thank you again for everything
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • Shane douglas:
    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
     +1
    Unlike
  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
     +1
    Unlike
  • stanleyc:
    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
     +1
    Unlike
  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
     +1
    Unlike
    Clareclare: Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus... +1
    Top