Illness/Sickness: What did I do wrong?

Both of my axolotls died last night. I had them for one week. They were the first I had. I also have a blue tailed firebelly newt named Jasper, but I've had him for three years and he did not live in the same tank as the axolotlsTheir names werer Mudkip and Wooper. Mudkip was four weeks of age and Wooper was about seven weeks old. They lived together in a 2.5 gallon tank with aquarium sand on the bottom. I put in some defrosted bloodworms last night, none of which they touched, but they had eaten a whole cube over the last week. I'd like to know what I did wrong with them, and I'm happy to answer any questions regarding their life and death to the greatest of my ability. Thank you.

Please don't attack me or say that I killed them. I was a first time owner and tried to the best of my ability to take care of Mudkip and Wooper.

can you show us some pictures of the tank and tell us what the water chemistry was like?

No, I cannot. I didn't have any great tank pictures and I've already cleaned out the tank. I used distilled water. I use just regular tap water for my newt, Jasper, but I knew that Mudkip and Wooper needed something more special. I'm not really equiped to have fancy water, and the people I bought the axolotls from said that they would be just fine.

that could be your problem right there.

I believe that distilled water is completely void of anything besides pure H2O, and as such you get a osmosis action occurring.

tap water treated with a aquarium water conditioner is all that is needed.

Very sorry to hear of your loss, Ley.

It's very difficult to say what went wrong, but as Chris says, distilled water is a little too pure for axies, crazy as that might sound.

It could have been something else, and without knowing the water chemistry, its hard to figure out beyond there. Was there anything else in the tank with them? Did you always clear out any uneaten bloodworm after about 15 minutes? It can foul the water pretty quickly.

If you are feeling up to getting some more little axies, have a good hunt around this site and Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander, pretty much all the answers are here. Pet shops often mean well but give out less-than-ideal information.

Just want to say, I admire you coming on here and trying to figure out what happened. Hopefully this site and that link will help you pre-prepare for your next axolotls, and maybe you'll read something that'll help you identify what happened.

That's it? Something so simple...

The guy I bought them from said to always have food in the tank, so I did not take out the bloodworms after I guess that's where I went wrong.

Also, Mudkip was swimming upside-down last night...missed warning sign?

having food in the tank all the time will quickly foul such a small volume of water. it's not recommended, in such a small water volume that is.

Thank you.

I'm sorry you got bad advice, Ley.

I hope this doesn't turn you off from keeping axolotls forever.

Kaysie- Nope, I'm not turned off forever. I just need to know more about how to keep them.

If anyone has any additional advice, I'd really like to know, like for instance, how many inches of water do they need or how much is too much? Can I keep two young ones in a five gallon tank? (I know that once they get big they will need a much larger tank) What about filtration?, and most of all, how can I get another pair of axolotls? I want to keep them, they are amazing creatures. Any tips any one has would be greatly appreciated, either personal message them to me or pose it here.

I found that using bottled spring water was useful when they were little, mine are 8 weeks old this week and are fine in treated tap water which I keep in a 100 litre water butt. I have 22 of various sizes, I give them half an hour to feed and then change the water completely. I would half fill a takeaway container when they were smaller, they are now in a catering size mayonnaise tub, half filled with treated tap water and a plant floating and a section of pond tubing for them to sit on or hide inside. This is while the tank I have is cycling, but I think I need a better filter. Its trial and error Im afraid, but reading all the posts on here, which I read back to about a year ago on every subject, gives you a little bit more confidence if and when something strange happens. I wish you all the best on your quest, and Im sure you will succeed. Hugs!