long time axie keeper all out of ideas

right i have had axies now for years.and everything has been fine up till now
i have a 4ft take with 5 axies in.all normaly healthy.but the past couple months i have noticed a change in thier eating habits.some wont eat at all for a few weeks then start eating again. some will have small amounts and others eat more than usaul.its baffled me.i have loads of weed and hidey holes in the tank.i even have a cooler and double filtration.never had a light on the tank since ive kept them.i just dont know whats wrong.as i can tell some have lost weight
one thing that was really weird i had a blue coulered axi that seemed fully grown to me..well its now lost its colour and has been white now for about 3-4 months..have melifixed the tank just to see if it helped at all pick them up as it were.no joy.should i buy another tank and split them up..as looking at buying another 350 litre tank.just to see if its a bullying problem???
im really out of ideas on this so can somone help out

it definately could be a case of overcrowding, thats not a whole lot of room for 5 axies.
i would have tended towards 6 foot for 5, as they reccommend approx 18 inches per axie.
if i were you i would definately invest in another tank to either split them or give them more room.
hopefully that is all the problem is and is easily sorted.
all the best

The only thing I can initially think of is now the water temps are dropping my adult is eating less. Maybe there are some of the group that are more dominant and are getting fed more, I tended to hand feed my adults one at a time ( but only had 2 ) so I could see how much each ate, especially as they seemed to choose seperate days to eat.
Have you introduced a newer axolotl to your set up over the last few months?
I am a little perturbed by your blue coloured one as I don't think I have come across any ref to any of that colour ( though there is a very tiny bell ringing in my head) , but I have heard of lighter colours getting lighter due to annemia ( ?) . I will have a look later to see if I can find out a little more about this, unless someone else comes up with something.
I would be tempted to seperate them into maybe a couple of smaller groups so you can get a better idea of what they may be up to. Also have you checked the water quality recently ( ammonia/nitrite/nitrate ).

yeah i am also keen on splitting them up.i havent added any axies in with them,i have checked all my levels and they seem fine.i always have hand fed all of mine due to wanting to know how much they eat.i do give them a vierty of foods. but mainly feed crickets and steak.as its what i have found they seem to enjoy and feed on best.i deffo had a blue one lol.i even named him blue.i have a pic of him and i will try to put it on here.i have not used this forum for ages.and they seemed to have changed it in may so im back to no posts lol
sorry if i left anything out i will try and think of any other info
i also have a feeling that maybe its a domanince thing.thats why i feel splitting them up may help
can somone tell me how to add pics as i will put a pic up of my blue one taken a while ago..trust me it was blue with a white belly.


this is the only remaining pic i have of him that colour.i had him 18 months like that and then he started to change.and now he is just white.whats that all about.im now opting for a new tank.a trigon 350 as if i can get these back to normal i will do my best.i love my axies.and will spend the money on a tank no probs
oh please note only reason the was v small stones in this tank at the time ages ago was when my 8 ft cleair tank decided to crack and leak all over my floor so i had to shuffle tanks about rather fast
i used to have these all in 2 tanks aswell.but since i split up with the girlfreind i had to move home..hence had to sell a lot of my tanks setups.but im now in a better position to buy another.
i moved these nearly a year ago though.and this problem has only started recently.sorry if i go on a bit im trying to cover all areas

I had a feeling you know what you are doing...

i have breed hundreds of these and given them to good homes.all sorts from whites to wildes and albinos .i feel my problem may have started from when i had to move.im hoping that splitting them up will do the job.i will be able to have another one then 3 per tank as the 350 litre one im getting has a huge floorspace.i may go into breeding once more.i used to come on here ages ago as i said before.its a great site and always helpful.im at the moment trying to save an axie that i found some idiot had put in a non cycled tank with tropical fish in..i could not believe my eyes .its not doing fantastic but hoping that plenty of salt baths and the fridge on its own and she will pull through,has anyone seen a blue one like this? im hoping that if i seperate them that he may get his colour back as he was the most amazing axie i have ever seen .well in my opinion he he
i may take a pics of some of the smaller ones i still have that i have kept from breeding.i have 2 more wildes and a goegoues white one..but they are all in another tank as still only 5 to 6 inches lol bless em

I kept 5 in a 4-foot tank for some time with no apparently ill effects.

I would think it's a case of winter coming on, and they're not eating as much. I've had mine go off food for weeks during winter (I do cycle down temperatures).

i agree that i have had no ill effects untill recently,maybe it is the colder weather coming.but i do have a cooler running on this tank that keeps there temp to a constant 20 to 21 degrees.they cost a bit but well worth it for a good constant temp for them.would you think they would still notice even though the water is always the same temprature

I remember there was a post in the earlier part of the year regarding blue axolotl...not sure if it was this site or on the other one that I visit..

i hope moving them into larger living space will make him go blue again..he did look lovely

It's not always just temperature that is a cue. Day length can also play a part. Then again, I kept my snake in a windowless room, with a constant heat source and a 12-hour light regime, and she still went off food all winter long. Sometimes they do.

But if you have the means, then I would separate them.

just another week saving then i can have a nice new 350 litre tank for them. will get subrate in and cycle it up..i really feel its going to make a big difference and the replies have helped me a lot in making my mind up that its a deffinate seperation time.is the anything i can do in the short time..i cant think of anything,but im sure you great guys will think off something
if anyone one can find out any infomation on my blue axie i would be really grateful

just re checked my water levels.after going out and buying another kit.i had a interpet tablet test kit and never have trusted it fully.well my levels are spot on apart from the one i felt may be up.which is nitrate..on the test kit i have now its got a scale of 0 to 100 mine being at the higher end.i always do a weekly water change.monthly check and clean of the filter..meaning i just empty the poo out of the bottom and rinse the sponges in tank water. only thing i maybe is having a problem with is i only clean the bottom of my tank weekly.as its a pain on my tank i must admit.would this be the problem as it never has been before? shall i step up the water changes slightly to try and get the nitrate down.
oh another question for the new tank im about to get can i buy crab sand..comes in packs and its just a nice looking clean sand they use for hermit crabs i think.as round this way i can find anywhere that do half decent tank sand.

It might pay to test your tapwater as well in case it has high nitrates in the tapwater- I vaguely remember reading about someone having a problem with high nitrates in their tapwater (somewhere in England) on this forum over a year or so ago.

Nitrate being 60+ can be a problem, which can be sorted with more regular partial waterchanges (with water that doesn't have have high nitrates - if this is the cause). I think live plants utilise nitrates as well, so this may also bring the levels down.

i will check my tap water for sure now.see what it comes out as.im gonna try more regular small water changes. i have loads of live plants in my tank.all elodia densa which i find they like.will step up these water changes and see if it gets it down..cheers kapo

right just checked my tap water for nitrate its readin 25 ,would you add something to the water before i water change?

in referance to your 'blue' axie,im sure you will find it was a melanoid, i had 3 in my larvae who when they were in certain light looked blue at other times grey.
did it have solid black eyes or surrounded by gold?
if solid then definately a melanoid.

well this is the pic i have in full size..if it works that is.his eyes look black with a tinge round them
he was full size when he was blue and only changed when i had to move home hense moving tanks.

i would say he is definately a melanoid, looks just like my juvies did.
but i could be wrong, im sure someone will say if i am. lol.
if he was an adult before he went pale i would keep an eye on him, see how active he is and if he is eating, if not try him with some earth worms.
i get mine from angling shop to ensure they are chemical free.

yeah when i bought him,i felt he was a full size adult.he was that colour when i bought him and he was fine for must have been at least 16 months.then when i moved he slowly and it took weeks and weeks.started losing his blue and going white..now he has no marking on him at all...he still eats as the rest.i have a feeling this may be something to do with the move.or bullying in the tank since the move.i moved 9 months ago.yes worms are something i have not given them in a while.i normaly get mine from a worm farm in bulk ,
i have my partner here now and she sais he definately had blue eyes she has got more pics when he is even more blue on her computer so i will get them from her and post them up for people to see..that way maybe we can work out what he is ,,and whats happened to him.i want him to be blue again lol