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Illness/Sickness: Hope someone can help!

amacspad11

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My 15 year old daughter has 3 axolotls, one of them seems really ill and we are not sure what to do. Its a White one, it started off by doing silly things like spinning on its head and and diving about, then kept staying at the top looking really lifeless and now it is totally upside down lying on the bottom, it hasn't ate for absolutely ages and has gone very very thin, tried ringing a vet who specialise but they wont give advice over the phone and want £25 just for a consultation, its not a money thing but I though I would see if somebody could help on here first. TIA, Debs :(
 

melfly

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Do you know the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) and also the temp?

It would be wise to take him out of the tank into some fresh dechlorinted water.

Mel
 

amacspad11

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Hi mel, sorry, my daughter and DH are more of the experts, I should have let them post first lol :eek: , they are not here at the mo, but I will come straight back to you when I have found out, just seemed strange the other 2 are absolutely fine! Debs x
 

amacspad11

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Re: not good news

hi guys returned from work and the axolotl has died.:(:(:confused: it was not in a good way.
big water change and see how the other two go on, they look ok and are eating ok.

the white one lots body weight quite fast and as for the way it twisted and moved and was a disturbing.
info from anyone would be helpful as to stop this happening again

many thanks
 

dazkeirle

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Unfortunately without the parameters its hard to tell whats happened and if it could happen to the other two.

Please post temperature, ph, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate readings and substrate type (gravel / sand?)

What are you feeding them?

If all these are ok it could be infection or parasites so it's important for us to know to help keep the others healthy.
 

amacspad11

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i will get you the ph and so on later. we are using sand and a plastic hollow tree for them to hide in. we are feeding them on prawn and white fresh water fish.(pollock) One of the staff at our local Pets at Home store keeps them so we have been asking her questions and advise but we found out last night that she has now left.

we are using a 95L tank with a FLUVAL 405 turned down to the lowest flow, and place a 2L frozen pop bottle in twice a day the temp is around 16-20. we used MELAFIX about 2 months ago as the large green one had a small fungal growth on one of its gills. we changed the water as directed and removed the carbon from the filter. all was well.

it had allways been skinny but it lost a lot quick in the past few weeks, although the past few weeks it had not been eating any food . it was like it was chasing its tail round the tank then it would float on its side and upside down looking like it was dead then some times it would curl its self up head to tail along iit belly then along its side.

many thanks
Andy
 

Erzs

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I'm sorry about the loss of your axolotl. I'm afraid I can't think what it could be. Hopefully once you have your water test readings up someone will be able to offer their opinions.

Just a thought on your Axolotls diet. There is a great table around this site somewhere with listings of food and their nutritional values, I'll try find it unless someone else posts it up for you. You may want to consider mixing their diet up a little bit. Earthworms for example are thought to be a great source of nutrition and are easily found in your own garden! Just be sure there are no fertilizers or other harmful chemicals being used. =]
 

dazkeirle

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I'm not sure about white fish as thats not usually recommended for diet, but I'm sure somebody more knowledgeable can let you know of concerns.

To be honest everything else sounds ok except 95L is not large enough for 3 adult axies, nowhere near. If they are babies it's not an issue and should be ok for the 2, but no more. But it's really those params that are most important when illness is occurring.

As soon as you get those then we can advise on the best route forwards.

If you cannot get those for a day or two, to be safe I'd be doing daily 20% water changes in case there is a large amount of ammonia.

Is / was the tank fully cycled?
 

dragonlady

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I'm so sorry for your loss. I feel that based on your description, he/she had an internal parasite and would have needed a vet's attention.

I'm glad to hear that you are using sand as a substrate as that is a common error. Also, your temp sounds okay, however, how often does it fluctuate like that? If the 4 degree difference happens too often or quickly (like when you add the ice bottle, it suddenly drops), this could stress your axolotls. How much light is on the tank? In case you didn't know, they don't like light and some plants/additional hides could help them feel more secure.

95L was really too small for 3 axolotls too so that too may have led to some stress. The general rule is about 10 US gallons or 38L per axolotl. They like floor space as they spend most of their time exploring the floor so about 12 in or 30cm is the general rule there. However, anyone will tell you, bigger is better.

Be very careful using chemicals to treat problems with axolotls. A medication that is safe for a fish may not necessarily be safe for an axolotl. If it was a fungal problem, it could have been treated with a salt bath. Melafix one of the medications that is recommended for external sores in axolotls.

A note about diet. Axolotls are freshwater and I am always confused as to whether UK prawns are saltwater or freshwater? We use the terms differently. Anyway, saltwater based food items really are not suitable for axolotls. As mentioned, the most recommended staple is earthworms. If you can't dig them in your yard or get them from a baitshop, you can order them online. I think the site that is commonly used is Wormsdirect - someone feel free to correct me. The nutritional values list Erzs is HERE.
 

amacspad11

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I'm so sorry for your loss. I feel that based on your description, he/she had an internal parasite and would have needed a vet's attention.

I'm glad to hear that you are using sand as a substrate as that is a common error. Also, your temp sounds okay, however, how often does it fluctuate like that? If the 4 degree difference happens too often or quickly (like when you add the ice bottle, it suddenly drops), this could stress your axolotls. How much light is on the tank? In case you didn't know, they don't like light and some plants/additional hides could help them feel more secure.

95L was really too small for 3 axolotls too so that too may have led to some stress. The general rule is about 10 US gallons or 38L per axolotl. They like floor space as they spend most of their time exploring the floor so about 12 in or 30cm is the general rule there. However, anyone will tell you, bigger is better.

Be very careful using chemicals to treat problems with axolotls. A medication that is safe for a fish may not necessarily be safe for an axolotl. If it was a fungal problem, it could have been treated with a salt bath. Melafix one of the medications that is recommended for external sores in axolotls.

A note about diet. Axolotls are freshwater and I am always confused as to whether UK prawns are saltwater or freshwater? We use the terms differently. Anyway, saltwater based food items really are not suitable for axolotls. As mentioned, the most recommended staple is earthworms. If you can't dig them in your yard or get them from a baitshop, you can order them online. I think the site that is commonly used is Wormsdirect - someone feel free to correct me. The nutritional values list Erzs is HERE.
Hi, this is Rebecca :) the ice bottle dosent change more than 4 degrees, less then two usually. Im aware they dislike light, and never have it on to keep the temperature down too. Also, my axies are not fully grown yet. We just remebered that it was pimafix, not melafix, which treats fungal infections and is suitable for axolotls. We use freshwater prawns and fish, and high protein hikari pellets. We have just tested our water, everything was fine apart from nitrite, which was high (can't remeber the number) So we are about to do a water change. We havent tried worms yet, we will try. Thanks! :)
 
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