Question: Is this black spot a problem?

Hey guys! I have this GFP axolotl who has a black spot on his side. When he was little, like about 2.5-3ish inches long, I noticed a tiny spot on him and just thought it was normal pigmentation, but as he grew bigger, the spot also grew bigger and he has no other pigmentation anywhere else. I also noticed that on 3 of his toes, the tips are black, but he's only about 5.3-5.5ish inches long and have not reached maturity ? He seems to be healthy to me. He swims around a lot like most smaller axolotls and he doesn't float, doesn't shed, has no fungus. He eats like a pig still. I was just wondering if this spot might become harmful. I have read the two posts: 1) http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...my-axolotls-head-its-growing-very-slowly.html 2) http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...62371-my-leucistic-axolotl-turning-black.html

Don't know if my situation might be like theirs? What do you guys think? Oh and random, but is he still too young to tell the gender?

Here are some water parameters:

Temp: 14 degrees C.
Nitrite: 0
pH: 7.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: -- (don't have a test for that)

He has no real plants in his tank, only a plastic one and there's a cave for him. He's in a 10 gallon tank with a filter and an airstone.

Some pictures:



Still too young to tell the gender?



And for fun :



Any help would be great. I hope it's nothing serious.

THANKS.

I think he is a boy....black toes normally means sexual maturity. Is the black spot getting bigger????

lea said:

I think he is a boy....black toes normally means sexual maturity. Is the black spot getting bigger????

Click to expand...

I was thinking he was probably a boy too :/ . If he has black toes already, will he still grow? 5 inches is kind of on the small side right? My other adult axie is 9 inches and he didn't even have black toes till 7 inches...

Anyways, I think it gets bigger, but not at a rapid rate. I know for sure that when he was smaller, like 2 inches, there were no spots and when he hit around 2.5-3 inches, there was a really tiny dot, like if you took one of those skinny crayola markers and made a period on a piece of paper, that was how small it was, but now it's as big as what you see in the pictures. I kinda doubt it's pigmentation because the spot is really black. My other leucistic axie has pigmentation, but his is on other areas of his body and face and it's not black, but a tan, brown color. This is why I was kind of wondering if I should be wary of the spot or not.

I would say it's a boy too. And is that Mowgli? (If yes: WHOA, BIG AXIE)
(But unfortunately I don't know much about spots on axies)

Bunny, how cool is the GFP axie? I found a store here tat sells it for CAN$300 compare to other type which goes between $30-60. I am scared that it would die easily and stuff, esp if I am stretching myself to get $300 species.

@ Morrison: Hahaha! Yeah, it's Mowgli . He'll be joining Piccolo soon and that means a new and bigger tank! My wallet's going to cry.

@ Nixx: GFP's are really cool! But I don't put Mowgli under the black light as often (I think I've only done it 4 times when he was smaller). Whoa!!! $300.00 for a GFP axie? Yeah, Mowgli definitely was not that much. If you have a tank that's fully cycled and you have the right temperature, they shouldn't die. Just feed them proper food too, like worms and pellets. Hope you get one in the future.