Illness/Sickness: Whats wrong with freckels

since freckels has been in her new tank i have noticed she seems to be acting strange at first she hid alot i put it down to stress of moving in her new tank then i noticed when she was out her gills her forward so i turned the big filter off an just run the sponge filter now she seems to be ill in the last 2 weeks she hasnt been for a poo her tail is pink/red an i have just noticed her floating then suddenly kick her gills with her back leg looked like strange fit a first ive never seen her do it befor

• shes eating great like nomal
• her temp is 16c
• the water is great tested 2 days ago
• i cleaned her new tank 5 times befor putting her in
• she had nothing diffrent to her diet just earthworms 2 every 3rd day
• shes about 25cm

i hope someone can help me an more importanly freckels

What water parameters do you test? Usually gill-scratching is from irritation, often because of elevated ammonia.

What substrate do you have?

i have the test strips i know they are not the best so i am going to go out today an get a master kit
an she is on sand

well i went to get a master kits from my local pet shop an they only had test stips so im still unsure what the water is like still the test stips are say all is fine but i think my cycle has crashed i have done a 20% water change an checked for muck in her tank the wasnt any that i could see but i did notice that the air pump on the sponge filter wasnt as strong as it used to be so i change the air pump for my shrimps one (so now i need a master test kit an new airpump) i also have manged to set the big filter up with some pipe with holes to stop alot of the current freckels seems the same but im sure with daily water changes an both filters working she will be happy an back to her self

ps when i hubby gets home from work i will be going to get a master test kit an air pump maybe even some more things for her tank

I have been using the tetra test strips, not sure if this is the same as you but I agree they're not particularly accurate! I'm going to pets at home today to get an API master test kit, they're down from £33 to £27 and also have a 3 for 2 offer on tank ornaments. Also if theres a B&M bargains near you they do a small fish tank pack, for £12 you get what could be a glass quarantine tank, an air pump (excellent) and a sponge filter among other things :happy: Tell the hubby to get his hand in his pocket lol, its Christmas afterall

hi they are the same i use i didnt get to go yesterday hubby didnt get home till 8 so by then every were was shut £27 is cheap i think i will get him to take me there an i shall get one also i have been to B&M an have the little tank which is my shrimp tank i must say the little pump an filter (the filter looks like a rocket :roflare great the pump is now on my sponge filter in freckels tank untill i can get a new one she seems to be better too an her tail isnt pink now so must of been the filter an pump thanks for the heads up on the master kit

crazylady said:

hi they are the same i use i didnt get to go yesterday hubby didnt get home till 8 so by then every were was shut £27 is cheap i think i will get him to take me there an i shall get one also i have been to B&M an have the little tank which is my shrimp tank i must say the little pump an filter (the filter looks like a rocket :roflare great the pump is now on my sponge filter in freckels tank untill i can get a new one she seems to be better too an her tail isnt pink now so must of been the filter an pump thanks for the heads up on the master kit

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Thats brilliant, I'm so happy to hear Freckles is feeling better! I've had problems with my guy to recently so I understand how frustrating it is, the wee tykes get under your skin and lodged firmly in your heart! I got the masterkit yesterday and have to say it is really good getting an accurate ammonia reading, only thing is it doesn't test GH & KH like the tetra strips do (lifes never simple lol =P) so hold on to them just incase

i got the api test kit an here are the results

ammonia o.25ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 5ppm

can anyone tell me what i should do now an what the correct reading should be for a axolotl

Everything should be at zero, just do a small water change 20 percent. Test again tomorrow , if still high do another 20 percent. And so on till it drops. Just keep checking and be sure to give the tank fresh water each day and not to much so you don't crash your cycle. What is your temp? Any plants?

i thought so thanks i did a small water change an will keep doing them every day my temp is 16c an i only have fake plant i worrie that getting live plants will bring snails in like it has with my shrimp tank