Illness/Sickness: Axolotl was/is sick. Help!

Okay, so recently my axolotl got sick from what seemed to be ammonia. The gills shrunk and became shriveled and lost the beautiful frills :/ I immediately took him/her (too young to tell), out of the tank and put him/her in different ammonia free water and put in the fridge. I think I have fixed the problem, since he/she is now eating again and isn't moving around as much as he/she used to, but definitely more than when I first noticed his/her illness. Also, the tail is no longer bent, so I assume there is no longer stress.

My question is how long until his/her gills look normal again, and if they ever will be?
I heard because he or she is younger, that they could grow back to be completely normal since they use them more as babies rather than adults?

I just want to know when my baby will be completely normal again, so I can be 100% that I have fixed the issue! Thank you!~

Also just would like to mention I'm extremely new here, I just joined because of my axie's illness, so if I am doing anything wrong just let me know lol!

Your tank isn't cycled - you need to read up on cycling and get your tank sorted is you haven't already done so.

You need to be changing the water in the tub in your fridge daily too. You axie may well eat less while in the fridge.

I am in the process of cycling, I have another tank, and have put some of that water into my tank, and also have been doing partial water changes, with bottled water :s

My main question is if he is going to grow his frills back, he seems to be doing a lot better today! He swam up to me today and seems to be back to normal, aside from his gills !

Are you doing fishless cycling? If so there is no need for water changes until the end.
Also why do you use bottled water? Is your tap water drastically unusable?
Plain tap water with a dechlorinator is fine as some bottled waters lack the minerals an axie needs.
He gills may never grow back how they were, they have been damaged, but hopefully they will grow back somewhat, you may find that they get branches as they grow back now though or they may be shorter but will have more fillaments (fluffiness)

If you're cycling the tank with your axie in it you need to get a water testing kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates so that you can keep the level of those at something livable. You need to do frequent water changes to keep the water and nitrites at 0, there's more detailed information on this forum and all over the net.

Instead of putting old water from the tanks, take some filter media and squeeze it into the tank. The bacteria lives there rather than on the water and it'll give it a kick start. Like everyone else says, I also use tap water with a dechlorinator added in and I haven't had any issues.

Cacique said:

If you're cycling the tank with your axie in it you need to get a water testing kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates so that you can keep the level of those at something livable. You need to do frequent water changes to keep the water and nitrites at 0, there's more detailed information on this forum and all over the net.

Instead of putting old water from the tanks, take some filter media and squeeze it into the tank. The bacteria lives there rather than on the water and it'll give it a kick start. Like everyone else says, I also use tap water with a dechlorinator added in and I haven't had any issues.

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Best way to cycle a tank (with the axolotl in the tank - if that's what has to be done) is 100% fresh dechlorinated clean fresh, dechlorinated tap water, run the filter 24 hours. Add an entire bottle of TSS (Tetra Safe Start) rated for your tank size on the BACK of the bottle, add your axolotl into the tank within an hour and leave the tank for 2 weeks. Besides feeding your axxie and removing feces.

After 2 weeks with no water changes, test your water parameters using your liquid test kit (pick one of those up when you get the dechlorinator) & perform your first water change if your readings are 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites, >40ppm nitrates.

Good luck!

blushed said:

Best way to cycle a tank (with the axolotl in the tank - if that's what has to be done) is 100% fresh dechlorinated clean fresh, dechlorinated tap water, run the filter 24 hours. Add an entire bottle of TSS (Tetra Safe Start) rated for your tank size on the BACK of the bottle, add your axolotl into the tank within an hour and leave the tank for 2 weeks. Besides feeding your axxie and removing feces.

After 2 weeks with no water changes, test your water parameters using your liquid test kit (pick one of those up when you get the dechlorinator) & perform your first water change if your readings are 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites, >40ppm nitrates.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

No. If you need to cycle your tank with an axie in it you need to be testing the water daily and do daily water changes. Ammonia and nitrites need to stay under 0.5 ppm. Most of the time any of the "safe start" won't work as well as needed. They also have chemicals in them that won't be good for your axies. Those are made for fish that are not as sensitive as axolotls. You can get old filter media to kick start the cycle or get some clean soil (no pesticides or fertilizers etc) mix it with some water pour it through a sieve or something and put the water in the tank. That way you get some of the bacteria in there right away and they can then multiply.

Edit: Also, nitrAtes need to be <40 ppm.

Those quick start bottles are not all they are cracked up to be - they may work for a warmer tank with tropical fish who are more tolerant of water quality, but not axies.

Daily water checks and changes are needed if you're doing an axie-in cycle.

Tap is what caused this problem for me, my tap has an insane amount of ammonia. Which is why im now using bottled water.

I have water quality test tabs, and i check the levels often, they are fine. I'm pretty sure I'm set on how to cycle, but thank you guys!

His gills didn't really shrink too much, they were always on the shorter side. They're still there they just got skinnier and bent back. they look about the same size, just the frill/feathery part seem to be missing :s