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Bloated Axolotl with a twirled body.

robwassink

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Hello,

One of my axolotls presumably ate gravel and thats why he is floating. He keeps floating at the top of the water. Also his body is twirled (as seen in the picture). I have tried the next things:

  • Fridged the axolotl for 48 hours with no effect. (I have read online that this should help with the stool, so he could get rid of the gravel and/or gas in his stomach).
  • Lowered the water level in the tank so the axolotl can touch the bottom thus releaving stress.

Can anybody help me?

(please note that i live in The Netherlands, i'm sorry if my spelling or grammar is off.)
 

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Calgarycoppers

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Have you tested your tank?
The gills and veiny appearance are not normal either.

temp
pH
high range pH
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
GH
KH

how long have you had him/her?
fully cycled tank?
what do you feed?

Lots of factors - sorry for all the questions.
 

robwassink

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Hello,

First of all, thank you for your reply.

This morning i found out he pooped out a piece of gravel.(see picture) I dont know if there is more gravel in the axolotl or not, but i do think there is more. He is also stil floating. I have tested the water, here are the results:

Nitrate: 25 mg/l
Nitrite: 0 mg/l
GH: >10° d
KH: between 3° d and 6° d
PH: 7.6
Chlorine: 0
Temperature: Normaly between 14-18 ° celcius, now because of the warm weather in the Netherlands: 24.7

I dont have something to test the ammonia or high range PH.
Í have the axoltol for about 3 years now, before he was doing much beter.
Normaly the tank is cycled with two filters.(i have a sheet of plexiglass in the middle so my other axolotl wont bite him, stil the water is the same on each side because there is space for the water to go through.) But now i have lowered the water so the axolotl can touch the ground. I refresh the water every one or two weeks.
I feed both of them earthworms.

Thank you in advance,

Rob
 

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Calgarycoppers

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Are you using test strips versus liquid tests?
I highly recommend you get a freshwater master test kit with liquid reagents as the strips are notoriously inaccurate.

The temp is likely why he is floating especially if he is passing stool .
Can you use fans, AC, frozen bottles etc to get you through the heat?

Is there more gravel in the tank? They should not be on aquarium gravel or rocks between 3mm and 4 inches.

Best substrates are bare, slate, tile, or fine sand. In Europe you may have access to Axogravel which is a 3mm substrate that is inert and can be swallowed and passed with no issues as the granules are all spherical.
 

robwassink

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Hello, thank you for your reply.

I use test strips to test my water, I will look into a master test kit. I asked my local Petshop if the had any fans, but due to high demand in Europe they are not available right now. Tomorrow the weather will cool down so the temperature will not be a problem anymore. If the temperature is still too high i will use frozen water bottles. I have learned from my mistakes and removed al gravel from the tank. The axo's now live on the bare bottom.
 

robwassink

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Hello,

I'm looking intro liquid aquarium test kits. I see a lot of different ones. Can you recommend me anything? If not, what should the test kit be able to test? PH, KH etc.

Kind regards,
Rob
 

Calgarycoppers

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API Freshwater Master test kit - includes pH. High Range pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate
API Gh/KH - optional but I believe you have softer water so it may be usefully to ensure you have the appropriate hardness to the water for axolotls

Hello,

I'm looking intro liquid aquarium test kits. I see a lot of different ones. Can you recommend me anything? If not, what should the test kit be able to test? PH, KH etc.

Kind regards,
Rob
 

robwassink

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Hello,

I have found a test kit that tests the following things:

pH: 3.0-10
Nitrite
Nitrate
Kh
Ammonia

It's JBL Combiset test NH4.

Will this test kit do?

Kind regards,

Rob
 

robwassink

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Hello,

The kit came in today. I carefully tested the water using the liquid tests. Here are the results:

PH: 8
NH4 Amonnia: <0.05 MG/L
NO2 Nitrite: 0,025 MG/L
NO3 Nitrate: 15 MG/L
KH: 9^DH or 16,02 °fH
Temperature: 19.0 °Celcius

Also, I saw some more gravel on the bottom. I dont know if that was still there or the axolotl pooped- or puked it out.

Kind regards,

Rob
 

Calgarycoppers

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pH is higher than I expected - What does the tap water come out at?

Otherwise the ammonia and Nitrite are negligible they wouldnt even read on the chart I use it starts at 0.25ppm or mg/L
Nitrates are perfect.

Temp is okay.

Keep removing gravel as you find it. It can take weeks to months for them to pass everything in their system.

How is he doing ?


Hello,

The kit came in today. I carefully tested the water using the liquid tests. Here are the results:

PH: 8
NH4 Amonnia: <0.05 MG/L
NO2 Nitrite: 0,025 MG/L
NO3 Nitrate: 15 MG/L
KH: 9^DH or 16,02 °fH
Temperature: 19.0 °Celcius

Also, I saw some more gravel on the bottom. I dont know if that was still there or the axolotl pooped- or puked it out.

Kind regards,

Rob
 

robwassink

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Hello,

Thanks for your reply.

The tapwater came out between 7,5 and 8.
The axolotl is still floating and when offered food, he is a bit slower than usual. The end of the tail is a little bit curved. I have attached a picture.

Kind regards,

Rob
20200919_202556.jpg
 

Calgarycoppers

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Are you tubbing and changing the water daily?

I almost think I am seeing short toe signs.

What type of water conditioner are you using.

Something in the water is not right but its not the things we can test for
 

robwassink

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Hello,

Usually when the water level is much higher, I change the water every week. Now I change it every two days because the water is much lower and I remove waste as I see it. Yes, the toes are a lot shorter then they used to be. I'm afraid that I never used a water conditioner, when I bought the axolotl they told me that Dutch tap water would be okay.

Kind regards,

Rob
 
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