Skin Issues?

[BaiBaiBug]

Hello,

I've had an Axolotl in the past and decided to get a beautiful baby from a local pet store about 3 weeks ago. Mylo is in a sand bottom tank, with a sponge filter and some live plants. (I had the tank set up about 7 weeks prior to getting him). I do weekly water changes and scoop out any food/waste daily. The tank sits between 65 to 68 degrees which is slightly warmer than I'd want so working on that. He is eating protein Axolotl bites and still has an appetite. However, he has this weird skin thing going on. It gets better and then bad again. It's causing him stress but Idk what to do. Please give me any suggestions to make him healthy again. Thank you!

 

[BaiBaiBug]

Hello,

I've had an Axolotl in the past and decided to get a beautiful baby from a local pet store about 3 weeks ago. Mylo is in a sand bottom tank, with a sponge filter and some live plants. (I had the tank set up about 7 weeks prior to getting him). I do weekly water changes and scoop out any food/waste daily. The tank sits between 65 to 68 degrees which is slightly warmer than I'd want so working on that. He is eating protein Axolotl bites and still has an appetite. However, he has this weird skin thing going on. It gets better and then bad again. It's causing him stress but Idk what to do. Please give me any suggestions to make him healthy again. Thank you!

I forgot to mention that his gills and toes look good.

 

[wolfen]

you need to do a test using a liquid freshwater test, this will include an ammonia test which is quite important.
based on your strip test your ph/kh/gh are bad being low and you have trace nitrites. your ph should be 7.4-7.6, your kh should be at least 54, your gh should be at least 125, nitrites should be zero and there should be readings for nitrates.
your tank seems to be either uncycled or the cycle has crashed, the ammonia levels need to be tested ASAP.
your axolotl needs to be tubbed whilst the tank is being sorted.
use holtfreters or similar to reintroduce the required kh gh and bring the ph under control.

 

[BaiBaiBug]

you need to do a test using a liquid freshwater test, this will include an ammonia test which is quite important.
based on your strip test your ph/kh/gh are bad being low and you have trace nitrites. your ph should be 7.4-7.6, your kh should be at least 54, your gh should be at least 125, nitrites should be zero and there should be readings for nitrates.
your tank seems to be either uncycled or the cycle has crashed, the ammonia levels need to be tested ASAP.
your axolotl needs to be tubbed whilst the tank is being sorted.
use holtfreters or similar to reintroduce the required kh gh and bring the ph under control.

Thank you! It might be the lighting in the photo but some of the values are off by a tad. I put him in a tub this morning and will find an ammonia test.

 

[BaiBaiBug]

Thank you! It might be the lighting in the photo but some of the values are off by a tad. I put him in a tub this morning and will find an ammonia test.

Here are the results. Way different that the test strip colors!

 

[wolfen]

your ammonia and nitrates are good and safe, your ph is bad, better to increase the kh at least before it causes issues.
measure the tap water to find out what the original ph is.
kh acts like a buffer for when the water becomes more acidic it prevents ph drop by reducing kh instead.
bicarbonate of soda can be used to increase the kh which in turn will increase ph.
also what was the result for nitrites?

 

[BaiBaiBug]

your ammonia and nitrates are good and safe, your ph is bad, better to increase the kh at least before it causes issues.
measure the tap water to find out what the original ph is.
kh acts like a buffer for when the water becomes more acidic it prevents ph drop by reducing kh instead.
bicarbonate of soda can be used to increase the kh which in turn will increase ph.
also what was the result for nitrites?

 

[wolfen]

your nitrites are good

 

[Marine]

I agree with wolfen, your results remind me the ones I got originally before my tank was actually cycled ...
my axies didnt get that skin issue though.. are you using any chimicals?