3 issues and questions about Axolotls from a new owner.

[CaluKanKen]

Hello, recently I purchased two small axolotls both around 2-1/2 inches. Their tank is a temporary 10 gallon tank I’ve set up with a divider between the two so they don’t hurt each other. I’ve been trying different foods as I cannot find black worms and was advised elsewhere on here that I need to feed them something better than bloodworms for them to be healthy. I tried to give them pellets of hikari carnivore sinking pellets since I have seen those recommended on here before. I thought that since the pellets were smaller than their head that it was fine for them to eat it since that was what I read but it was a bit to big. I Gave the pellet to one of them that seemed to be a strong eater than the other but he simply tried to eat it for a while, which worried me because it was clearly to big, but they then vomited it out. After they vomited it out I took the remnants away from them since it was mushy and I didn’t want it to decay or for the axolotl to try and eat it again since aside from it being to big, when I broke it in to smaller pieces and gave it to the other one it it spit it out as well so I’m guessing that the hikari carnivore sinking pellets are nasty to them, it’s been acting strangely and I’m worried that maybe it hurt it’s throat or managed to swallow to much of it and is going to be impacted. How can I tell if it will be impacted? Currently, it’s behaving very strangely, it’s gills are kind of up it seems and it won’t even eat the bloodworms which it never had a problem eating before, as well as that it’s like thrashing it’s head around a lot more than I’ve ever seen it thrash it’s head before.

another issues I’m having is with the tank it’s self- I’ve been doing water changes everyday and its showing that my ammonia levels are far too high for the tank? My tank temperatures are kind of high so my axolotls are using the restroom every day it seems despite my best efforts Of keeping the water below 70 it’s never been colder than 69 so the axolotl Is digesting it’s food fast. I’m not sure what I can do about my tank? I have a hang on back filter but no other tanks to take the substrate from to use for good bacteria so I used quick start but my ammonia levels are still high. What can I do to fix it?

also what can I do about my temperature issue? I live in Texas with an air conditioned house, I have reflectors along the side to keep the cold in, a fan along the top to aim at the water, and I put ice packs in double ziplocks bags into the water at night to cool it down? I do not really want to invest in a chiller if I still have other things I Can try before that.

 

[Calgarycoppers]

Okay

First get those babies out into individual tubs until they are approximately 4" long

Second - you need to cycle your filter/tank which means buying pure ammonia testing and dosing daily. Highly recommended to use a heater for cycling and adding beneficial bacteria

Third - Food - if you can't find live black worms - Live white Worms and live Daphnia are great alternatives. Zoomed Aquatic newt pellets are awesome as are Omega One Newt & Salamander to start getting them onto. Large dry pellets need to be broken down smaller. Repashy grub pie is awesome as it can be cut tiny or large to grow with them

Fourth - impaction keep tubbed and watch for poop - Repashy Grub Pie is high fat to get them moving

Fifth - Temp - With your climate you will need to invest in a chiller or do a DIY chiller for their final set up. You are going to have constant fungus issues or worse otherwise.