911 need some help please!

[stacie]

About 2 months ago a client of mine gave my 8 year old son a "waterdog" that he did not use when he went fishing (

sorry) It had lived in a cooler for several weeks and had no gills. When we got it home we bought a fish tank and now since I have found this site, realize that we have done EVERYTHING wrong. I am amazed that we have not killed it! Unfortunately it is not doing well suddenly. It was very, very active until a few days ago. It would eat anytime, and would actually come up to the glass to greet you. For the last two days it does not want to eat, spends a lot of time gulping air at the surface. He had started to get feathery gills and now they look like trees long at the base with short feathers. His gills also seem to be pale compared to his head. Today I bought some Aquarium strips to test the levels and it seems that the tank was high in PH and alkalinity ? Unfortunatly I know nothing about any of this and just feel terrible. We have grown rather attached to this guy and really thought we were doing things ok. My son will be so upset if this poor little critter doesn't make it, so any help would be greatly appreciated. He has been living in a fish tank with a filter that drops the water from overhead (which I now know is BAD) He eats or was eating earthworms, grasshoppers and various insects my son would catch. He is in a fish tank gravel (I now know is also BAD) I just do not know what to do to get him in a healthy environment ASAP}. Thanks

 

[joan]

What you've got is a tiger salamander, not an axolotl. It's starting to morph.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml this should help you a little. Then if you have any more questions, post them on the tiger salamander section of the board.

 

[jennifer]

High pH and alkalinity are not necessarily bad. The readings for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are more important. If you change about 1/3rd of the water every day for a week, the water quality should improve. You know about removing chlorine, right? I agree with Joan, it sounds like it's headed into metamorphosis. So you may not be able to keep it in an aquatic tank much longer anyway.