Shady_Tree
New member
Hello all! This is my first post to this forum and also the first time I've encountered anything going on with my two precious children that I couldn't find any concrete answers.
I have two Axolotl's -- one is a male wild type and the other is a female luci. They are both going on 4-5 years old now.
The wildtype is very healthy, energetic, and aside from a small cut on his tail he got from a hide we used to have in there with him, we have had no scares with him.
My little luci on the other hand has seemingly been losing her gill filaments over the past few months. I noticed about a year or two ago that she began to form these closed-loop looking growths on her gills, but I was reassured that those are harmless and common. What's also strange is that the wildtype has had no extra growths or gill filaments disappearing at all. She is interactive during most of the day and eats with no issues.
I've tried adjusting the water flow, keeping the tank cooler, changing water more frequently... but these filaments continue to appear to be getting smaller and the gill stalks also appear to have gotten a lot smaller. I'm incredibly worried at this point that there's something wrong, but considering her living conditions are identical to our other one, it's so difficult to narrow down what the problem could be (or whether or not its even a problem...)
Any help, guidance, or reassurance here would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
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Of course I've been staying ontop of the water parameters for both tanks whenever possible as well, using the liquid test kit:
0ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite, 5-10ppm Nitrate. The pH of the water is generally around 7.0, though I have noticed that some weeks when I go to do water changes it has dropped slightly down to 6.8. I've heard that keeping it relatively consistent is more important than trying to over-correct it.
Their diets both consist of a mixture of Invert Aquarium Axolotl Sinking Pellets and Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets, with the occasional treat of Bloodworms.
I have two Axolotl's -- one is a male wild type and the other is a female luci. They are both going on 4-5 years old now.
The wildtype is very healthy, energetic, and aside from a small cut on his tail he got from a hide we used to have in there with him, we have had no scares with him.
My little luci on the other hand has seemingly been losing her gill filaments over the past few months. I noticed about a year or two ago that she began to form these closed-loop looking growths on her gills, but I was reassured that those are harmless and common. What's also strange is that the wildtype has had no extra growths or gill filaments disappearing at all. She is interactive during most of the day and eats with no issues.
I've tried adjusting the water flow, keeping the tank cooler, changing water more frequently... but these filaments continue to appear to be getting smaller and the gill stalks also appear to have gotten a lot smaller. I'm incredibly worried at this point that there's something wrong, but considering her living conditions are identical to our other one, it's so difficult to narrow down what the problem could be (or whether or not its even a problem...)
Any help, guidance, or reassurance here would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of course I've been staying ontop of the water parameters for both tanks whenever possible as well, using the liquid test kit:
0ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite, 5-10ppm Nitrate. The pH of the water is generally around 7.0, though I have noticed that some weeks when I go to do water changes it has dropped slightly down to 6.8. I've heard that keeping it relatively consistent is more important than trying to over-correct it.
Their diets both consist of a mixture of Invert Aquarium Axolotl Sinking Pellets and Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets, with the occasional treat of Bloodworms.
