Axolotl regurgitated food

[Gloriak26]

Hello everyone! So my new axolotl gave me a scare today and I wanted your opinion on this. I’ve had them since last Wednesday. I fed them the next day (Thursday) after I got them, around 5 pellets(hikari sinking carnivore pellets). I wasn’t sure if they were considered a young axolotl so I fed them two nightcrawlers the day after that and one nightcrawler the next. After that I noticed their belly was larger (not terribly bloated, just larger) so I didn’t feed anything for two days and on the third I fed them one nightcrawler and two pellets. I tried feeding them again two days later ( that was yesterday) and they only ate half a nightcrawler and I think one pellet, so their appetite was obviously less than the other days. Now, yesterday I added some new plants and did a small water change and I was stupid enough to add liquid fertilizer to the tank. Last night I noticed the little guy seemed a little agitated and so I searched online about fertilizers and read that they could be toxic. At some point I saw the axolotl opening and closing its mouth and saw a pellet under them on the substrate which I removed. Today first thing in the morning I decide to do a 90% water change, without siphoning (so as not to disturb the cycle), and get as much of the fertilizer out as possible. I tried feeding them, in a separate container, during the water change and they didn’t eat anything, no nightcrawler, no pellet. To my surprise and shock, after the water change I noticed inside their favourite hiding spot there were around five pellets sitting on the substrate, which I realised had been regurgitated. I removed a total of 8 pellets (so,basically, they threw up all the pellets they had eaten all week) and 1,half digested, part of a worm. Their belly is visibly smaller, normal looking now. Just to let you know my parameters have been spot on for this whole week (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, less than 5 nitrates, ph 7.8, temperature between 15-18). They don’t seem to exhibit any signs of stress at the moment( gills and tail look normal), but the whole not eating and throwing up has me really worried and I mentioned the fertilizer in case this could somehow have affected the little guy. What do you think? Should I be worried? How to proceed with feedings? Should I continue feeding the pellets? Thank you in advance!

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

Hello everyone! So my new axolotl gave me a scare today and I wanted your opinion on this. I’ve had them since last Wednesday. I fed them the next day (Thursday) after I got them, around 5 pellets(hikari sinking carnivore pellets). I wasn’t sure if they were considered a young axolotl so I fed them two nightcrawlers the day after that and one nightcrawler the next. After that I noticed their belly was larger (not terribly bloated, just larger) so I didn’t feed anything for two days and on the third I fed them one nightcrawler and two pellets. I tried feeding them again two days later ( that was yesterday) and they only ate half a nightcrawler and I think one pellet, so their appetite was obviously less than the other days. Now, yesterday I added some new plants and did a small water change and I was stupid enough to add liquid fertilizer to the tank. Last night I noticed the little guy seemed a little agitated and so I searched online about fertilizers and read that they could be toxic. At some point I saw the axolotl opening and closing its mouth and saw a pellet under them on the substrate which I removed. Today first thing in the morning I decide to do a 90% water change, without siphoning (so as not to disturb the cycle), and get as much of the fertilizer out as possible. I tried feeding them, in a separate container, during the water change and they didn’t eat anything, no nightcrawler, no pellet. To my surprise and shock, after the water change I noticed inside their favourite hiding spot there were around five pellets sitting on the substrate, which I realised had been regurgitated. I removed a total of 8 pellets (so,basically, they threw up all the pellets they had eaten all week) and 1,half digested, part of a worm. Their belly is visibly smaller, normal looking now. Just to let you know my parameters have been spot on for this whole week (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, less than 5 nitrates, ph 7.8, temperature between 15-18). They don’t seem to exhibit any signs of stress at the moment( gills and tail look normal), but the whole not eating and throwing up has me really worried and I mentioned the fertilizer in case this could somehow have affected the little guy. What do you think? Should I be worried? How to proceed with feedings? Should I continue feeding the pellets? Thank you in advance!

How big is your axolotl? He may just not like the pellets and be spitting them back up. Hard pellets aren't real easy for them to eat. Soft sinking pellets are the best kind, but if he prefers worms, thats even better. Try just feeding worms for a week or so and see how he does.

I am glad you caught your mistake with the fertilizer. As a general rule, most chemicals are toxic to axolotls. There are only a handful of safe water additives you can use with them.

 

[Gloriak26]

They are about 16cm long so I’d say pretty big. Fortunately their appetite is restored today and they ate just fine! I fed one worm and one pellet. I’ll see how they react to that and if they keep spitting the pellets I’ll just stick to worms only.
Yeah I’m glad I caught that too and yeah I figured there are very few additives that are actually safe for them after realizing that tetra’s aqua safe is not so safe for them after all So, I changed to seachem prime and from now I’ll be extra careful as to what goes in the tank!

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

They are about 16cm long so I’d say pretty big. Fortunately their appetite is restored today and they ate just fine! I fed one worm and one pellet. I’ll see how they react to that and if they keep spitting the pellets I’ll just stick to worms only.
Yeah I’m glad I caught that too and yeah I figured there are very few additives that are actually safe for them after realizing that tetra’s aqua safe is not so safe for them after all So, I changed to seachem prime and from now I’ll be extra careful as to what goes in the tank!

Perfect. Prime is the best, by far. I am glad they seem to be back to normal today. Keep us posted if that changes.

 

[AMurry24537]

For future reference, if you do introduce something toxic into the water, do a 100% water change immediately. The amount of bacteria actively IN the water is negligible; it will mostly be on the various surfaces inside the tank and filter. Either way though, it's better and easier to deal with a crashed cycle than poisoning your axolotl.