Anna Banana
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- Jul 1, 2018
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- Bristol, UK
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Hello all,
My eight year old female wild-type axolotl - Axelita - has recently been showing big signs of stress.
First she developed a white mark on her head (her brown patch is normal). The white is also on her back now, quite large but not fluffy at all, just whiter skin. She has also not been swimming at all for about two weeks we think and she used to be very agile, not at all shy. Her hind legs are at times very floppy and she has to drag herself along the bottom. Please see this video link: https://youtu.be/GFaIrP4_214
We moved house and had to change her tank from a long, stable, dark and cool tank to a shorter 50l plastic tub for a while. She's now in a 47x47x47cm glass tank with plants and a hide. Then I realised her filter had broken, so we bought a Fluval 206 which it turns out is a bit big for a 100l tank. Adjusted the flow to reduce stress. I put in LED lights to help the plants, timed at a few hours a day.
The main problem is we went away for 13 days and my neighbours fed her but the house got hot. The water was 24 degrees C (75 F) and now it's 21 C (70 F) but she was used to 16 C before.
Have been using Seachem Stability and Prime as usual but bought a plant food "Tropica Premium Nutrition" recently which may not be suitable. The label says "Declaration W/W%: N 0.0%, P 0.0%, K 0.8%, Mg 0.4%, S 0.9%, B 0.004%, Cu 0.006%, Fe 0.07%, Mn 0.04%, Mo 0.002%, Zn 0.002%". What do you think?
The only good news is she is eating her normal earthworms fine. I will test the water in the morning - it's 11pm here!
I'd really appreciate any thoughts on if it is a fungus, if fridging, salt or black tea would really help, and if her hind leg problem means going to a vet as soon as possible. I have an appointment tomorrow but I may cancel as they almost definitely don't know as much as you!
Thanks,
Anna
My eight year old female wild-type axolotl - Axelita - has recently been showing big signs of stress.
First she developed a white mark on her head (her brown patch is normal). The white is also on her back now, quite large but not fluffy at all, just whiter skin. She has also not been swimming at all for about two weeks we think and she used to be very agile, not at all shy. Her hind legs are at times very floppy and she has to drag herself along the bottom. Please see this video link: https://youtu.be/GFaIrP4_214
We moved house and had to change her tank from a long, stable, dark and cool tank to a shorter 50l plastic tub for a while. She's now in a 47x47x47cm glass tank with plants and a hide. Then I realised her filter had broken, so we bought a Fluval 206 which it turns out is a bit big for a 100l tank. Adjusted the flow to reduce stress. I put in LED lights to help the plants, timed at a few hours a day.
The main problem is we went away for 13 days and my neighbours fed her but the house got hot. The water was 24 degrees C (75 F) and now it's 21 C (70 F) but she was used to 16 C before.
Have been using Seachem Stability and Prime as usual but bought a plant food "Tropica Premium Nutrition" recently which may not be suitable. The label says "Declaration W/W%: N 0.0%, P 0.0%, K 0.8%, Mg 0.4%, S 0.9%, B 0.004%, Cu 0.006%, Fe 0.07%, Mn 0.04%, Mo 0.002%, Zn 0.002%". What do you think?
The only good news is she is eating her normal earthworms fine. I will test the water in the morning - it's 11pm here!
I'd really appreciate any thoughts on if it is a fungus, if fridging, salt or black tea would really help, and if her hind leg problem means going to a vet as soon as possible. I have an appointment tomorrow but I may cancel as they almost definitely don't know as much as you!
Thanks,
Anna