Axolotl turned pure white

[Mimi6fong]

One of my axols turned pure white. I've never had this happen before. Im super worried. I immediately fed some pellets to see if she would eat and she did! She is moving around a little and continued to eat but after 10min she is still the same color. Just seems a little slow. Anyone else experience this?

She lives with 3 other axols in a 50 gallon tank. She is around a year old. Fed every other day bloodworms, pellets and Earthworms. I get 5gallon spring water delivered every month to change out a third of the water.

 

[Murk]

Uh, what colour did she used to be?
If she was always leucistic, and you're just concerned about the pale gills - don't worry. It just means she's relaxed.
If she was an entirely different colour, then... Well, that would be very interesting indeed.

 

[Kitan]

Going a lighter shade of pink is pretty common, but that pale...likely means something is wrong, unfortunately, especially if they are that pale most of the time and dont darken a lot with activity. Things that can cause anemia (the pale gills) include soft water, stress caused by flowing water, and bacterial infections.

5 gallons of spring water in a 50 gallon tank works out to 10% water change once a month, which is drastically insufficient for axolotls; they are SUPER messy little buggers and need a 30% water change weekly. Spring water should be relatively hard, so I expect it is bacterial or stress. So for suggestions, I would take a full set of measurements on your water quality and then fix accordingly. By full I mean I would test ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and water hardness.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!!

 

[Murk]

Going a lighter shade of pink is pretty common, but that pale...likely means something is wrong, unfortunately, especially if they are that pale most of the time and dont darken a lot with activity.

Oh, very true. If this keeps up, it's reason to worry. If it's a one-time thing for an hour or so, I wouldn't worry. But yeah, long-term I fully agree.

5 gallons of spring water in a 50 gallon tank works out to 10% water change once a month, which is drastically insufficient for axolotls

This really depends on the rest of the tank, the filter, if it's planted, and how much hand-on cleaning is done (scooping poops etc.) Having said that:

So for suggestions, I would take a full set of measurements on your water quality and then fix accordingly.

Fully agree! Best advice.

 

[Kitan]

This really depends on the rest of the tank, the filter, if it's planted, and how much hand-on cleaning is done (scooping poops etc.)

.

Kiiiiinda of? It is clearly very well filtered as that water is pristine, but to have a tank planted well enough to handle nitrates with only 10% monthly changes? It would have to be fully aquascaped and the tank would have to have been fully cycled to handle large waste loads. Even with poop cleaning, 'lotls urinate From the picture, I can be certain it doesnt have enough plants to pull it off.

That said, I DO agree with Murk. TECHNICALLY it is possible to have to do less water changes....but you have to be a freakin master at aquascaping. Certainly a skill I dont possess

 

[Murk]

Eh, fair enough.
I always try to counterweigh the idea that axolotls are high-maintenance pets, because they don't need to be.
On this one you're probably right, though.

 

[Mimi6fong]

Thank y'all for all this helpful information.
Luckily she returned back to her normal colors after 30min.
I'll definitely be increasing the water change amount to keep the water safe.
Follow up question. How often do I need to change the canister filter beads?