Biting issue

[sasymad]

Hi!
I'm pretty new to this and I'd like to have an expert opinion about the general conditions of one of my axies.
I have a wild type and a leucistic type, the wild type has a really bad/dominat nature, infact she bite every now and then when the leucistic is too near to her...The water parameters are good and I treat the water with a dechlorinator made by Seachem, it's called seachem Prime.
I keep them in a 100 liters tank, with sand and some rocks, there is an hang over filter and a plant made of plastic bag strips (I'm waiting for the plastic plants that I ordered from amazon to be delivered).
I feed them every 2 days with earthworms and when I finish them I feed one frozen block of brine shrimps while I wait for the shop to order some new earthworms.

1) I'm thinking to make a separation with a piece of plastic in which I'll cut a lot of little holes to permit the filtration, can I separate the tank in two 50 liters sides or it's too dangerous to keep them in so tiny space?

2) The leucistic one has very strange gills, on one of the fronds on her right gills there are only a few smaller fronds covering it, I think that they have been damaged by the wild one but I'm not sure since I bought her already in that conditions, I bought them both from the same person.

3) the Leu has a sort of a scar on her tail, as you can see from the photo. Today I noticed that she has a little cut on the bottom of the tail.

She is showing no signs of stress and she is hungry as hell...what could I do to make her feel better?

I read about fridging to boost the immune system, could it help this situation?

Thank you very much for reading!

PS: sorry for my bad english...

 

[qannp]

Hi sasymad, I'm pretty new to this forum, but I've been keeping axolotl for about 6 years, so maybe I can help a little.

1) I wouldn't build a separation in their tank. There may be other opinions, but I think that would be too small. Try to make more hiding places, so they don't see each other all the time if they don't want to.

2) I agree, the gills of the white one look weird. Maybe it has been bitten and the gills are regenerating.

3) The cut could be from the stones you made the hiding places of. It looks like slate, am I right? Did you soften the edges? Slate can be really sharp.

I'd recommend tubes as hiding places. I always offered my lotls at least one more tube than lotls to prevent them from fighting.

Fridging isn't a miraculous cure for everything. The low temperature lower their metabolism. You put them in the fridge when they're in really bad conditions, but not if they're bitten. Cool, fresh water will do enough for your white cutie.

How long is your tank running? I can't imagine how to cycle a plantless tank…I always had real plants in my tanks, and the axolotl love them. Anubias and valisneria worked out best.

How big are your lotls? They seem at least to be juvies, brine shrimp (alive) are good for babies, but not for juvies. Earthworms are great.

How did you name them? :happy:

 

[sasymad]

Thank you very much!
Tomorrow I'm going to buy some plastic pipes. The stones have smooth edges, I used sand paper to soften, even if the edges are irregular they are smooth! I think that I will throw away those slates and I will use plastic pipes only...
The tank is ran for a month before to put axies in it, I mixed some filter materials from a tank that is running since 2000, and I added some rocks from that tank in the new one, I tested the water parameters and they are stable.
The axies are 6,5 inches long, I feed frozen adult brine shrimp just while I wait for the bait shop to bring some earthworms, it happens maybe 1 time a month... Since I think that are females the leu is Rosetta and the wild is Ginevra but I think that I'll change her name to Bastard XD

 

[qannp]

Well, if I sound rude now, blame it on being English not my first language…

I really doubt that your tank is cycled after one month. Even if there was a nitritpeak before you put your axies in it, they changed the whole thing.
How frequently are you testing the parameters?

I'm not a friend of adding filter materials from an old tank to start a new one. This way, you can bring a lot of diseases in your tank. Did you read about Bd (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) for example? I don't want to scare you, I just want to try to raise your awareness.

You chose beautiful names. :happy:

Be careful with the plastic pipes, they have to be food safe. Clay pipes for aquariums are better, and they don't float. You can buy pipes made for catfish that are large enough for your lotls. Be sure that they can leave through both ends of the pipe, that should help reduce the biting, too.

PS: Is it really necessary to dechlorinate the water in Italy? I'm in Austria and can use the water right out of the tap, I always thought it's like this EU wide.

 

[sasymad]

Thank you qannp!
At first I was checking each 2 days and now I'm checking once a week, I have many other fish tanks and I test all the water the same day since I read on this forum that "trick" of adding some materials from a cycled tank I thought that it was OK... The plastic pipes that I ordered are pvc white pipes, the ones that could be used for water and food.
In the meanwhile I added some plastic pots and it seems that they are pretty pleased, I noticed that the wild one tends to bite the other when it's time to feed them...
I have to dechlorinate the water here in Naples, but in some regions it's not necessary, I don't know why

 

[allied123]

If you're noticing more aggression at feeding time maybe try feeding them on different sides of the tank, like lure one to one side and then give them the worm and then the lure the other one to the opposite side, also your substrate is really really thick, anaerobic gasses will add up and that can be dangerous (and really stinky, I know from personal experience >.<) if you don't want to take it out you should just make sure you thoroughly stir it up very often.

 

[sasymad]

Oh ok I didn't know that! I'll reduce the height of the sand once I have all the tubes and pots so I don't mess too much times xD I already feed them in 2 opposite corners but the wild run really fast as soon as she she that I'm feeding the leu I hope to solve with some other hiding...

Thank you all, I really appreciate your help!

 

[Petersgirl]

Axolotls often nip at each other during feeding time. According to Linda Adkins, author of 'Keeping Axolotls,' they do so to distract the other lotl from the food and nipping 'doesn't cause any harm to a similar sized axolotl.' The problem comes when the other axolotl, either accidentally or maliciously, decides to bite - that is, making a wound, removing skin or limbs, and generally causing damage. If that happens, it's generally advised to separate them if you suspect bullying.

You can, according to Linda, minimise this nipping by using live food in the tank that will make its way to the 'lotls. If they sense food in the water, they will usually stay still until the food passes by, then snap it up, minimising the nipping.

I tend to feed my axxies at either side of the tank too, although this is hard because I have four of them. I also use a turkey baster so that each axxie has their food 'given' to them and isn't tempted to nip it from another or to thrash around madly after it.

Hope these tips help!

 

[qannp]

Thank you qannp!
At first I was checking each 2 days and now I'm checking once a week, I have many other fish tanks and I test all the water the same day since I read on this forum that "trick" of adding some materials from a cycled tank I thought that it was OK...

Oh, I'm sorry! When you said you were "pretty new to this" I automatically assumed you meant aquariums in general. I didn't want to doubt your experience. (I don't believe the tank is cycled yet, though. )
Plus, axies react totally different from fish. For example, while it's perfectly ok to use aquarium fertilizer in a fish tank, you would kill your axies in no time with it.

I always thought it's double standards when it comes to taking materials from a running tank to start another.
On the one hand (and rightly so!), everybody warns you to be careful and to not put decoration items or animals from one tank in the other without desinfection or quarantine. On the other hand, it's totally accepted to use filter materials to start a new tank, even if it's not your own…since I lost three axies a year ago due to disease I'm pretty paranoid about what goes in my tanks. I just don't want to happen something similar to you.

 

[sasymad]

I ordered some vallisneria and pistia, they come from a fertilized tank, is it safe to place it in my axolotl tank? Maybe after a period in an ISO tank?

 

[sasymad]

And some frequent water change just to be sure to eliminate every trace of chemicals

 

[qannp]

Good morning :happy:! Yes, just let the plants soak in an extra tank for about a week and do daily water changes.

I bought pistia twice and it died. If you are able to keep it alive, please tell me your secret!