Blisters - caused by nitrite?

[bugdozer]

This morning I noticed both my axolotls had what looked like little blisters on the sides of their body and a couple around the face. I immediately tested the water and discovered my nitrite levels were much higher than I was expecting - around .75ppm.
I did about a 90% water change and now all the parameters are good. Am I correct in thinking these blisters are a water quality issue, or should I be on the lookout for something else causing them - was the nitrite just a coincidence?

 

[HayleyK]

I would say it's most likely your water quality issue. Ammonia gives off red burns on their skin, nitrite is apparently more toxic so I wouldn't be suprised if it blistered. Are you mid cycling your tank? Keep an eye on the parameters and keep the tank cool and add Indian almond leaves to help soothe your axolotl.

 

[Kaini]

It may be a coincidence - my Axolotl had been through a mini-cycle (when I moved his tank) and the readings were (briefly, I did frequent water changes) higher than that and I didn't notice anything like that...

 

[Petersgirl]

It's hard to say. I would keep an eye on those blisters and see if they go away. There's every chance it could be caused by the nitrite, but I would be concerned that they may have been caused by something else. I would watch and wait. If those blisters weren't gone within a week I would be thinking of consulting a vet.

I am also a bit curious as to why your nitrite was high, but that the other parameters appeared to be fine. Are you mid-cycle at the moment?

 

[bugdozer]

I'm changing over from a weedy sponge filter that I used when they were tadpoles to a proper HOB filter, running the two together for a while. The sponge filter isn't adequate to remove all the nasties from the water now they are bigger, and the HOB hasn't really got its cycle going fully yet, although it has been seeded with some media from my other fish tank. I'm doing regular water changes but for some reason the nitrite was much higher than it ever had been before. The axolotls are also having a change of diet from mostly bloodworms to entirely earthworms, maybe the result is poop that emits more ammonia. Whatever the cause, the nitrite spiked up very quickly, so I've increased the frequency of water checks to twice a day now.

 

[bugdozer]

An update on this: the blisters now seem to be healing up, I have been very careful to ensure the water is in tip top condition and nitrite levels have remained down. Hopefully that's the last I'll see of this.