Today I put several new plants into my tank to help keep my nitrite/nitrate levels down, I also fed a small fish to my axie and immediately after he swam rapidly and hid and now his gills are curled forward more than usual and I'm not sure which action caused his stress?
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Can plants cause stress?
- Thread starter Kelsee
- Start date
Sith the turtle
New member
First off, I feel like this would be a better question asked in the Axolotl section of the forum, and second, it's not the plants definitely. What are you feeding it besides fish? Fish are a very poor choice of a feeder, Canadian night-crawlers would be better, as would specially designed Axolotl pellets. Here is the axolotl care-sheet if you haven't seen it already: Caudata Culture Species Entry - Ambystoma mexicanum - Axolotl
What are your parameters? Are you aware of the cycling process?
Plants shouldn't be a cause of stress. Were the plants and fish quarantined before adding them to the tank? As mentioned above, fish are not nutritionally sufficient as a staple diet and can also carry diseases and parasites that can have negative effects on axolotls. Earthworms are a much safer staple diet and much moe nutritious.
Plants shouldn't be a cause of stress. Were the plants and fish quarantined before adding them to the tank? As mentioned above, fish are not nutritionally sufficient as a staple diet and can also carry diseases and parasites that can have negative effects on axolotls. Earthworms are a much safer staple diet and much moe nutritious.
I had the fish in there during my cycling process, but I did not know what to do with them when I was finished. I usually feed him pellets but I was curious to see if he would eat one of the fish. Its not that i thought the plants would cause him stress, just the change of scenery.
It is always worth testing all your parameters to ensure water quality is not an issue. Could he maybe have just been startled? They can sometimes be easy to startle and quickly dart about. Is your tank cycled?
I was fairly certain my tank was cycled because all of my readings were right where they needed to be until recently when I tested my nitrites were high, so I put many new plants in (without quarantine ): ) to keep the levels down. This morning his gills were still curled slightly. I'm new to this website and I'm having trouble figuring out how to post a picture so you can see what I mean.
AxolotlChris
New member
Could you post your test result for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and PH?
If you have readings for Nitrites then your cycle is not complete.
The cycling process can take from 3-6 weeks. For your tank to be cycled, a beneficial bacteria needs to be present to break down the Ammonia and Nitrites into Nitrates. Ammonia and Nitrites are lethal to Axolotl and are produced from your Axolotls waste and decomposing food. Nitrates are a slightly less toxic by product. During cycling the beneficial bacteria will colonize your tanks surfaces such as substrate, ornaments, filter, and begin to feed on the Ammonia turning it into Nitrites, then bacteria will break down the Nitrites into Nitrates. The bacteria is known as a 'biofilter', as it filters the ammonia and nitrites into less harmful nitrates.
Once this cycle is established by the beneficial bacteria colonizing the tank, the Ammonia, and Nitrites will always be filtered by the bacteria into Nitrates, all you have to do is monitor you cycle by testing your water weekly so that when your Nitrates build up to around 40ppm you can perform a 30% water change to lower the Nitrates.
You can cycle your tank with your Axolotl in the tank but you must make sure you test daily to ensure your Axolotl doesn't become exposed to high concentrates of Ammonia or Nitrites otherwise your putting your Axolotl in potential pain and discomfort.
Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling
Caudata Culture Articles - Water Quality
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If you have readings for Nitrites then your cycle is not complete.
The cycling process can take from 3-6 weeks. For your tank to be cycled, a beneficial bacteria needs to be present to break down the Ammonia and Nitrites into Nitrates. Ammonia and Nitrites are lethal to Axolotl and are produced from your Axolotls waste and decomposing food. Nitrates are a slightly less toxic by product. During cycling the beneficial bacteria will colonize your tanks surfaces such as substrate, ornaments, filter, and begin to feed on the Ammonia turning it into Nitrites, then bacteria will break down the Nitrites into Nitrates. The bacteria is known as a 'biofilter', as it filters the ammonia and nitrites into less harmful nitrates.
Once this cycle is established by the beneficial bacteria colonizing the tank, the Ammonia, and Nitrites will always be filtered by the bacteria into Nitrates, all you have to do is monitor you cycle by testing your water weekly so that when your Nitrates build up to around 40ppm you can perform a 30% water change to lower the Nitrates.
You can cycle your tank with your Axolotl in the tank but you must make sure you test daily to ensure your Axolotl doesn't become exposed to high concentrates of Ammonia or Nitrites otherwise your putting your Axolotl in potential pain and discomfort.
Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling
Caudata Culture Articles - Water Quality
Uploading Pictures
AxolotlWrangler has given some good advice.
It is likely the nitrite is a cause of stress as it is very toxic to aquatic life. You need to do water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite at safe levels (0.25ppm) whilst the tank establishes the cycle.
