Chemical burn???

[hazeje]

Hello,
So I am a new axolotl owner, I have had my little Archie since January this year. Last night when I did a water change he started freaking out and scratching at his gills, he calmed down after a bit, but when I woke up this morning his gills looked smaller and his skin was peeling. The only thing I did any differently was use a new water conditioner. So I went to the petstore as soon as it opened and got a big bottle of spring water and a bottle of the old water conditioner. I just really want to make sure that he is going to be ok and try to figure out if others have had this problem and to see what I should do to make sure he survives this. He was also gulping and pushing out water. He hasn't eaten today and he didn't eat last night, I only feed earthworms and nightcrawlers. Today I also introduced anacharis to see if it will help add oxygen to the tank. Please help

 

[Kaysie]

Could you post a picture of Archie?

 

[hazeje]

He is doing slightly better today, he is moving around a little bit again and he is trying to eat. It is his gills and skin that are worrying me. It has stopped peeling but the color is a bit red and his gills are white in color when they are usually a nice bright red. Here are some pictures of him. The first picture is of how he usually looks and the second picture is how he looks after the burn. The only thing different I did was use a new water conditioner, I did redo his water change with his old water conditioner and I used spring water that I bought from the pet store. We are getting into flood season so I am not sure if they are putting more chemicals in our water, but I don't want to take any chances. Is there anything else I can do to make sure my little Archie gets better?

 

[Alkylhalide]

Well if you are using bottled water you will need to add hardness to it or this may make the situation worst. Axolotls dont do well in soft water thats why tap water is so great. Free hardness lol.

What water conditioner did you/are you using?

What are your water parameters? Ammonia nitrite nitrate and PH.
How big is the tank? What kind of filtration do you use? Do you let your water sit 24-48hours before you use it? Temperature?
Sorry for so many questions but water testing should always be the first thing you do when something goes wrong.

 

[hazeje]

The water conditions are all in normal range. I do let water sit, I have buckets I fill up and let them sit until next cleaning so everything settles. The new conditioner I used was in a yellow bottle and was supposed to support a healthy slime coat, but the usual one that I use is a cheap bottle of aqueon that I get from petsmart and petco. I had to use spring water because I did a quick water change and didn't have any water left sitting and I didn't want him to sit in water that he was having a reaction to. Doing a little better each day, showing more interest in food and gills are looking a little better today. Skin still red around the tail but no tail curling so not stressed out and not itching at gills anymore. Tank is currently a 10 gallon breeder tank, still juvenile.