Illness/Sickness: Claus and Lily are not well

[Stefanie1981]

We have two axolotls, Claus and Lily, which are living in seperate tanks. A couple of weeks ago we noticed that both of them were not eating and their gills looked very unhealthy and it seemed like they lost their feathers. We thought they had a fungus so we put Lily and Claus in the fridge for six days. They had seperate containers of course. We put them back into their tank and now they seem to be very stressed. They float on the surface a lot and try to grasp air. We use the water ager stuff you can buy from the pet shop. We also use stress coat. To keep the tank temperature down we use the blue chillers you put in the freezer. Also we use water pumps and air stones in our tanks. However Claus and Lily just don't seem to be happy since they got out of the fridge. We don't know what to do and the people at the pet shop can't help us.
Please can you help?

 

[Darkmaverick]

Hi Stefanie,

It must be worrying and frustrating. Theres a few things to consider when trying to solve the puzzle of stress in axolotls. Heres a little check list to see if you covered all bases.

Temp - Ideally would be around 18 degree celsius mark and not over 22 degrees over a prolonged period.

Aeration - Do you currently use a filter and/or air stone?

Water quality - Measure ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH. Use of ager only removes chlorine/chloramine, heavy metals at best but doesn't remove ammonia etc. Ideally pH should be neutral around 7. Ammonia and nitrite should be 0. Nitrates not >60.

Hiding places - logs/ caves, pots, plants. They need to have a quiet and dark place to retreat to.

The abovementioned are the more common causes of stress, in particular water quality, which can lead to the signs you are seeing if the water quality is not good.

You may also like to post a photo of your axolotls to help give a better idea of their situation.

Regards.

 

[blueberlin]

Tag Stefanie,

If you are cooling the tank, what is the water temperature? If it is high, this could indeed pose a health threat to Claus and Lily. I have read that temperature also affects the amount of oxygen available in the water. If I remember correctly, there is less oxygen available at higher temperatures, which might explain the gasping for air.

As Darkmaverick wrote, the water's chemical parameters are also very important to monitor, but I read in your introduction that you have had Claus for three years now, so you would know that, I think. Have you given them a check lately?

-Eva

 

[Stefanie1981]

My water ager neutralizes chlorine, chloramine, ammonia and heavy metals. I checked the ph and it seems to be a bit high. I added ph down to the water and hopefully the ph will come down. I am going to keep testing ph and monitor it. Lily seems to be much better today. However Claus was not good this morning so he went straight back into the fridge. I will keep him there until I have got his tank water under control. The water temperature is currently at 20 degrees.

 

[Stefanie1981]

I just noticed that the ph of the tap water is lower than the ph in my fish tank. Shouldn't it be the same as I put tap water into the fish tank?
Any ideas why?

 

[Kaysie]

PH up and down products shouldn't be used. These can cause wild swings in pH, which can be dangerous to your axolotls. Axolotls aren't especially picky about pH, and anything from around 5-8 is okay. Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are much more serious. Axolotls are not tolerant of ammonia or nitrite, and even moderate levels of these can be deadly.

 

[ianclick]

Hi Stefanie,

Putting your axolotls in the fridge slows down their metabolism and reduces stress. It won't however deal to fungus So you appear to have two issues, water quality and fungus.

If your axies have fungus they will need salt baths.

Good Luck