Curled gills

[NevsterUK]

Hey, recently my wild types gills have started curling forwards, I don't know whether this is a natural thing, as my other axolotl looks fine! I haven't tested the water, im thinking I should probably do that this weekend. I've been feeding them a 3rd of a block of frozen blood worms each, every day, cleaning the tank every day, and topping up the water once it's been cleaned. The pair of axolotl's are both young, within their cannibalism stage, but they've never been aggressive towards each other.

HELP PLEASE

 

[Zalth]

Sounds like he's stressed out for some reason.
I'm not that experienced, tho. Could be something else.
What's the temperature of the tank?

 

[Shizeric]

Do you have a filter, what's the lighting situation, and how large is the tank?

 

[NevsterUK]

The tank is about 25 gallons, the filter is on occasionally, but mostly off. There is no tank light. The water is kept around a constant 20oC, though it feels a bit less. As I say. the water is changed almost daily. about a bucket full every day, I clean the tank of all the detritus, so it's nice and fresh.

 

[Shizeric]

How do you dechlorinate your water?

 

[NevsterUK]

Edit: I don't dechlorinate the water when I put it into the tank, I usually let it stand about a half hour in the bucket, then filter it in. I used a dechlorinating solution before, but it turned the water emerald green, so I had to refresh it all. (This was before I got the axies)

 

[memojo1979]

Edit: I don't dechlorinate the water when I put it into the tank, I usually let it stand about a half hour in the bucket, then filter it in. I used a dechlorinating solution before, but it turned the water emerald green, so I had to refresh it all. (This was before I got the axies)

30mins is nowhere near long enough to leave tap water to stand - it needs to be about 24hrs

 

[Kaysie]

Water is often treated with chloramines, not chlorine. Chloramine needs a chemical agent to break apart the chlorine bond so it can evaporate. Chlorine will dissipate, but not when it's bonded in a chloramine molecule.

Turning the filter on and off is stressful, but it can also create a dangerous environment. The premise of a filter is that it provides oxygenated water to the bacteria growing in the media. By turning it off, you're essentially starving those bacteria, killing them off. They can then create all sorts of nasty chemicals in the compound, notably hydrogen sulfide. You should pick one or the other: on or off.

If the water you use in your water changes isn't the same temperature as the water your salamanders are in, you can also be causing quite the shock to their system.

 

[NevsterUK]

Thanks for the help, I tried hard not to mess it up by cleaning the tank regularly and changing the food supply, but I failed All I'd like is to sort out my tank, so thanks for offering me advice instead of shouting at me. In future, when I'm doing the daily cleaning, taking the worms out, how should I go about replenishing the water that has been taken out?

Thanks for the heads up about the filter, I'll keep it on for a couple of days and see how they're coping. The PH was high, so I've added some chemicals to re-neutralize the water, hopefully they'll become happier with the right water.

Any other advice you can offer me would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[happycamper]

What kind of filter do you have? I have a canister filter and figured out a great way to stop the flow with a spray bar/pvc pipe combo

 

[Kaysie]

Joe, don't beat yourself up! We all started somewhere.

Have you read through the housing stuff on Axolotl.org yet?

 

[NevsterUK]

I have a fluval filter, so I'm not sure whether that's a cannister or not I've read tonnes from axolotl.org, it's my main source of information, but I find talking to people more informative, as you've had personal experience and not everything is noted on the website. When I change the water from now on should I just add a couple of drops of dechlorinator? I'm going to check the nitrates and nitrites tomorrow and try and amend it. The water PH is perfect, and I'm sure it's not the chlorine that's affecting them, so there must be something else in the water that is stressing them out. They're still lively though and love being hand fed, so they're not acting stressed, though my wild type is slightly more jaulty than usual.