Cycle crash....

[peatea]

Hi,

While doing a weekly water change today I noticed what I think is ammonia burn on one of our axolotls' foot. He is eating well and not floating. The other axolotl appears fine - no signs of any injury or changed behaviour. I tested their water and got the following:

pH - 7.6
Ammonia - 1.0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0
Temperature - 19C

I am assuming the cycle has crashed. I have done a close to 80% water change and checked every nook and cranny for any food/debris - none found. We have a bare bottom tank.

A few questions -

- can I leave the axolotl with the burn on its foot in the tank if we test for ammonia regularly and do water changes every day (or 2x per day) to keep the ammonia down?
- should we use some Prime with the water changes to help the axolotl with the burn to heal?
- we regularly remove poop/food/debris, but should we be scrubbing the bottom of the tank regularly as its bare bottom? Is it possible some left over 'crud' on the bottom of the tank has made our cycle crash? If so, should we scrub the bottom whilst we are going through the cycling process again?

Thank you for your help!

 

[JessKB]

Can you upload a picture? I doubt an ammonia reading of 1 ppm will burn an axolotl. Just keep an eye on your ammonia and do small water changes ever few days until it goes away.

 

[peatea]

Thanks! That is reassuring. A couple of photos attached - he's settled in by the filter so but difficult to see his foot but hope this helps. It's quite possible his tankmate bit him - it's happened before, but we've been keeping a good eye on them since they've been back in the tank together and I hadn't seen any incidents between the two...

 

[peatea]

Now the other photo - sorry!

 

[peatea]

One more trying to get a better photo...I think the reflection off the bottom of the tank shows the extent of the damage to his back foot. It looks to me in this photo as if his front foot is also a bit pale/red/skin missing? His gills look good though and appetite is good...

 

[Minniechild]

In which case, it might be someone got a bit nippy during dinner... I'd be watching the injury for infection carefully, and as you said, doing water changes twice a day (15% should be okay) and monitoring VERY carefully. As to using Prime, the trick is to ONLY treat the water going into the tank, and preferably to let it sit if possible (not something I can do myself, but if you can do it, it can work far more efficiently)

 

[peatea]

Thanks for that and the tip about the Prime. We had a divider in the tank to separate them after the last time there was a biting incident. I may just put that back in until he's healed a bit more.

 

[Minniechild]

Other tactics you can use (for when you want to try them together again) are: increasing the greenery in your tank (Ledora water gardens at Mt Kuringai are cheap and AMAZING in terms of quality if you want to go that route), adding in more hides (PVC pipes are terracotta pots are quick, cheap and very flexible solutions), increasing how often/how much you're feeding them, and shifting where you feed them so each has their spot at the end of the tank.

 

[JessKB]

Definitely a bite. Just keep his water clean and cool, and he should heal up in no time. Just keep an eye on it.

 

[peatea]

Thanks again to you both for your the help and support - it is really appreciated!