Emergency! Both Axolotls Swollen

[AjaMichelle]

Help!

I just came home from work a few minutes ago and both of my axies are swollen!

What do I do?!

I'm doing water quality tests for Ammonia, Nitrates, and pH now.

 

[Olivia97]

What's your water parameters? Some photos would be good too

 

[AjaMichelle]

The water temp is 69*F.
pH is between 7.5 and 8.0
Nitrates are about 40ppm
Ammonia is 0ppm

Female

Male

 

[Neotenic_Jaymes]

Swollen where? I don't see anything unusual. If your talking about the cloaca then its normal for males to swell up sometimes especially when they want to breed.

 

[Shizeric]

Could you post a picture of the entire setup? What's their diet? Filtration?

 

[Olivia97]

Also it looks as though they are slightly stressed based on those photos (their gills) it may have to do with filtration issues

 

[AjaMichelle]

Thanks for your replies everyone!

I thought the female looked swollen around her back legs. Thanks for the information about the male's enlarged vent. I didn't know about that but it makes sense!

I see how you're getting the stress message from his gills. This is due in part because he was lying directly under the filter that oxygenates his tank. He's been really obviously veiny for the last two days. I fed them last on Thursday and they've been looking and acting strangely since then.

The two share water in a gravity siphon/pump loop

In total the system is about 50 gallons of water.

I did a 50% water change and a 50% mechanical media change since checking the water quality.

Their diet consists mostly of night crawlers and I try to include rotational items like beefheart and the freshwater multi-pack from San Francisco Bay Brand.

For filtration I have a Fluval 205 and to oxygenate the male's tank I have an Aquaclear Power Filter rated for 30 gallons. Each are run on low settings.

 

[AjaMichelle]

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I didn't want to leave you hanging so was wondering do you feel your girl still looks swollen? Its hard to tell from the pictures but from experience I severely doubt its bloat. Their abdomens usually increase dramatically to begin with, followed by leg and neck swelling. To neutralize the water nasties it works best doing smaller water changes daily (20%) which I know is a lot of work but it should make a difference, just keep checking the quality until you feel it's stable.