Help! My new axolotl has leg issues!

[Lilkippers]

Back story: My roommate bought a pair of axolotls a few months ago and kept them in her room. Well she recently moved out and couldn't take them with, so I just got them, and have been trying to find out how to take care of them.

Well recently there tank has been going murky within 3 days of cleaning, and that's with using a recommended setup by the aquarium store. Charcoal filter, with phosphate filter, dechlorinator with aloe, and something called pristine and amguard.

Now today I noticed my white male axolotl is having severe leg issues, and I was wandering if its water issues... One leg is covered in something and seems to be mostly missing the foot, the other front leg seems to have twisted muscles.

There are only 2 nonsharp edged inserts in the tank, so I don't think he cut himself. He has also stopped eating, as has the female that he shares a tank with.

Here is pics of the male:

 

[edanded]

First of all, aloe is not very good for axolotls (skin I think?) so definitely try and find a dechlorinator without aloe in it. I and lots of others swear by prime but api is meant to be pretty good too. Can’t say anything about the other ingredients but usually you don’t need to add anything other than dechlorinator to a fully set up tank.

I also don’t know much about water going murky but if it’s green tinged it could be an algae bloom (you’ll see bits of algae floating around as well). Which in itself isn’t terrible but if you have a bit of a google for murky water you’ll find a bit of info on that. Or maybe someone else in this group knows a bit more?

The pics definitely look like fungus which could mean your water temp is too high? Most recommend 16-18 degrees Celsius but definitely below 20 or you’ll get lots of health issues such as fungus. To treat this you’ll need to tub the axolotl in cool dechlorinated water (usually just a storage container or something that can hold up to 30 litres) and perform daily 100% water changes. Tea baths a couple times a day should help remove the fungus. To do a tea bath most recommend 1 cup of black tea in 10 litres - make sure it’s all dechlorinated before adding the axie. And only keep it in for a maximum of 15 minutes each time. There’s lots of info on this forum and the axolotl groups on Facebook.

I can’t give you all the info you’ll require but do a bit of research on tank cycling/cleaning and the nitrogen cycle which will help you understand what happens with your axies and why you need to perform water changes etc etc. If you have any specific questions let me know though and well try and work though it

 

[Lilkippers]

Thank you for the info. He is on the mend. Sadly lost his foot, but is doing way better. I also posted on reddit about this and got a bit faster of a reply and joined a discord server.

They recommended for quick help to take him to an aquatic/exotic vet, so i did. He is now in a Methylene blue hospital tank that I do 25% daily water changes on until I can get a testing kit.

Turns out there are certain levels for everything in order to keep them happiest.

It was indeed a fungal infection, and the water was a bacterial bloom. I didn't know about not fly changing the water and not scrubbing everything down. As I had never heard of tank cycling. But all is on the good now. I even know to keep him seperated from the female tank mate for his safety and to keep her less stressed. But I thank you for your reply.