High PH and shrinking gills ?

[karen]

Hi Guys

I spent the night out last night and when i came back my axies fluffy gills had lost all their fluffy bits and he wouldn't eat. His tail was also slightly bent.

I have checked the water values and the ph looks like it could be just above 8 (although the colour coding on the sticks makes it a little hard to tell).

I thought this problem was normally due to ammonia from reading other threads but the ammonia is 0.

Please could someone advise if its likely due to the ph or an infection of some sort ?

Also If it's the Ph how do i get it down ? Do I need to buy a particular product or can i use something at home ?

Thanks in advance !

Karen

 

[jennifer]

What is the pH of your dechlorinated tap water (I'm assuming you use tap water for your water changes)? Please measure it, I would need to know this before I would venture any advice about removing the axolotl, or about how to bring down the tank pH.

Do you have any of the following in your tank: shells, limestone rocks, cement, crushed cement, or bricks made of cement? What kind of sand, if any?

 

[karen]

Hi Jennifer

The ph is about 8.2 from what i can tell from the colour coding on the stick (it's not that clear).

I did have a stone (now removed as I think it has caused very problems). Honestly not sure what kind of stone it was but it was white and turned pinky coloured which I guessed wasn't good !

I also have a very thin layer of sand which was collected from a nearby beach and boiled.


He is removed for now and eating ok but not sure what to do now and if his gills will grow back ?

 

[karen]

Oh and yes - I use dechlorinated tap water .. I add a dechlorinator.

I will check the ph of the tap water without sand in it when i get home and that should tell me if its the sand or not ?

But if it is the sand and I remove it - will that resolve the problem or could it be an infection ?

 

[sharn]

it may very likely its the sand. beach sand is just crushed shells which do up your ph. if your tap water is lower that will tell you if its something in the tank.

if it is the sand see if you can take some out and replace it with a darker sand (the lighter the sand the more shells its got in it im told). otherwise you could buy some peat (often sold at LFS or gardening stores), make sure its pure with no additives. put some of this in your filter and it will slowly lower your ph over time, it normally lasts around a month or so but it will turn your water slightly 'tea' coloured. it depends on the size of the tank as to how much you would want to use.

good luck

 

[karen]

Thanks Sharn

I think the sane is causing a few problems to be gonest so i have just taken the whole lot out and am going to re-start from scratch !

Will his gills grow back does anyone know ?

And could it be an infection or should lowering the ph sort it out ?

 

[jennifer]

When I asked the pH of your tap water, I meant the water before it is put into the tank. I'll bet it's lower, and the sand is raising the pH. You need to change the axolotl's water *gradually* from the tank water to non-tank water. You do NOT want to abruptly change the poor axie from pH 8.2 to pH 7.

I think the gills should grow back to some extent, but may always look different. And I don't know if this was caused by infection or the water. If there is an infection there, you would probably see some redness or fuzzy/white stuff on them.

 

[karen]

Hi Jenny

Yes the ph of the tap water was much lower - and for a while I have had problems with cloudiness in the water.

I have taken him out and doing daily water changes and am starting the tank from scratch - as in I have replaced the sand with proper aquarium sand - and the water is now cystal clear !

Just have to go through the whole cycling thing again now !!!

He is eating fine etc and seems ok now - so i think the sand was behind most of the problems ...