HIGH temp in tank.

[malibu barbie]

Heeeeeeeeeeelp.....

For a few days I haae noticed that my little guy had been looking a little pale and not eating well at all. It started after i cleaned the tank and I suspected that I probably stressed the little one but yesteday I realised what the problem was.

My thermometer was broke and the water temp was 29 degrees - PANIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I turned of the lights and the templowred to 27 and after trying everything to lower the temp I took up my little fellow and put him in the fridge this morning... When I woke up he was floting and I thought he was dead but he isn´t .....

I have read that I need to change his water every day but what else can I do to make him better????

OOOOH I feel like such a horrible woman.....

 

[digger]

Make sure the water in his container is just high enough to cover his back, this will prevent him from floating and stressing himself more.
You need to keep clean dechlorinated water in a bottle, in the fridge for water changes and make sure his container is covered by something dark to stop light and temp fluctuations.
I suggest you the check the ammonia and nitrIte levels in your tank, if they are above 0 do 20/30% water changes daily until they stabalise.
Your axie will be fine in the fridge, some of the people in Australia fridge their axies all summer.

 

[malibu barbie]

thanx

How do you make dechlorinated water ???

The problem is that its easter here and all the shops are closed until thuesday next week so the testing of the tank will need to wait.

My room temt is about 20 degrees but how do I keep the tank from overheating in the future IF the little one makes it?

Maybe getting a bigger tank will help?
The little axie is only a few month old so the tank is not enormous

 

[mary_kate]

Hej Anne
To make dechlorinated water fill a bucket or container from the tap and leave it uncovered overnight. It will be fine to use the next day. When the shops open, if you wish you can buy a product that will take the chlorine out (an ager).

A bigger tank is easier to keep cool and the temperature stable. I imagine your room is heated since it is not summer in Denmark at the moment and I can't imagine why the temp soared to 29 degrees. Is there a cooler place for the tank? Either in the room or someplace else? You mention that you turned lights off and this lowered the tank temp. I'd avoid any lights anywhere near the tank.

Let us know how things go.

 

[gr33neyes]

You will get some people saying use a dechlorinator to age your water, its up to you really. Personally I have never used or added anything to my tank water except..........water. I just fill a bucket up and leave it to age over night and have never had any problems. Been doing that for around 15 years in aquariums . I only remove a bucketful of water each time i do a water change (which is every other day) and I should imagine any chlorine or stuff they add to the tap water is highly diluted if any at all by the time I add it to my tank and it would be diluted by the volume of water my tank holds.
As for the poo issue, my 2 can go a full week without me noticing any "poo balls" lol but it does disintegrate pretty quickly if you dont spot it right away and will turn almost dust like. I suppose it is possible they are eating it but I have never seen mine doing it.

 

[Saspotato]

Becky, that may have worked for you in the past but leaving water overnight does not necessarily get rid of the chlorine. It can take many days for the chlorine to dissipate properly but as people usually don't replace all of the tank water, the chlorine usually is not toxic. However, I really think water should always be treated before adding it to a tank, so you aren't taking any chances with the water. As stuff to dechlorinate your water only costs a few bucks for a decent sized bag, I think it is not a huge issue to age the water anyway.

 

[seedy]

Im guessing here , but do you have a heater in the tank ?
They are prone to break and stay on all the time rather than switch off.
A water change would soon lower soon lower the temp , but do it with him out and acclimatise him back into the tank.

 

[malibu barbie]

Nope - No heater in the tank.... With the lights out since yesteday the temp is still 24 degrees...

Its not summer here -infact we had a snowstorm last night, but our normal room-temp is about 19.3 but how the *BEEEEEP* am I ever to maintain a temp at 16-18 degrees ?????
How do you do it???

The poor thing is barely moving in the fridge - I peeked in under the covers
How do I make him well again?
Should I do nothing but wait and solve the temp/water issues???

I will try to dechlorinate and go to the shop first thing thuesday...

 

[digger]

Just keep himin the fridge, he is better off in there than in a hot tank, they are quite content down to about 5 degrees.
Try offering him some form of live food, the best things are garden worms, if not some live blood worm.
Make sure you remove any waste straight away though as the water will become fouled.
just a thought, what depth is the water in your tank.
The larger the volume of water the cooler it will stay.
Lots of people in Australia fridge their axies for the entire summer so i would not be to concerned about leaving him there.

 

[bendawson]

buy heater

if the tempture is high then buy a heater from your nearest aquriam shop there not much i have one it really helps

 

[Bellabelloo]

Do not buy a heater!! ( i think you know this!!) .
The point with this thread is trying to keep the axolotl tank cool..below ideally 20 degrees.
I have a medium sized fan that is directed over the tank ( which has a mesh screen cover on it) , this keeps the temps down even in the hight of summer. I will however get a 'cooler' in the future as my husband tends to complaint that the room is far too cold for his liking!!

 

[seedy]

Thats really strange , even with a week of + 35'c temps my tank never went over 24' and the only thing I have is a fan. You said the temps dropped since turning the light off , this would be the next likely source of heat .
Does the the light casing get warm/hot ?
It could be conducting heat into the glass ,which in turn would heat the water.

 

[Saspotato]

Beni, the problem is too high a temperature, a heater is the last thing the tank needs!!!

Anyway, Malibu here is an article about cooling methods http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cooling.shtml, you might find something useful here. I keep my tank cool (my apartment has no aircon and has gotten up to 39C before!) by using frozen ice bottles. I have a freezer full of them! You have to be watching the tank a lot though, as soon as one melts you pretty much have to replace it. I am lucky my partner works from home so he usually does it - if you aren't around all the time, this method isn't suitable. If there is going to be a week or two of hot days, he goes straight in the fridge though. They can last a fair while there. So I think you have done the right thing at the moment.

Another question, how does your tank get to 29C if your room temperature is only 20C? You must have your tank in the sun or near a heat source for that to happen. Look into that as your tank shouldn't heat up past room temperature.

 

[Bellabelloo]

It could well be the lights that are building up the temperatures, axolotl probably prefer to be kept in darker tanks, I only use my external lamp for feeding and spot cleaning. Also I noticed despite the room temps being cooler that my water temps had risen a little..I realised one of my filters was getting quite grubby so after rinsing it out the water cooled a little..so maybe check out your filter too.

 

[bendawson]

sorry

i got mixed up i thought a heater would bring it down if you set it to a low temputure but i got mixed i know my bad sorry