Recently my tank has been producing alot of "hair" alge. Now my axolotl on occasion has been swimming into the walls of the tank kicking at his gills. Other then the occasional freak out he seems fine. Any opinions would be appreciated.
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Axolotls are illegal in California. Please read this thread for detailed information and links to the actual laws: https://www.caudata.org/threads/axolotls-are-illegal-in-california-here-are-the-relevant-laws.30779/
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Kicking at gills with hind legs and gills flapping!
- Thread starter Sampson
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shoegal
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What are your water parameters- ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and temperature?
Can you post of photo of your axie and the tank set-up please.
Can you post of photo of your axie and the tank set-up please.
dragonlady
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Yes, as Shoegal requested, I'd be curious to know the parameters as well. Hair algae is incredibly tenacious and thrives in sunlight. Do you have your tank near a window or have a UV light source nearby? FYI, axolotls are irritated by bright light if you didn't know.
No natrual or artificial light is on the tank. Due to the abundance of algae I had been syphoning off the bottom in attempt to clean it. After testing my water today my Nitrates were around 2.00ppm and Amonia around 1.5.ppm. My temp was around 68-70 today. I have a fan blowing the surface water but it's been hot here over the last week.
I removed to much water and set my natrual bacteria back. I have her in the fridge and am reading up on salt baths in case that turns out to be the next step. I can't see anything on her other than a red spot on her tail, but other threads lead me to believe that to be a broken blood vessel. I'm slightly freaked out but I need to learn these things if I plan to keep them as pets.
I removed to much water and set my natrual bacteria back. I have her in the fridge and am reading up on salt baths in case that turns out to be the next step. I can't see anything on her other than a red spot on her tail, but other threads lead me to believe that to be a broken blood vessel. I'm slightly freaked out but I need to learn these things if I plan to keep them as pets.
dragonlady
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Hi,
Okay, with both your nitrates and your ammonia up, that indicates an overabundance of nutrients in the water. In other words, some extra vacuuming is needed. This could also be feeding that hair algae along with the temps in the upper range.
Try to get your temps down a little bit, get rid of that algae which short of scrubbing that tank out may prove difficult to do. Even if your tank is not directly in front of a window, it may be getting light from somewhere. I know your temps are still in the normal range, but with that stubborn algae, lowering the temps will help. Move your ornaments around to make sure you've vacuumed everything up.
What kind of substrate do you have? Large rocks are notorious for holding gunk, no matter how thorough you think you have been. If you have sand, it should be easy enough to clean.
As far as salt baths, unless you see fungus form on that wound, I don't think they'll be necessary. Just keep her in the fridge until you get your tank back under control and keep an eye on that spot.
If anything changes with her, please post.
Okay, with both your nitrates and your ammonia up, that indicates an overabundance of nutrients in the water. In other words, some extra vacuuming is needed. This could also be feeding that hair algae along with the temps in the upper range.
Try to get your temps down a little bit, get rid of that algae which short of scrubbing that tank out may prove difficult to do. Even if your tank is not directly in front of a window, it may be getting light from somewhere. I know your temps are still in the normal range, but with that stubborn algae, lowering the temps will help. Move your ornaments around to make sure you've vacuumed everything up.
What kind of substrate do you have? Large rocks are notorious for holding gunk, no matter how thorough you think you have been. If you have sand, it should be easy enough to clean.
As far as salt baths, unless you see fungus form on that wound, I don't think they'll be necessary. Just keep her in the fridge until you get your tank back under control and keep an eye on that spot.
If anything changes with her, please post.
Ok, My water parameters have returned to normal. She has been in the fridge for the last 48 hours and has a curled tail. Her gills were tucked back most of the time but now that I have pulled her container out of the fridge her gills are back at her side. She won't eat but I'm hoping with her return to the tank that will change.
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tomkeogh
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Hello, My albino was showing the exact same symptoms as you describe, I even went to a specialist vet she got a clean bill of health, I gave her 3 salt baths and 3 days in fridge and she is now back to normal, I hope this eases your worry a little.