My axelotle is sick please help

[blackaxel]

Hi All,

I have has an axelotle for about 3 months now, hes black and his name is milton. He belonged to a friend of mine for the most part of his life, and was negleted a lot, so i took it upon myself to take care of him. The water hadn't been changed for ages when i got him, so i took only a third out at a time, and made sure that the water was at a light blue ph color. He seemed happy. He started eating again, and put on a bit of weight, he started swimming more often, and being generally more active. The tank was getting filthy recently, so i took him out and and cleaned the entire tank, put some more things in it for him to play with. I waited until the water was at the right temp and ph before putting hm back in. When i did, he started swimming towards the top of the tank near the filter, he even climbed on top of it, which ive never seen him do.I left him in there for about 1/2 huor, when i came back he was "floating" on top of the tank with his arms spread out, almost motionless, he is still alive though. It took him a few hours, but hes on the bottom of the tank now, but hes not moving much at all, even when you try to get him to move, like he's frozen or something. His tail is slightly curled up as well. His feathers are not facing forward, but he does have what looks like "lint" hanging off him, i dont thnk he's happy at all. What can i do to save my axelote? I think when i changed the tank water over i scared the hell out of him, or something else? Its like he liked living in the other dirty tank condition, i thought i was doing him a favour. Any body can help?

 

[kclinton]

How long have you had him? Is he on gravel or sand. Has he ever been on gravel? What are the nitrate, nitrite and ammonia levels ? It sounds like he might have fungus. Dose it look like cotton ? He sounds like he is stressed and little from the move. Don't worry most of us have had a ruff start. We will help you figure it out.

 

[blackaxel]

How long have you had him? Is he on gravel or sand. Has he ever been on gravel? What are the nitrate, nitrite and ammonia levels ? It sounds like he might have fungus. Dose it look like cotton ? He sounds like he is stressed and little from the move. Don't worry most of us have had a ruff start. We will help you figure it out.

Ive had him almost 3 months now, hes on gravel, hes always been on gravel. It does look a lot like cotton:sad: How do i test those levels? I have just thought, there might be too much chlorine in the water, i have used some de-chlorinating stuff in there, how long should i leave it before puttinh him back in?

 

[kapo]

When you cleaned out the tank, you effectively cleaned out any bacteria that may have established itself in the tank and started the tank cycling again.

see: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml Cycling can take anywhere from 3-8 weeks, don't use any "Cycle" products as they will not speed up your tank cycle.

What you have to do is frequent daily waterchanges, at least 20-30% no more, this will keep any toxins down, with dechlorinated water (fill a bucket with tapwater, add dechlorinator, then leave overnight or at least an hour before the waterchange so you have one prepared which is as close to the room tank temperature as possible. This should keep any ammonia/nitrite safe enough for your axie to reside in.

Get your tankwater tested at your local petshop, or buy a freshwater master test kit and do so yourself. Test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates - if petshop tests it make sure they give you the no.s/figures for each one. If they say it's fine or toxic, say you need the no. readings (get them to write it down for you). Then other than that DON'T buy any products to fix your tankwater - the frequent partial only daily waterchanges will sort things out.

I'd also advise you removing your gravel and undergravel filter if you have one, dirt and gunk builds up fast beneath the gravel which eventually causes water problems.

Don't adjust pH, unless it's well below 6.4 or above 8.0 (should show a reading on the card). Using things like pH up or down are just temporary fixes. There are other methods of raising or lowering your pH more naturally and maintaining it, but at this stage the most important things to test/monitor are the ammonia and nitrite.

How big is the tank and what is your tank temperature? Trying to get your tank cycled before your summer hits will be of the utmost importance at this stage, once summer hits you may have enough problems trying to maintain cool temperatures (below 20C) consistently.

 

[MRIGUY]

My concern is that he started acting badly as soon as he was returned tot he tank. An un-cycled tank would not contain toxic or even irritating levels of anything at first. His reaction seemed strong and I would be concerned about residue from the cleaning process. Did you use any cleaning products? I suppose if the water he was in initially was mature and you added all new water he could have been subjected to a bit of Ph shock.

As a rule, if I am doing a major cleaning of a tank I always keep 1/3 to 1/2 of the water for use in the cleaned tank. Yes it contains some of the "dirt" you want to remove but "dirt" is good in moderation. It helps temper the water and speeds the seeding/cycling process.

 

[MRIGUY]

Sorry, I missed the part where you said he is in water where you added de-chlorinator AND he looks like cotton. Is there any way you can post a pic. There is a lot of talent on this board and a pic will likley get you a better answer. Cotton = fungus in some situations but you need a vet to help with treating that as most fungicides can be ineffective or worse toxic if improperly dosed.

 

[blackaxel]

Thanks for all the informative replys . Hes not floating anymore, and the cotton has gone, hes still not moving much at all. He wont eat either. I havnt been able to go to the pet shop yet. When i cleaned the tank i didnt use any chemicals what so ever, just wiped the glass with an un used sponge, to wipe away the smears. He really hates me picking him up with the net, and becomes very irritable. I ot a bucket full of water, and de chlorinated it over night. When i came home today to fill up the tank, i noticed he still hadnt moved form his current posistion, and his tail has gone white and i can see through it, just at the very tip of it, bout 4 mm or so. I hope he gets better soon, i still have to get a test kit from the pet shop yet, so im going to try that. He looks a little skinnier also.