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Need advise for my Axolotl

axie_mom

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I am a first time owner of an axolotl. Her name is Tesla, I’ve had her for 4 months now. (I’m not sure of her full age, but her fingers just recently turned dark for maturity.)
Anyways, I live in Texas and just recently had to evacuate from Hurricane Laura. (I was not going to leave her behind!) I managed to travel with her while maintaining her stable temperature (64-66) by using a 1 gallon tank/w filter, fan and styrofoam cooler.
- My problem is once we returned home, the house was without power for 10+ days and her tanks water temp was 81-85degrees with no filter running. Once the power came back on I did a half water change and was able to get the temperature stable. I did a 5-n-1 test strip and it looked fine...
After the 4th day of her being back in her tank, I noticed her gills had a white feathery/ fungus look. I had removed her asap and she’s back into a temporary 1 gallon tank. I haven’t seen any more puffy white stuff since then, it’s been about 5days now w/ daily 40% water changes. She hasn’t gotten worse, and seems to act normal, BUT Her gills Do Not look the same... they are shortened and loss of filaments!
I am so worried.
-So what had happened to her gills?
-Will she grow them back?
-If so, how long will it take?
-What did I do wrong or how can I help her?
I notice she goes up for air a little more often.
60DF451A-CBE1-41E4-97C5-B64B41828D3C.jpeg After (now)7956C7FD-EB65-4111-BDA5-8C669DEEEB8E.jpeg
A0E7260C-2B27-4AA7-90EA-F89151E37BC0.jpeg Before5C7C4105-61CA-451E-A702-2D463C7413E4.jpeg
 

Calgarycoppers

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Scary, glad you took her with you!!

Your cycle likely crashed in the home tank - boo

You need to get a liquid test kit with ammonia to prove as the test strips only show nitrite and nitrate which also show inaccurate levels.

Do 100% daily water changes as ammonia is your issue which the strips do not test for and even what they do show are highly inaccurate at best.
Johns solution will help balance the minerals needed to help prevent future fungus and heal the current issues and promote new growth.
 

axie_mom

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Scary, glad you took her with you!!

Your cycle likely crashed in the home tank - boo

You need to get a liquid test kit with ammonia to prove as the test strips only show nitrite and nitrate which also show inaccurate levels.

Do 100% daily water changes as ammonia is your issue which the strips do not test for and even what they do show are highly inaccurate at best.
Johns solution will help balance the minerals needed to help prevent future fungus and heal the current issues and promote new growth.
 

hunterwho

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She looks like she's doing OK at least as far as fungus is concerned! I agree with Calgarycoppers about the gill dieback being due to your cycle crashing while you were away; once you get that cycle going again she should be doing just fine.
In terms of the going-up-for-air thing, that could be due to both the gill shortening causing her to get less oxygen from the water, and because she's in a very small tank right now. One gallon is definitely not very fun, I hope for her (and your) sake that your tank cycles fast!
 

axie_mom

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Tesla is doing much better, I can see her filaments are starting to fluff up again! She seems happier to be back in her home tank, but I’m still having to continue with daily testing and water changes. The ammonia seems to fluctuate between .25 to .50, but these past 2 days it has been testing on the lower side. As far as the pH it’s been on the 6/6.5 range. Not sure if that’s kind of bad or not.🧐
 

EasternRomioi3

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Oh my, what a cute little honk she is! Such big gills for a female. Mine had short gills since we got her when she was teeny tiny.

Anyways, what were your nitrites at? After ammonia is done being a problem, nitrites come next. I was doing water changes every other day for about 2 weeks till I got the perfect parameters. But I did cheat and pre-prep a second filter. As for the pH, axolotls apparently like a harder water, like 7.0-7.5ish. I think salt will raise the pH. That Johannes Holtfreter's solution that was recommended above is helpful. It involves an easy mixture of different salts and water, I've been adding it once a week for 3 weeks, really turned my axolotl's health around in a good way. It raised the pH and helps their mucus coat or whatever. It's pretty safe, and creates a water situation more like the lakes that they would have lived in during Aztec times.

Though I must ask, what kind of sand or bottom stuff, substrate, are you using? Super curious.
 

Calgarycoppers

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To increase your pH naturally you need crushed corral in a nylon in your filter.
It makes a huge difference in pH and GH/KH

It sounds like your tank may not be cycled yet so that is affecting your pH as well.

Johns solution is great for overall health and well being however the dosing given above is not accurate.
Click above for full information and recipe
 

axie_mom

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Sep 8, 2020
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Texas
Oh my, what a cute little honk she is! Such big gills for a female. Mine had short gills since we got her when she was teeny tiny.

Anyways, what were your nitrites at? After ammonia is done being a problem, nitrites come next. I was doing water changes every other day for about 2 weeks till I got the perfect parameters. But I did cheat and pre-prep a second filter. As for the pH, axolotls apparently like a harder water, like 7.0-7.5ish. I think salt will raise the pH. That Johannes Holtfreter's solution that was recommended above is helpful. It involves an easy mixture of different salts and water, I've been adding it once a week for 3 weeks, really turned my axolotl's health around in a good way. It raised the pH and helps their mucus coat or whatever. It's pretty safe, and creates a water situation more like the lakes that they would have lived in during Aztec times.

Though I must ask, what kind of sand or bottom stuff, substrate, are you using? Super curious.
I mixed black and white aquarium sand I got from Petco.
 

Attachments

  • E56F662B-DF82-4B99-AC9F-A7E592C9F6E5.jpeg
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axie_mom

New member
Joined
Sep 8, 2020
Messages
16
Reaction score
10
Location
Texas
To increase your pH naturally you need crushed corral in a nylon in your filter.
It makes a huge difference in pH and GH/KH

It sounds like your tank may not be cycled yet so that is affecting your pH as well.

Johns solution is great for overall health and well being however the dosing given above is not accurate.
Click above for full information and recipe
 

EasternRomioi3

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Joined
May 4, 2020
Messages
470
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79
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Oh that's creative, using two sands.

Also, that Holtfreter solution stuff is easy to make and seems to have made a noticeable improvement to my axolotl's health so I would vouch for it.
 

axie_mom

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Update:
Well now we’ve also been hit with Hurricane Delta🥴 but Tesla is a champ! Surviving thru 2 hurricanes as a little axie can be tough!🥵 Luckily this time the storm was less severe and did not have to evacuate, but we have lost power again. So far her water temp is still in the 60s and all the levels are adequate. A generator will be set up soon so I’m certain she will be fine. Like, I barely just got her tank cycled again!! Lets just hope there will be no more hurricanes this year. 😅 Tesla thanks y’all for all the support and advise given this
I am a first time owner of an axolotl. Her name is Tesla, I’ve had her for 4 months now. (I’m not sure of her full age, but her fingers just recently turned dark for maturity.)
Anyways, I live in Texas and just recently had to evacuate from Hurricane Laura. (I was not going to leave her behind!) I managed to travel with her while maintaining her stable temperature (64-66) by using a 1 gallon tank/w filter, fan and styrofoam cooler.
- My problem is once we returned home, the house was without power for 10+ days and her tanks water temp was 81-85degrees with no filter running. Once the power came back on I did a half water change and was able to get the temperature stable. I did a 5-n-1 test strip and it looked fine...
After the 4th day of her being back in her tank, I noticed her gills had a white feathery/ fungus look. I had removed her asap and she’s back into a temporary 1 gallon tank. I haven’t seen any more puffy white stuff since then, it’s been about 5days now w/ daily 40% water changes. She hasn’t gotten worse, and seems to act normal, BUT Her gills Do Not look the same... they are shortened and loss of filaments!
I am so worried.
-So what had happened to her gills?
-Will she grow them back?
-If so, how long will it take?
-What did I do wrong or how can I help her?
I notice she goes up for air a little more often.
View attachment 85323 After (now)View attachment 85326
View attachment 85324 BeforeView attachment 85325
 

Attachments

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    116EB553-176D-4B14-99D8-647A2728EDF0.jpeg
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