Illness/Sickness: New to Axolotls

[tayo1991]

Hey all, I am new to this forum and also new to Axolotls

A few weeks ago I got myself an axolotl for free because it was under weight and has no eyes so I felt sorry for it lol. Since I got the axolotl it has put on quite a lot of weight which is good, it eats pretty much everything I give it but it's favorite food is earth worms. I test the water everyday and so far so good, although the ammonia is about 0.25 - 0.50 so I have been doing 20% water changes every couple days. The Ph is on 7.6, GH is 107 and the Nitrite and Nitrate is 0 is this good? The temperature is also around 18 degrees.

A photo of the axolotl setup

Male or Female?

Do the gills look normal?

 

[michel3171]

First of all, Welcome to this forum!

Your water conditions seem fine to me! As a rookie axolotl-keeper I think you might want some tips?

Axolotls aren't very attracted to heavy currents, so make sure you don't have that.
Also, axies don't like very bright light (altough this one won't mind), but if you plan on getting a second one, keep this in mind.
Make sure your axie doesn't have big stones as substrate, because he might swallow it and eventually die!!!
The sand you have is fine tough.

Well, I hope you will enjoy your time around this forum, and spend time with your axie aswell!

 

[Kerry M]

Welcome to the forum.
I'm not sure how old your axie is but it may be a female if it has reached sexual maturity. Assuming that she is a girl, she is terribly skinny so I'm glad to hear that you are feeding her lots of earthworms. No doubt you are an angel to her and she must be relieved to be in your care. And I bet she is super excited by the food you are providing for her.
Your water parameters are OK, however try to keep your ammonia down to 0.25. If you can get your hands on some established media for your tank the cycling process will happen quicker. I'm sure you'll be able to get good advice here as you cycle your tank. Last time I cycled a tank I had some media so the process was very quick. The parameters that you are looking for are ammonia <0.25, nitrite 0, nitrate <40.
I'm looking forward to seeing the progress of your little one, she seems to be in very good care.

 

[FX1C]

Hi & welcome

Kerry above covered it all

I just wanted to add a big thank you to you for taking in this little one - she was desperately overdue for some TLC & I can see she's finally getting it



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[tayo1991]

Thanks everyone for the help Such great ideas and tips to keep my axolotl (Dory) healthy and happy! I thought she was a girl, reason why I named her Dory just wanted to make sure! I have a tank that has goldfish init, should I put some of the water into my axolotl tank to fasten the cycling?? Also I'm thinking of adding a friend for Dory, but cause she has no eyes won't she mistaken the other axolotl as food??



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[CJ1981]

I wouldn't add the water from your tank, there is no need, all you would be adding with the fishtank water would be ammonia which your lovely Dory is already adding for you! If you have a filter on your fishtank you could take some of the sponge/foam etc from inside that filter and either put it in the filter in Dory's tank or put it in the foot from a pair of tights and hang it in Dory's tank by her filter, you could also take some gravel from the fishtank and hang it in the foot from a pair of tights in Dory's tank. You are trying to add bacteria to the tank, this bacteria lives on the gravel and ornaments and filter media rather than in the water itself.

All axolotls have the potential to mistake a tank mate for food, if you look at the forums they are full of threads like "eek where'd his arm go". Don't let that put you off getting a second Axolotl if you want to and your tank is big enough. Providing plenty of space for the Axies to stomp around in plus lots of hides will minimise the chances of accidental nom-mage. I doubt that Dory being eyeless will make her more likely to chomp on a tankmate, you could potentially argue she is less likely as Axolotls respond more to movement. If you get a second Axolotl then try to make sure it is roughly the same size as Dory as tis will further minimise the risk of one of them becoming a snacl for the other. If you can't get one the same size then you can put a divider in the tank until the smaller one has caught up to the larger in size.

I hope you and Dory have many happy years together

 

[tayo1991]

Never heard of that one before will def give that a go! Im completely new to all this stuff and I'm only just learning. I have done soo much research on axolotls that I know the basics of caring for one. I have been testing the water each day and recording the results, I use the API freshwater master kit. Atm I have a 60×30×38 so def not big enough for 2 atm.. will upgrade when I have the money

I also wanted to know how often I should feed Dory? She is still way underweight and I want to fatten her up the poor girl

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[CJ1981]

I also wanted to know how often I should feed Dory? She is still way underweight and I want to fatten her up the poor girl

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At the moment daily, once she is up to weight you can reduce the frequency.

 

[pondweed]

I hear wax worms are good if you want to get a bit of fat on their bones/as a treat. If you can get hold of them, put some of them in with the earthworms, for a little variety, and to chub her up! (She's so lucky to be with you!)