Pacing? (worried ;_;)

[wolfsong442]

I got my axolotls last Saturday, and have been enjoying them. They are starting to exhibit behavior that is worrying me though. The smaller of the two, my golden albino seems to be pacing a lot, meaning he'll swim along the sides of the container he's in and run up against the walls a lot. He's hardly ever in the center of the container and he frequently comes up for breath. Lately, his movements have gotten a lot more frantic and he twists, almost like he's chasing his tail.

The leucistic is bigger and seems better off. He is often sitting at the bottom of his container with his gills out, but lately he seems to be trying to get out too and he's also started coming up for breaths, they also don't seem to be eating the pellets I drop into the water for them unless the pellets drop on their heads, as there's lots of uneaten pellets on the bottom of the container.

The containers they are in at the moment are rather small, just six quart Tupperware 'shoeboxes', but they're only three inches long at the moment, if that, and i've been cleaning out their water almost daily and doing 100% water changes twice a week so far. I have a 20 gallon long tank for them to go in together when they're big enough, but I haven't filled it yet because I'm waiting for sand, but they also don't seem to be growing much and I'm afraid that they aren't eating enough.

Sorry if I'm freaking out over nothing, I just don't want to see anything happen to them.

 

[Kaysie]

Frantic movements are usually a sign of poor water quality. Try doing more frequent water changes. Usually in tupperware setups, it's recommended to do 100% daily water changes.

 

[wolfsong442]

I can do that.

Thanks!

 

[wolfsong442]

I hate double posting, but I didn't see a way to edit. ;_;

Is three inches big enough to start feeding earthworms or should I just try to get some live blackworms or bloodworms? I'm really anxious to get them off of the pellets because I don't think they like them much.

 

[FX1C]

All uneaten food should be removed after a few minutes & if you're keeping them in tuppaware you'll need to do complete water changes daily - as you are not running it like a tank with a filter.

Keep a couple of large buckets with lids full of tap water that you've added water conditioner (dechlorinator) then leave it to sit for 24-48hrs that way you'll have fresh water ready to change your tuppaware regularly.

Where were you going to put them -
do you have a tank for them?

Can you set up a tank for them now?

If they're different sizes you'll need a divider in a larger tank.

Can you post pictures of the axies & the containers please.





<3 >o_o< <3

 

[wolfsong442]

Sure thing. I did a water change last night and I intend to do one every day from now on.

I have a bucket that I always make sure is filled with water. It's only 12 quarts, but it has been working well for the small tupperware containers for now.

I do have a tank for them. It's a 20 gallon long tank. It's sitting on top of my desk right now. I can't set it up for them because I'm waiting for my substrate to come. It should be here any day now, but I'm not sure because I've been having difficulties with this company before. And the man who sold me the axolotls told me that they needed to be bigger before they go into a large tank, and I don't think they're that much bigger than when I got them. And there isn't that big of a difference between them in size. The leucistic is a hair bigger than the albino, but I'm not sure if it's big enough to make a difference.

If it is, I will buy a divider.

And yep. Here's some pictures from my phone.

V The tupperwares I have them in.

V The babies

 

[Kaysie]

You can try feeding them small bits of chopped earthworm.

And they're plenty big enough to go into the tank, even without substrate. You'll just have to remove them to add the sand.

 

[wolfsong442]

Okay, thanks. I'll probably give the sand a few more days to get here.

The person I bought them off of said that cycling wasn't necessary, so I went ahead and got the axolotls. Reading through the forum though, I realize this isn't true. Should I wait for the tank to cycle before putting the axies in there and keep them in the tupperware for longer or should I go ahead and put them in and just make frequent water changes?

 

[Kaysie]

To be honest, cycling isn't necessary, but it's nice for 'newbie' keepers, as it takes the guesswork out of water quality. Personally, I've never pre-cycled a tank. I just do frequent, small water changes until the tank is established.

Since you have a fairly large tank in relation to how small your axolotls are, I wouldn't worry much about cycling. Go ahead and put them in the tank and cycle with them in it.

Do you have a test kit? They're helpful for determining how often and how much water you need to change.

 

[wolfsong442]

I have an ammonia test kit and a nitrite test kit.

 

[wolfsong442]

So i bought my axolotls worms and i cut a worm up into pieces i think are small enough to eat (about the size of their heads), but when i drop the worms in, the axolotls flee. when the bit of worm squirms, they freak out and dart away.

I've been able to get them to eat pellets by dropping the pellets on or near their heads, but they don't seem interested in worms at all >>

What should I do? I've tried putting food on a toothpick and putting it by their mouths, but they just freak out and swim away.

 

[wandering]

I have just moved my 3 to 4 inch juveniles onto chopped worms. I was feeding bloodworm on the end of a pipette so they were coming to the top to feed. They were not at all interested in chopped worms. So I didn't feed them for a couple of days. And then I put the chopped worms in their tanks and left them to it. Chopped to 1/4 to 1/2 inch lengths. They got the hang of it quite quickly then. I leave the worms in for an hour then clear the bottom of the tank with my turkey baster or syphon. 50% water changes every other day. They are in individual bare glass tanks with about 10 to 20 litres of water each, with a clump of floating Java moss for cover/support. Bit of a fiddly job cutting the worms up so small but it seems to work better than large bits.
Hope that's some help.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[wolfsong442]

I didn't actually think about withholding food from them. I assumed they were still small enough that they needed fed daily, but it does actually make sense.

I'll try this. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Olivia97]

Just a tip for the impatient people like myself, get a hold of "Dr Tim's One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria" it's practically an instant cycle and all you need is one dose.