Poorly face not healing well

[krivers]

Hiya, I'm new to posting but have been reading the site for a while for advice. Our Axies are about 18months old now. Recently my golden one hurt his face, it doesn't seem to be healing very well. Is there anything I can do to help her if it doesn't improve? She lives with 3 others with weekly water changes and weekly feeds

 

[Olivia97]

Ouch, looks sore. I also noticed that your axie has no gill filaments. What are your water parameters? Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia, pH and Temperature?

 

[krivers]

This might sound really bad but I hadnt even noticed they were disappearing! I just checked the others and they have less fillaments like this one does, they do have some, but they have diminished quite alot!
I only have an ammonia reader which is a colour chartered one and is on yellow, I won't be able to get another kit for a while as I have no money and looking for a job is there anything I can do now to help them? I take out waste as soon as it appears and do weekly water changes
Thank you so much for pointing this out, feel like such a bad parent, I guess because I see them most of the day I dont notice small changes, plus they don;t have alot of ligh tin their tank which might be why I havent really noticed

 

[CJ1981]

Try doing more regular small water changes e.g. 10-15% every day or so. That way if you have a water quality issue you should be able to 'keep on top of it' so to speak. Do you have a filter and/or air stone in your tank?

 

[krivers]

Right, I'll get on that today! Will they grow back?
I don't have any form of filter, we had a filter but it stressed them out too much, I'm hopefully getting a 5ft tank in the next 6 months with a trickle filter system so hopefully that will help them too!

 

[CJ1981]

They should start growing back once the water quality/parameters are improved. They may grow back a bit wonky and will take time but they will function okay, Axolotls are famed for their healing abilities.

If you don't have a filter I would suggest perhaps doing slightly bigger water changes the first couple of times (20-50%) before settling into a routine of daily smaller water changes. I'm guessing you are treating your water before you put it into the tank?

If you want to start using your filter again try turning the outflow toward the wall of the tank and putting a plant on front of it to break up the outflow and reduce the stress.

I have a Fluval U2 filter in my tank (3 foot), that I have turned down low with a plant in front of it and my two use the outflow to 'surf' , no signs of stress (but then what do you expect from a couple of surf dudes )

 

[krivers]

I am impressed with their healing abilities, we had a tail issue last year where one lost some bits around the edges, grew back lovely, can;t even tell now
When we made the decision to take the filter out I did some research on unfiltered water for axies, I read it was ok if the water was stood for 24hrs? I was put off treating water as alot of sites warn of dangers to their skin etc because of products not being suitable to amphibians as theyre created for fish :s
Thats a good idea with the plant, I did have it turned to the wall an dmanged to have one surfer but the others hated it, the majority got the vote lol!
I may have to stick to daily water changes until I can gey my hands on this bigger tank though, what do you use to treat the water with? As I clearly can't have loads of buckets of water sitting around the house

 

[CJ1981]

I use Wilkinsons own brand weekly cleaner and tap safe - cheap as chips compared to most. I got some of the 5 litre bottles of mineral water (about £1 from Tesco) and use those to measure out how much water I need. I treat the water at least 24 hours before I add it to the tank. Don't use the mineral water though the Axies don't like the minerals, just have some very expensive tea and coffee for a bit until you've used it all up! :happy:

 

[krivers]

Thank you so much! Is it the crystals you get? Having a quick look online now. The bottles of water is a good idea too!
Without sounding harsh, I;m glad my axy hurt her face else I never would have known about the fillaments! And this website really is so helpful!
Thank you again, hopefully I'll start to see some improvements in a few weeks

 

[CJ1981]

I get the bottles of liquid not the crystals. You might have to try and blag a syringe from a pharmacy as it works out that you need about 2.5 mls of the weekly cleaner per 5 litres of water , I'm a nurse so I asked my hospital pharmacy for one - explained what I wanted it for, smiled sweetly and paid about 10p :happy:.

Every cloud and all that ...

 

[CJ1981]

• Wilko Aquarium Weekly Cleaner 100ml
  
  
  
• This stuff

 

[CJ1981]

The tap safe is now called 'wilko chlorine control' (£2.79), just to confuse me presumably

 

[krivers]

Ahh this makes more sense, thank you!! I'm sure I can find someway to make the dilution! Though you do have an advantage with your job on that one! Thank you again :happy: Got my shopping list written out ready lol

 

[krivers]

I just found the chlorine control no wonder why I couldnt find it before haha!

 

[CJ1981]

Good luck

 

[Kaysie]

Just to clarify on using bottled water for amphibians: do NOT use 'distilled', 'purified', 'Reverse Osmosis', or 'drinking' water. These have (usually) all been treated in a way that strips the minerals out of them. Amphibians need mineral-laden water, or it will cause imbalances in the blood and kidneys (simple diffusion, the mineral ions leech out of your axie and into the water).

As a side note, that water isn't so great for humans either, for the same reason. If you have good reason not to use your tap water, stick to 'spring' water, as it has not been distilled.

Although aimed at US consumers, here's an article on using bottled water.

 

[CJ1981]

Just to clarify on using bottled water for amphibians: do NOT use 'distilled', 'purified', 'Reverse Osmosis', or 'drinking' water. These have (usually) all been treated in a way that strips the minerals out of them. Amphibians need mineral-laden water, or it will cause imbalances in the blood and kidneys (simple diffusion, the mineral ions leech out of your axie and into the water).

As a side note, that water isn't so great for humans either, for the same reason. If you have good reason not to use your tap water, stick to 'spring' water, as it has not been distilled.

Although aimed at US consumers, here's an article on using bottled water.

The problem we have in the UK with bottled water is there is a total lack of governance over the labelling, you can essentially call bottled water what you like - spring, spa, mineral etc so unfortunately just because it says spring on the bottle doesn't mean it is spring water or that it hasn't been treated . Incidentally many bottled water companies get their water from the same sources as the local water board then charge a premium for it!

I always chuck out the mineral water I buy, or drink it/water plants etc as it is the bottle I want, they just make the maths easier for water cahnges :happy: