Recovering from being too cold, should I do more?

[SB4012]

Our axie is about 6 months old, we got him as a baby and had him in a 30 litre tank. It sat naturally at 21 degrees C and has sand, not pebbles. He was healthy but as he grew we bought a 3' tank (about 160 litres? And 500 litre per hour filter) and set it up in our new house so that he would move to his new digs when we did. We stabilised the water and did all the right things, except I didn't realise that the new tank was so much colder. The big tank was at 15 degrees.

So shortly after we moved him we treated him to 10 feeder fish. He ate 8 within 36 hours and then started to look really sick! He was always falling over onto his side (not floating at the water surface). I took a water sample to the pet shop for testing and it was fine. They said the water was too cold, his metabolism had slowed and he couldn't digest all that fish!

I put a heater in straight away and brought him up to 20 degrees. He improved rapidly. He never lost his appetite during this time. Now he is pooing again, but he still lolls over to his left side (always the left) sometimes he just floats around on his back, bumping into things.

Should I be concerned? Does he need more treatment?

I wonder if he always did this and I never noticed before we moved the tank from the bathroom to the lounge? Maybe he never had room to goof around in the little tank?

Do they normally play dead?

Many thanks for your advice!

 

[Skudo09]

Axolotls tend to be lazy but rolling onto their side is not normal. A few questions here, when you added him, did you place him straight in or did you allow him to slowly acclimatise to the colder temperature? Do you own your own testing kit? If not, I can assume that your new tank was not cycled before adding him? Did the store provide the actual readings? Were the fish quarantined before adding them to his tank?

The ideal temperature range for axolotls is between 16 and 18degrees celsius. Whilst 15 Celsius is below this, I would not say that was an issue and I would suspect that other factors were at play here. I would remove the heater. Heaters are not necessary and tend to malfunction. You are more likely to overheat your axolotl than him being too cold.

I apologise for the load of questions but having further info may help to provide some answers and suggestions to help your axolotl recover

 

[SB4012]

We did place him straight in, but he came with 10 litres of his existing tank water. I didn't realise that there was a huge temp difference when we added him, or I would have acclimatised him. Both tanks were at room temp, I hadn't thought that the larger tank would be colder just by virtue of its volume. I feel such a doofus now!

The new tank had been sitting for a week. The ph was neutral (I tested it and so did the pet shop). The pet shop said the nitrate level was acceptable and there was no ammonia reading.

I'm sorry I don't know what cycling the tank means...

We didn't quarantine the feeder fish, is that standard procedure?

Thanks for your quick response, I appreciate all help, no matter how many questions!

 

[Skudo09]

We all make mistakes sometimes but the important thing is that we learn from them. Unfortunately, stores often give poor and misleading advice. I would suggest investing in your own test kit for at least ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH. I would opt for a liquid test kit as the strips can sometimes be inaccurate. I use the API Freshwater master test kit. They are pricey to purchase but last a long time and they are very valuable as it is important to test regularly (I would test daily whilst cycling and then once cycled, you can test weekly) and having your own kit makes things much easier.

Here is a link on cycling. It is important to understand this process as the spikes in ammonia and nitrite can cause harm to aquatic life. Scales Tails Wings and Things, What is Aquarium Cycling? How to Cycle your Tank. As your tank won't be cycled, I would very closely monitor the parameters in your tank as ammonia and nitrite can spike easily. You will need to perform frequent water changes to keep the parameters at safe levels. Having your own kit will allow you to monitor the parameters yourself.

With feeding fish, it is important to quarantine them as they can potentially pass nasty parasites and disease to your axolotls. Feeding fish are ok but as a staple diet I would recommend earthworms or good quality axolotl pellets. Earthworms contain more nutritional value and are inexpensive (you could start your own earthworm farm). Not to say that you can't offer fish at all but I would add some more nutritional options to his staple diet and ensure the fish have been quarantined first.

I would suggest reading up on cycling and getting your own test kit as soon as you are able to. It may be good to place him into a tub of clean, cool, dechlorinated water for now and do daily 100% water changes in the tub. This way, you can monitor him more closely and once you are familiar with cycling, you could do a fishless cycle. This way you will be able to cycle the tank without worrying about causing harm to your axolotl and the process would be easier and not so drawn out. If you do decide to do a fishless cycle, I have included a link below that I used to do this. Keep your axolotl in a separate tub during the fishless cycling method. You can have a second tub of fresh cool, clean dechlorinated water prepared each day to transfer your axolotl into and tip the old water from the other tub into the tank.

The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community

 

[xxianxx]

That was poor advice from the shop. Axolotls eat fine down to 10c, lightly just under 10c and shouldn't be fed below 5c as the food rots in the gut if not purged. What ever the problem was it wasn't down to a slowed metabolism, 15c is a better temp than 20c to keep your tank, no need for a heater. What where the fish btw ?

 

[Sweetie]

Excellent advice from Skudo09. The only thing I would add is that the standard quarantine period is at least four weeks. This applies to anything living you add to a tank (plants, fish, other axies).