"Stalky" gills won't improve

[valley_man0505]

My axolotl will turn 3 years old in September/October of this year (2026). As a juvenile, he had pretty feathery gills. However, they eventually became "stalky" a few months after we got him in 2023 and have remained that way ever since. The initial loss of the feathery gills may very well be due to an error in how I was doing the nitrate test initially, which led me to think the values were lower than they really were. Once I realized I was doing the test wrong, nitrates were around 75 ppm. It took a few water changes over the next couple of weeks to get nitrates down to under 10 ppm. For the past 2 years now, water parameters have been kept with ammonia and nitrite at 0 and nitrates between 5-20 ppm. I do a 20-25% water change every 1-2 weeks. Tank is a 20 gallon long with live plants, hang-on-the-back filter, and an air stone for additional aeration. The pH is typically in the 7.0 - 7.5 range and temperature around 64-66 degrees F (18-19 C) in the summer and 62-64 degrees F in the winter. Diet is 100% European nightcrawlers purchased from an axolotl store. He is very active, has a great appetite, and doesn't otherwise seem distressed. However, his gills just will not seem to regain their feathery appearance. Could this just be genetics?

 

[wolfen]

what are you kh and gh levels?
axolotls regress/absorb their gills/filaments to protect themselves from ammonia/nitrites rather than nitrates which they tend to have a high tolerance (up to 110ppm).
increasing water salinity (2g/l) can encourage regrowth whilst protecting against nitrogen compound (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate) swings although your plants might not tolerate any salinity.
earthworm are good as part of a varied diet but prey sources (eyed prey) which contain vitamin A need to be included as Hypovitaminosis A can occur otherwise.

 

[valley_man0505]

what are you kh and gh levels?
axolotls regress/absorb their gills/filaments to protect themselves from ammonia/nitrites rather than nitrates which they tend to have a high tolerance (up to 110ppm).
increasing water salinity (2g/l) can encourage regrowth whilst protecting against nitrogen compound (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate) swings although your plants might not tolerate any salinity.
earthworm are good as part of a varied diet but prey sources (eyed prey) which contain vitamin A need to be included as Hypovitaminosis A can occur otherwise.

I knew that kh and gh question would come up...lol. I forgot to check it last night when I was at home (I haven't checked either in a while and don't remember what the last value was). I do know that when I first got the tank setup, both were "low" as I ended up adding a small bag of crushed coral to my filter. I don't remember what the actual values were, though, and I can't find my notes on what they stabilized at after adding the coral. What is the significance of both as it relates to axolotls and what should I be targeting?

Regarding "eyed prey", what do you recommend? Are there other ways to introduce Vitamin A to their diet?

 

[wolfen]

low kh can allow ph drop where as low gh can cause anaemia, low bone density etc.., axolotls are moderate to hard water animals ideal kh is 3-8, whilst gh is 7-14
eyed prey would be shrimp, fish, insects such as crickets etc.. which can be provided as live ie.. river shrimp, live bearing fish, maggots, frozen ie.. brine shrimp, krill, mysis and pellets ie.. salmon, trout, axolotl, carnivore (be aware some pellets contain copper), vitamin A as a medicine would need to be provided by a vet (normally once Hypovitaminosis A has been diagnosed) as it can be over dosed.

 

[valley_man0505]

Ok. I have a whole freezer full of salmon, so I will thaw some of that and give it a tree. I have always been leary of things like shrimp, crickets, etc. because I have always heard the shells could cause problems (i.e. potential impaction). I think I also have some pellets from a time when an earthworm shipment was delayed, but I had a hard time getting him to eat them after being used to live food. I didn't really give much effort, though, since the worms showed up in time.

I will check current kh and gh this weekend.