update on now called "coodle" haha

[sezz]

okay so this is an update of whats going on and what i just noticed...
ive had coodle in the fridge for over a week now, been salt bathing him and changing his water twice a day and tried to feed him but no luck, which im not suprised so im not all worried about it ..
oh and this is to fix his fungi on his gills. and good news, the fungi fallen off his left side but on the right side only a little present on his one gill. so thats great news

but NEW PROBLEM! when i put him in the tub for the first time into the fridge, i noticed he had black nails, and i thought "what a cutie!!!" but then today.... i noticed it wasnt nails after all. he must have developed black tips of his toes and fingers. today i noticed two of them fallen off and one is hanging about to fall off, and his toes are shorter... :/ and yes his face has alywas been a little vainy black, but i thought it was his natural colour... i only had him for just a little over a week..
im hoping its okay...stuffs me!!
i jsut want him in his new big tank thats been waiting on his return!!! or her! damn...

 

[kapo]

If s/he's had an fungus or an infection, which may not have been noticeable on his toetips, they may blacken and fall of. The saltbaths and fridging will help. Otherwise everything sounds good. Just continue the baths till a few days after the last bit of fungus has dropped off. Is the new tank cycled or still cycling?

 

[sezz]

i just tried putting the photoes on here but my phone wont work properly. ill keep trying though...

the new tank is a 3 foot tank, ive got absolutely nothing on the bottom other than some shells and a hiding cave and two long grassy plants and a filter.
i resealed this "second hand" tank two days ago and when it was dry i re-filled it with the old tank water that i think cycled because the water turned crystal see-through as i was putting his untouched food into there. anyways i put that water in to this new tank and refilled the rest with water thats been sitting for over a week and some more water that i treated with some water treatment for fishies. the filter is up n running, seems okay, just a bit eager to put him in there..

 

[kapo]

If you don't have freshwater test kits to test then take a sample of tankwater to see what the water parameters are (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate).

Having crystal clear water does not necessarily mean it's cycled. A cycled tank reading would usually be :

Ammonia and nitrIte = both 0
NitrAte = 5-40ppm/mg

 

[Kaysie]

Black toe tips are a sign of sexual maturity and are normal. But, as Kapo mentioned, they may have not been noticable, and are falling off during the salt baths. This may mean your salt baths are too strong and are damaging its skin.

 

[sezz]

really? oh...
ive been doing two tsp salt a litre. and he is only sitting in a litre tub, covered.
my bad... ill do much less tonight :/

so how do i tell a male from a female? i still dont know what coodle is... kinda annoying
and sorry i still cant get the photoes working


okay i did a water test on his brand new tank, and apparently its poisoned. the amonia, nitrIte and nitrAte levels are stuffed. so ive just disposed of the whole water in the tank, cleaned the tank with plain water and a clean rag and dried it. ive been given "Aqua Cycle" and i bought a much bigger filter for the tank that should do its job.
and i was hoping of putting coodle in the tank tomorrow.... :'( but i guess his move in should be saturday

 

[kapo]

Sezz, what poisoned your tankwater?

Or do you mean the water parameters were high in ammonia or nitrites, ie above 0?

If this is the case, all you needed to do was frequent partial (20-30% waterchanges (frequent as in daily or every 2 days).

Since you've removed all the water your tank will be cycling again! See: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml

The only product you need is one to remove chlorine and chloramines from your tapwater, ie a water ager, water conditioner or water dechlorinator.

If the Aqua Cycle is a product to instantly cycle your tank or speed the good bacteria, then it doesn't work.

Petshops are notorious for advising people on buying products that cycle a tank, raise/lower the pH, absorb nitrates, remove ammonia, etc... where the only thing you need to do is frequent (daily or every 2 days) partial (20-30%) waterchanges on the tankwater.

When you do fill the tank, don't use Aqua Cycle try and get a refund.

To speed your cycle, make sure you leave the old filter in, all substrate and decos (hopefully you haven't washed them). You can still put your new filter in.

Also, when adding Coodle, you will now have to test your water frequently (daily or every 2 days) and as the ammonia and nitrite starts rising then do a partial 20% waterchange on your tank. This will keep things safe for your axie.

Any questions, ask and someone here will help.

Also, anything the petshop advises you to use to fix your tank or if your axie is sick, check here first.

How long is Coodle? Check out the following link for sexing your axolotl: www.axolotl.org/biology.htm

 

[sezz]

seems to be working!
Coodle is doing well, still see sign of some fungi on his gills, but deffinetly a lot less since i saw him yesterday (i left the house to visit my parents for a day n night) and had fingers crossed he was going to be okay on his own, and he does seem lazy! lol

i havent fed him yet, i dont know how!!! this tank is huge, and i think ill have to end up dipping my whole arm in and hand feeding the fellow? what do u think

 

[kapo]

If he's hungry enough and comes to the front of the tank you can pretty much drop the food directly above him and hope he snaps it up. We also use barbecue skewers (bamboo ones), you just angle slightly so they don't skewer themselves when they lunge for the food (also keeps your hands out of the water), but we tend to wriggle it about half way up the tankwater line and make them work for their food!

How's your water parameters and frequent partial waterchanges going, you'll find your axolotl constantly stressing and fungus never fully clearing if you don't do the regular testing/changes.

Also, you never explained how the tank was "poisoned"?

 

[sezz]

oh yeah, the poisoned bit... well considering i had stuff all clue about nitrIte and nitrAte and ammonia levels for the tanks, the pet store said that the tank was "poisoned" because the ammonia and the levels were so high. (test tubes were dark purple, dark green..) i saw them myself.. so i think it was jsut an expression

ive done a water test this morning, right after i done a water change for coodle, and it all seems great, apart from the nitrIte is taking its time to cycle i suppose. as i hope i understand as you explained the nitrIte takes a while to develop.
so it is doing so, but looking great

you wouldnt believe, coodle's gills have grown so beautifully i am so proud of HER! i noticed shes a girl because of those pictures you showed me. shes deffinetly got no swelling there, but hey ill wait a little while longer and ill decide again soon lol

ive added a few more plants, just long ones for now and she seems to enjoy sitting in the corner with a whole bunch of them, chilling and liek to push shells around lol

about the feeding? yes its pretty funny because right after i posted yesterday on the forum, i cut the beef heart in half and let it defrost, then the only thing i could think of is my hands really... so i barely wiggled it in front of her and she snapped. lol then gave her the rest and she followed my hand half way up the tank for more
i couldnt believe it!!

tomorrow night she will get frozen bloodworms. ill try to feed her with that. but i noticed those blood worms seem to make the tank real messy... i guess gonna have to do my best to pick up all the un-eaten ones

Kapo, you have been an absolute gem. uve guided me right from the begginning and this girl wouldve been long dead if it wasnt for you,
keep up the great work!
im thinking about getting a black one to add as a companion, but this wont happen untill i find my routine with coodle

 

[kapo]

Yes bloodworm can be messy! Our axie larvae and our new girl eats it, but as they have bare tanks so its easy to clean with turkey baster. The others won't eat it. Have you tried earthworms yet?

Don't forget to quarantine your new one for 30 days when you get it, if you don't have a spare tank, you can use a plastic storage tub/bucket and change water daily.

When you do get it, one is never enough as we discovered , try and find a place or breeder that has healthy looking ones and get it either well before summer starts or wait till next winter. Summer will be your biggest challenge with your axie/s trying to maintain a cool tank depending on where you are.

Also the smaller a tank is, the faster it warms up, so if you have 2 make sure your tank is roomy enough for them both - 3ft long at least.

 

[sezz]

ok ill try earth worms, itll be hard because most of my back yeard is red earth... lol
im in Brisbane, shoreline more like.. the Bayside area. most of this area is called Redland bay, hence the name.. :/
i could go hunting near some creek, but where the hell is one lol

i dunno!

yeah igot a 3ft tank, i will take the advice n quarantine. ive got that small tank ive use Coodle on thr first time, so ill jsut put the new comer in there.

STILL trying to get photoes working!! i think my USB is stuffed

 

[kapo]

Do you have any baitshops or someplace like a garden centre or something that you can order compost worms from?

 

[sezz]

great. i come back from work and now she has fungi on her mouth.
when does this end!!!!

testing the water tomorrow.

i didnt change the tank water at all today as i was doing it every second day. but i think now its everyday.

UGH!!!!!

 

[sezz]

its feeding time for her tonight, so im curious to know how she will go. it might hurt her to eat dont know... but for now all i know as a fact is that i need to change the water tonight and test it tomorrow morning.

any suggestions on what it is, or am i right

 

[sezz]

ok i put her in the fridge. no salt bath yet. just to see if its the temp as a first....

top half of her lips is white surrounded by a blood blister. salt bathing makes me feel like its gonna hurt her a whole lot. so ill see how she goes in the morning

(the sore increased from half a millimetre to a decent 6-7mm in 11 hours)

(tank temp she was in was 16Cº)