AshSeek
New member
I received my three very first axolotls as juveniles a little over a year ago, planning on heading to college with them for a college pet which worked out well. They began at my house where we are on well water, not tap. When going to college, they were on dechlorinated tap water. (One of those axolotls died before i went to college for no reasons due to water conditions)
They are now full grown, but recently a few months ago while returning home for the summer, i have noticed a change in their appearance and appetite.
They were also upgraded from a 20 gallon long to a 55 gallon and lost some appetite (but my two females are healthy with bellies the width of their head, my male who has always been thinner (but not by any means unhealthy) was the same) but i figured they were happier and liked having more room/didn't worry about food as much.
Over the summer i have acquired more axolotls as juveniles, and have them in different tubs and set ups. I have a tank divider in a 10 gallon filled with well water, with one larger juveniles (over 6 inches) and one smaller juvenile, they both started out really well and eating good but recently this week the frills on their gills have become shorter and more stubby and yesterday they didn't eat a whole lot.. my juveniles i have in tubs however are on dechlorinated tap water, all with much better gills and eating normally for each individual. My adults that i had in my 55 gallon i have moved back into the 20 gallon, thinking they would start eating better again because they ate so well in there before, but i have noticed my brown wildype and my pink lecuistic male are both starting to kind of slim down on their fins width-wise. my dark wild type has also developed what appears to be gold irridophores on her body which were not there before. She especially i have notice a fin decrease onto of her fin, right behind her back legs there is a dip and also overall decrease along the whole thing,... and no one has really regained appetite like before hand while at college..
I do not put dechlorinator in my well water, and i will get water conditions later today with my API test kit but i'm seeing a clear difference between my tap water and well water (the well water has a softener in it) I Just want to know if anyone knows what is up, why there is such a difference with my axolotls and what i can do to help the gills return to normal and get their tails back to normal. I know everyones well water is different but its really annoying to me when i know my animals have felt and looked better than this, sometimes they go through short periods where their gills shrink or they don't eat but they come right out of it.
Sorry this is so long, i can also attach pics or get pictures of whatever and will test water perimeters today... Thank you
They are now full grown, but recently a few months ago while returning home for the summer, i have noticed a change in their appearance and appetite.
They were also upgraded from a 20 gallon long to a 55 gallon and lost some appetite (but my two females are healthy with bellies the width of their head, my male who has always been thinner (but not by any means unhealthy) was the same) but i figured they were happier and liked having more room/didn't worry about food as much.
Over the summer i have acquired more axolotls as juveniles, and have them in different tubs and set ups. I have a tank divider in a 10 gallon filled with well water, with one larger juveniles (over 6 inches) and one smaller juvenile, they both started out really well and eating good but recently this week the frills on their gills have become shorter and more stubby and yesterday they didn't eat a whole lot.. my juveniles i have in tubs however are on dechlorinated tap water, all with much better gills and eating normally for each individual. My adults that i had in my 55 gallon i have moved back into the 20 gallon, thinking they would start eating better again because they ate so well in there before, but i have noticed my brown wildype and my pink lecuistic male are both starting to kind of slim down on their fins width-wise. my dark wild type has also developed what appears to be gold irridophores on her body which were not there before. She especially i have notice a fin decrease onto of her fin, right behind her back legs there is a dip and also overall decrease along the whole thing,... and no one has really regained appetite like before hand while at college..
I do not put dechlorinator in my well water, and i will get water conditions later today with my API test kit but i'm seeing a clear difference between my tap water and well water (the well water has a softener in it) I Just want to know if anyone knows what is up, why there is such a difference with my axolotls and what i can do to help the gills return to normal and get their tails back to normal. I know everyones well water is different but its really annoying to me when i know my animals have felt and looked better than this, sometimes they go through short periods where their gills shrink or they don't eat but they come right out of it.
Sorry this is so long, i can also attach pics or get pictures of whatever and will test water perimeters today... Thank you