Illness/Sickness: You finally think everything is perfect and then there's something else. could it be my set up?

[Felfreckles]

Ok. Chiller on, 18 degrees, bio internal filter, water params perfect 0.0. etc. T-rex now has a pale bruise like round bump on his tail, the fin above that seems slightly torn and he has a scratch on his head. he has NO tank mates, sand, a corner cave, one rock, two fake plants (one is soft, looks like dark maple leaves, the other hard plastic looks like a spiky fern.) The bio filter is about the size of an A5 page, and then an inch below that is a small sump pump that runs off to a chiller, its a 60 litre tank and all the ornaments are at either end to allow lots of room to walk around (though T-Rex thinks he's a fish and mostly swims)
is there still something I'm doing wrong? why does he look like something attacked him!

 

[Bellabelloo]

Could you add a picture of your tank and the axolotl so we can see, please

 

[Felfreckles]

see pic of tank

 

[Felfreckles]

our poor little dinosaur

 

[Felfreckles]

clearer tank pic, the chiller flow is directed into a corner and the filter spray bar into the glass

 

[Kaysie]

It looks like he scratched his head and caught his tail on something hard enough to tear it. I would say it's time to pull out decorations and feel for sharp edges. I'm putting my money on the inside of the cave.

 

[Felfreckles]

Thank you! oh well I've already spent about $700 bucks on the little guy whats a few more replacements! (it was the chiller that hurt my credit card the most!) I'ts nice to know that it probably is just bumps and bruises, I really thought he was ill again. I will go through all the decorations, I know he has to have a hidey place, is one enough or should I get two? I think its the fern thingy scratching him, it was an order online job and turned out to be much stiffer/sharper than I expected. Sometimes I find him balanced on top of the plants, would a log going across the tank take up too much space do you think? My son Heath (5) thinks he's an underwater dinosaur so we were trying to create a prehistoric kind of feel to the tank, but honestly T-rex's comfort is more important than ornaments. I recently replaced a hang on filter with the bio filter, he used to get stuck next to the intake tube a lot and the ammonia levels were too high. Im finally feeling confident with what I'm doing with everything except the actual layout, at least now that the temp and water quality is good.

Any advice on layout would be greatly appreciated, especially from anyone who's had their Axies happy and healthy for a little while, we want our new family member to stay with us for as long as possible. Thanks everyone. :happy:

 

[Kaysie]

The more hides the merrier.

I prefer silk plants as they're not as scratchy. I've always shied away from plastic ones.

 

[memojo1979]

That circle looks like a blister
But, I've seen those hides advertised for reptiles + I'd guess the inside of it too - the process that makes such stuff usually keeps the area on display smooth, but really messy inside - I've smoothed sharp edges by clipping with metal nail clippers (amazing things - I've also found them strong enough to trim down extra metal threads on the mesh when making simple lids for my tanks!), then filing with the nail file part of the nail clippers
I like the background BTW - is that actually 3D like it looks? If so, is it the same as the Exo Terra ones? And... if so, how do you stop it going moudly from being constantly submerged?!

 

[Kaysie]

I've also used nail clippers and files to smooth out rough edges on plastic. Wonderful things!

 

[Felfreckles]

Thanks guys, it's all a learning curve, I just ordered things that looked Dino-ish but now I will look into "silk" ones (thanks for the tip!) I found a palm tree that says silk on ebay... I thought about live plants but dont have a quarantine tank and I didn't want to introduce anything that might make him sick. He's only ever had axie pellets too, I'm a bit anxious about the whole bloodworm/shrimp thing. I'm going to pick up another hide today. I'm so glad I found this site, when I started I had no hides, high ammonia levels and a temp of 27 degrees!! This site saved our little guys life. Stupid pet store advice (just hung him in a tank and he'll be right)

 

[Felfreckles]

Oh and the background is just a poster stuck to the outside of the glass using double sided tape, my son was adamant that dinosaurs had rocks, not coral reefs or oceans... We went to five pet stores looking for it it's got the most beautiful reef on th other side, but Heath said no. "Rocks mum, T-Rex needs rocks"

 

[Sam77]

Real plants are good - I have a mix of silk and real, but my axies spend most of their time hanging out in their Java fern. I don't have a quarantine tank, just rinse them well and keep them in a bucket for a while before putting them in. That way any snails etc. will have hatched by then. Mine love their bogwood, and you can attach plants to it as well. Mine have frozen bloodworms for a snack , but by far the best food is earthworms. They love them! Good luck with your axie, hope he is on the mend soon.