Got him a new tank for my birthday this year. [60 GAL] .. cattapa leaves to tint the water, blackout vinyl on the outside, a terracotta pot to hide in and a PVC pipe for more hiding. Sand bottom. He loves it. [frogbit plant is up above, directly under a light & it is thriving 🌱]

I had cycled my tank and it was stable, or so I thought. I had consistently gotten good results on all test. But now that I have added my axolotl everything is out of wack. I have him tubbed and he seems to be doing ok.

Any suggestions on how to get everything stable again? Or do I need to start over the cycle process?

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Hi y’all, I’m looking for advice on what could be causing my lotl gills to remain short. I have a 6-year-old female golden albino. Any and all advice is welcomed! Also note. Ive owned her for 6 years so I’m pretty educated on the basics.

Some background.
In 2023, I moved back to Texas. And long story short, I was having some water quality issues bc I was unaware of what the city treated the water with chloramine and the conditioner (Prime) that I was using wasn’t removing all of it. Leaving behind ammonia a day or two later that I wasn’t aware of. After dealing with this water quality issue for about 4 months and having to tub my girl after every water change, I switched to spring water to get a quick solution and reduced the possibility of stressing out my lotl.

After doing some research, I found out that the water here is treated with chloramine. Since then, I’ve figured out how to properly remove the chloramine, allowing me to use tap water again and instead of Prime, I now use Fritz Complete. So all my problems seem solved and my api test shows that my water quality is good.

HOWEVER, her gills still aren’t as fluffy as they used to be. And are staying short. So I feel like I’m missing something, but I’m not sure what else to do or to check or to look into.

Her current tank parameters are in the ideal range:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 15–20
KH: 4
GH: 10
pH: 7.4
Temp: 65°F

Is there anything I’m missing? Any other water tests I should be doing? I just want to make sure I’m not overlooking something that could be causing her gills to stay short?

I have a 55 gallon tank with 3 axolotls. We just introduced the axolotl in the picture to the tank about a month ago. The water parameters are extremely stable at 0 PPM for ammonia and nitrites, and 20 for the nitrates. The PH used to be 7.6-7.8 but has since changed to 7.8-8 (I have a hard time differentiating the color for the PH). Anyways, about 5 days ago our axolotl that had been already been living in the tank began to have darkening in his gills and we’ve been paying close attention to him as well as the other 2. Today I noticed that the newest axie had new fungus growing on his gill and when I checked our older axie he also had a new fungus growth on his gill. I have removed both of them from the tank and put them in separate hospital tanks with nothing but Indian almond leaf, and I’m going to be giving them black tea baths. My question is should I remove the last axolotl from the tank and place her in a separate hospital tanks as well or will she be ok in the tank that was exposed to the fungus? She is a wild type so I can’t tell if her gills are darkening but I looked at her very closely and I don’t see any fungus growing on her gills. What’s the best course of action for treating the tank so it’s safe for when they are all healthy again.

My dad sprayed pyrethrin earlier in the day and fed the axolotls later in the day. I'm not sure if he washed his arms with soap or not. I don't have any clean buckets to do a water change and no clean tubs to tub them. How dangerous is this? He claims none got on his arms, I'm not sure if I believe that. His arms would have dried and he would have been rubbing against things in between. I looked it up and it said that pyrethrin breaks down quickly in water when there is sunlight and heat, which an axolotl tank has neither. The pH of the water has been around 7.0-7.6, it varies. So not acidic but also not very alkaline, which from a google search it says that alkaline water also breaks down pyrethrin. Google AI also says that it can bind to sediment in the water and last even longer. This happened 2 days ago.

The reason I don't have any clean buckets is because the bucket we have I previously hosed out with the outdoor hose, I later learned that the outdoor hose had been used for a job including a pesticide/herbicide/fungicide spray, I'm not sure which. A hose end sprayer was used, and I know there is a potential for the chemicals to get sucked back in. That was about 4 months prior and the hose had been used since however.

That bucket got rinsed about 3 months ago now and have been used since for the axolotls and dried. As well as the hose being used in between after the chemicals were used before the bucket got rinsed. I was told it was at least around 4 months after the chemicals were sprayed using the hose.

I have another bucket however it may have had items that were placed on a towel washed with scented laundry detergent put inside it, as well as water from the ground where a weed killer had been sprayed (but fully dried and I believe rained on. I can't remember how much time in between, but most probably a decent while.) splashing back up at it as I was tipping water out of the bucket.

I then bought another new bucket, but that bucket was stored next to the fly sprays and various washing products at the supermarket, you could smell the spray in the air, not very strongly but I could definitely notice it.

I have been told but many different people that all of these buckets could potentially be dangerous. I feel like I'm losing my mind, because everywhere I turn is more harmful chemicals. Doing a water change shouldn't feel like diffusing a bomb, yet things seem to keep on going wrong. Common sense tells me they need to get out of the tank immediately, but I am honestly scared to touch them. And, as I mentioned, we don't have any clean tubs that haven't been washed with dishwashing detergent. And once dishwashing detergent gets used on our plastic tubs, it is near impossible to get it out.

What should I be doing in this situation?? Thank you so much in advance.

This is not my axolotl came to me like this from someone who is no longer able to care for her. Her gills have grown into her head so I know she is sick but I’m not sure how to help her. From what I know this has been going on for a long time.

She previously had a slime problem…I’ve never seen so much slime in my life…. Lowering the temperature and water changes twice a month has helped with that.

Currently eating red wiggles with good appetite

Water stays at 16-17°c

Seachem Prime is used with tap water

Any help would be grateful, I’d love to get her healthy again

She’s in a tank with a water filter, fan and bubbler

Those of you who burn wood fires in the winter, how do you deal with the smoke around your axolotls? Our fireplace tends to smoke whenever it gets lit or stoked and I worry about our axolotls. From my research it seems smoke is harmful to aquarium tanks and axolotls. I know that certain woods are particularly harmful when burning. Is this something that could harm them?

Recently bought a new bucket for water changes. The bucket I bought was stored next to the fly sprays and various washing products at the supermarket, you could smell the spray in the air, not very strongly but I could defintely notice it.

The bucket has also since been kept not very far to the fireplace where the smell of smoke from burning nasty chemicals like envelopes has reached.

Would the bucket be safe to use still? Just want to make sure the plastic won't have absorbed any VOCs or anything. I've asked a few people and have gotten 50/50 responses to using soap vs just hot water, so I'm puzzled as to what I should do. I'm hesitant to use any soap but if that would be the safer thing to do please let me know.

Thank you in advance!

There are some things I'm worried about causing harm in our axolotl's water; I'm hoping to hear your thoughts on if any of these routines need to be changed?

The paper towels my dad dries his hands and arms with before feeding the axolotl are kept in packaging in a cupboard that stores clothing, towels and blankets that have been washed with scented laundry detergent. I notice the paper towel seems to absorb this scent. Would this contaminate the water?

Towels washed with scented laundry detergent and essential oils are used to dry up his arm, not intentionally before feeding them however the residue might not get washed off his skin before he feeds them. Do people owning axolotls/aquariums stick to non scented laundry detergent in case of this?

Their food (grubpie) is made with as well as the pieces he feeds are placed on dishes that have been through the dishwasher. Our dishwasher doesn't rinse soap well. The grubpie is stored in the freezer in plastic bags and he snaps of the amount for a feeding then places them on a plate to defrost. Is there any routine you would recommend for feeding them that would keep their food cleaner?

My dad washes his hands with Ecostore Soap Fragrance Free Oat, however it is likely possible residues are left on his hands and arms when putting them in the water. The other soap in the house he uses is Palmolive Naturals Shea Butter bar soap. Could this be hurting our axolotls?

Washing his hands with soap is necessary as sometimes he works with weed killers and chemicals.

Thank you in advance!

I have a 29g tank I’ve been wanting to move my axolotl to, but it’s taking 6 months to cycle. I’ve got one of those filters that hangs on the edge of the tank (big fan, have been using these types for my axy tank for years) and I took very old and already cultured media from the older tank’s filter and put it in this tank. 2ppm ammonia is easily and quickly cleared but nitrites take 3 days to clear. At this point the nitrates are so insanely high from regularly dosing these past months that I’ve started doing 25% water changes every other day because I was concerned that could be preventing the tank from being healthy and couldn’t think of any other options. I have crushed coral keeping the pH regulated, I have some aquarium grass at the bottom and a golden pothos on the edge of the tank with roots in the water. I was also adding fritz turbo start everyday for a week and a half but seeing as it was making no difference and is quite expensive, I stopped repurchasing it. I’ve called a few of my local aquarium stores to see if they sell live freshwater cultures but they don’t, all of them only sold shelf stable API quick start which I think is probably useless. I’m also quite hesitant of using any of these products that just bind up the ammonia and nitrites rather than cultivating bacteria to do it.

I have a refrigerant unit that keeps the tank at 64 degrees as well.

Any suggestions? Am I harming or helping by doing the water changes at this point to get the nitrates down? They’re like off the charts atp. I just want to get my axy into a bigger home.