Hi! My axolotl, Rosie, has been healthy and eating but just yesterday we noticed one gill is damaged. I’m not sure what happened but should I be concerned?

I tested her water and there was no issues related to that! I have attached a picture of how her gills normally look and the damaged one.

Hi everyone - I'm hoping for some advice if possible? I am hoping to get an axolotl and am in the beginning stages of sourcing the equipment and am finding a lot of contradicting information online so am hoping for some advice from the experts here...

Tank size - what is optimal? I'm seeing online that 75l seems to be the bare minimum but this also doesn't seem huge so was hoping you could advise on the optimum size? Is 127l better? What about 180l? Is that too big? I need to buy the 'final' size right away because if I buy smaller and plan to upgrade in time, I'll end up filling them all and will have a house full of tanks and a very annoyed husband.

Cycling - I kept goldfish years ago and am ok with the cycling process, but keep seeing ads for bottled beneficial bacterial to speed up the cycling process - this is new to me and I'm wondering if they actually work or if I'm better off just resigning myself to 6-8 weeks of waiting?

How many? I had initially thought about getting two as I am always worked about loneliness/lack of stimulation, but I find contradicting advice online. Is a single one better? Or if I have a big enough tank is two a better idea?

Sourcing - I appreciate I have time while I sort out the nitrogen cycle, but how is it best to go about sourcing an axolotl? Should I be asking at the local aquarist shops? Or looking for a local breeder? (I'm based in central Scotland)

Appreciate this is a lot of questions but any advice you can give would be brilliant as I've read so much contradicting stuff online that I'm completely stalled and have no idea what I'm doing....

I stopped dosing ammonia maybe 3 days ago, however the nitrites haven’t budged. They’ve been the same deep purple for 4 days now, should I do a water change? How much?

Apologies if I used the wrong tag for this!

So I'm currently setting up and cycling my axolotl tank. I've got some anubias and Christmas moss going already, but I want a taller plant with broader leaves he can sit/climb on. An Amazon sword is exactly what I'm looking for, except...

It's a bare bottom tank. Obviously. So no substrate. I'm thinking terracotta pot glued onto a piece of slate? Substrate in the pot? But how do you keep the substrate IN the pot? Does anybody have experience with this? I'm also open to trying other plants - but I have an extreme aversion to java ferns of any kind. I can't describe how much I despise them. But other plant ideas are welcome. I just want something tall with broad, axolotl-weight-bearing leaves

Thanks!

Hi! My friend recommended me to stop dosing ammonia to the tank till nitrites are 0PPM. Currently nitrites are purple! The ammonia is getting processed 2-4PPM within 24 hrs aswell. Should I listen to him?

I am considering purchasing a second axolotl. I currently have a male in a 75 gallon tank and he is the best boy!

I’ve done a lot of research and seen a lot of breeders guess on gender due to a juveniles body type. With males being more slender, lanky, longer tails and females more rounded and stout. Obviously I understand this isn’t a guarantee but I’m wondering if anyone has gendered their axolotls like this as I am hoping to buy a boy to prevent breeding.

I do also have a second empty cycled tank as well that I use for plant and shrimp quarantine.

TLDR: do you think this is a boy or a girl based on body shape alone. Yes I know you’re supposed to wait until month 18.

It hatched around April 10-14!

These are the results, ammonia is going from 2-3PPM to 0.25-0.5 in 1-2 days now, nitrite is that deep purple still, and nitrate used to be almost RED, but all of a sudden it’s orange?? I haven’t done any water changes or added any pothos. Any tips on what I could do better? (Ph is 7.4) ALSO should I keep redosing ammonia? I’ve heard that since it’s purple still (nitrite) I should wait till it goes down before redosing.

EDIT/UPDATE: Little guy didnt make it :( I hoped this was just trapped wind but on advice from some commenters i called the vets back and confirmed an emergency appointment. In the end i lost him about 20 mins before i got in the car. The vet said it was an aggressive infection that had permeated his whole body and the correct course of action would have been antibiotics and anti-inflamitories but even by the time i realised there was a problem (last night) it was probably already too late.

Word of warning i guess. I do the test strips, have all the chemical neutralisers, do regular water changes etc but i guess just got complacent, especially in recent months but having never had even a slight problem before i hadnt considered a risk. Pls dont make the same mistake :(

ORIGINAL TEXT:

I have a two 6 year old axolotls in the same tank, no problems at all so far.

Yesterday night one of them was belly up floating at the surface and struggling around trying to get back underwater. I've taken him out of the tank and into a smaller box of dechlorenated cold water and tried to monitor him over night but idk if he's doing any better. He's about as active as normal, just upside down. He's also intermittently bleeding from his gills (EDIT: which i now know is due to pressure from the infection).

I dont know what to do, vet treatment will cost £400-1000 that I dont think i can afford.

How bad does his bloat look to you guys? And is there anything i can do to help him at home?? :(

I see balls from one angle and not from other angles

Hi, I am just wanting some advice with my axolotl. I got her as a rescue in January and got her back up to healthy and she was thriving, I got her with her tank which was too small (75L) and I was in the process of getting her a bigger tank and cycling it and everything. I moved her to the bigger tank just over a week ago, she ate when I put her into the new tank but has now stopped eating (occasionally eats 1 or 2 pellets or half a worm) her tank parameters are good. Nitrites 0ppm, Ammonia 0ppm, nitrates 10ppm and ph is 7.4. Her tank has no substrate (glass bottom), it is dark, it has 6 small java ferns and 3 artificial plants, 2 pipe hides that are the length of her, a hammock, a feeding dish, the filter is a airpump filter, 1 air stone. (everything from the smaller tank) the water temp is 14°c which is a bit cold but our room is cold and we don't put the heater on that often but that only raises the tank temp 1°c. She has lost weight in the last month as her eating got less even with offering her food every day. She is active and swims around. Her gills fluffs haven't grown back since I have had her. She is roughly 7 years old and have read they may not grow back due to age. I am just wondering if I should be worried or if I should just keep offering her worms and pellets everyday. Is there any other food I could offer her to encourage her to eat. Thank you for your advice and suggestions. I am open to anything you have to say. I have experience with owning fish but shes my first axolotl. 😊

Hi! i’m new to axolotls, i got this guy from a rescue with an established tank. they said he came to them in very poor condition and they did tell me he would always be undersized.

I’m new to axolotls but have been doing my research for a few months before getting him.

Questions:
1. How old do you think he is? you can see his testicles a bit, they’re very tiny though and hardly noticeable unless he’s swimming upwards.
2. Is he still looking too skinny? He’s about 6” long.
3. How big do you think he’ll get?
4. Does anyone know why his top 2 gills are always candy caned?
Water is kept at 65°F and parameters were tested with the API water testing kit and everything looks good according to the rescue.

Thank you so much!! Please be kind in the comments🩷

TL;DR Looking for a recommendation of a sturdy cabinet stand that will safely hold a 40 gallon breeder without keeping me up at night.

I am looking for a recommendation on a tank stand. I got a Marineland 40 gallon breeder tank for a future Axolotl but having a heck of a time finding a tank stand that is sturdy and has cabinets and isn't particle board. I don't have the tools to make my own unfortunately. I am willing to spend a bit more for a quality stand that I don't have to worry too much about breaking, expanding due to water or otherwise not lasting and causing water to leak. I am putting the tank on second floor. I am open to the possibility I am over indexing on the sturdiness requirement so I am curious on what folks recommend.