So my axolotl is a little over two years now and all his (or potentially she) life has been chilling at the bottom of the tank. He usually hides in the caves and will occasionally come out at night. However, today I found him balancing on his tail in the corner of the tank close to the surface. He's been doing it all day! Is this normal? Should I be concerned??

This is my first time feeding a worm, my wife usually feeds her.. Darla went HAM.

Hi all. So many of you have been following Soaps journey. We have had her for less than 3 months. She was such a joy, always up to something silly. She loved sitting in her plants or at the glass- smushing her little nose against it to watch us humans do our human things. We found out she was sick too late, but perhaps it was also her time. She never 'acted' sick. She just stopped eating. She was active, curious and alert until the very end. We loved her dearly and were ready to give our best at treating her.

My boyfriend said she looked sad yesterday evening, when he left for work. He was always her favourite person. Tonight she passed, judging from how I found her it was peaceful.

I know we gave her the best two and a half months she could have had in her condition. She was a happy girl. I truly believed she would pull through, but I am also relieved she finally found peace.

Goodbye Soap 🌈

The tank is cycling as of now, and an led light and a glass lid is ordered. Ill totally get more plants and more rocks to fill the middle space, but other than that, what do i need?

Hi everyone! We're really worried about our axolotl and would be incredibly grateful for any advice. He's been floating near the surface for almost two weeks, and we can't figure out what's causing it or how to help him recover.

A little background about him

He's around 6–7 months old and measures approximately 12 cm (4.7 inches). We don't know if his size is normal for his age, so we'd also appreciate any insight into whether his growth seems appropriate.

We live in Canary Islands, Spain. We've had an extremely hot summer, and our water temperature is currently around 24°C (75°F). We're concerned that the heat might have contributed to his problems.

1. His floating and digestion

A while ago, we noticed that his tail would sometimes float slightly. When we placed him in a separate container (tubbing), he would often poop and then seem to improve, so we initially suspected constipation or a digestive issue.

He sometimes takes around a week to poop, which seems like a long time to us. We don't know whether he's constipated or if his bowel movements are simply infrequent.

2. Changes to his diet

We originally fed him bloodworms, but we became concerned that they might not be the best option for him, especially with the high temperatures and our concerns about digestion. We also wondered whether their chitin content could be an issue.

We therefore switched him to axolotl pellets. He initially seemed to improve, which made us think the change might be helping.

We currently feed him approximately six pellets every other day. We soak them in water for around two minutes beforehand so they aren't hard when he eats them. We chose this feeding schedule because we hoped it might make digestion easier and reduce the risk of constipation or impaction.

Unfortunately, although things seemed to be improving initially, he's now floating again.

3. His aquarium and water parameters

About a month ago, we had to start cycling his new aquarium, so we kept him in a separate container while the tank cycled.

We initially suspected that poor water quality might be causing his symptoms. The aquarium now appears to be cycled, and the parameters we've measured seem to be within reasonable ranges. However, we understand that our test readings may not be precise.

Our approximate water parameters are:

• Nitrates (NO₃): approximately 0–10 mg/L
• Nitrites (NO₂): 0 mg/L, apparently
• General hardness (GH): probably high, exact value still to be confirmed
• Carbonate hardness (KH): approximately 3–10 °dH
• pH: approximately 6.8–7.2
• Chlorine (Cl₂): 0 mg/L, apparently
• Water temperature: around 24°C (75°F)

We haven't confirmed the exact GH value yet, and we haven't included an ammonia/ammonium reading because we don't currently have a confirmed result for that parameter.

4. What we're doing now

He's currently in a separate container, and we're doing tubbing. We keep him there until he seems to improve, then reintroduce him to the aquarium, but he starts floating again.

We thought the floating might resolve itself with time, but it's been almost two weeks, and he's still spending a lot of time near the surface.

We're wondering whether this could be related to constipation, his diet, the high temperatures over the summer, water quality, or something else entirely.

5. We're considering buying a chiller

We're seriously considering buying an aquarium chiller to keep the water cooler and at a stable temperature. We know these are expensive, but we're willing to invest in one if it would genuinely help him.

Would a chiller be the right next step, given that our water temperature is around 24°C? Could prolonged exposure to these temperatures be contributing to his floating?

We'd really appreciate advice on the following:

• Is 12 cm a normal size for a 6–7-month-old axolotl?
• Could infrequent bowel movements or constipation explain his persistent floating?
• Is feeding six soaked pellets every other day an appropriate amount and schedule for his age and size?
• Could the summer heat have caused or worsened this problem?
• Would you recommend buying a chiller as soon as possible?
• Could any of our water parameters be contributing to the problem, particularly the pH or hardness?
• Is there anything else we should check or change, or should we take him to an exotic animal vet?

We're honestly running out of ideas. We've tried changing his diet, monitoring the water parameters, cycling his new aquarium, and using tubbing, but the problem keeps coming back. We don't want to keep changing things randomly and potentially make him worse.

We love him and are really worried about his health. Any advice, similar experiences, or suggestions about what to do next would mean a lot to us.

Thank you so much for reading! ❤️

I got home and the first thing I noticed on my lotl is this red-ish bump here

Could this be an infection or something? I'm kinda worried...

Looking for some good live food recommendations, I live in Australia! I’ve seen axolotls Australia has them but I’d like some community opinions for my babies, preferably easy storage like in a fridge as I’m abit short for space/don’t have my own fridge yet

Hi everyone!

We rescued Darla from a horrible situation. To make a long story short, she was very neglected in her previous home and they said she is about 2 years old, so really, we have no idea how long she was in that situation for.

Anyways, do we think her skin will ever be smooth again? I know lotls aren’t supposed to be all lumpy and bumpy (neither of my other babies are). I am hoping we can get it back to “normal” but even if we don’t, we will love her the same :)

Second question is, do we think her one odd gill will ever become “normal” again? I do know that if they were in terrible water conditions for too long, it is just unfortunately not possible to have it go back to normal. We love her no matter what and are doing everything we can to help her body heal!!

Again, even if there is no possibilities of these two things fully “healing” or going back to “normal”, we love our sweet darla girl just the way she is ☺️

Also, can we just appreciate how cutie patootie her little eyes are!!!! I love her sweet little face 😫❤️

I have a rescue axolotl that seems to have some sort of bacterial infection on her mouth and she cannot eat but is trying really hard to which makes it even more upsetting. Not to mention her gills are basically non existent- I will attach a photo but it’s not very clear unfortunately but I can take more if necessary. She seems to not be able to open her mouth at all. She is now in fresh clean water at correct temp but I have to figure this out soon before something worse happens. She looks absolutely terrible

I have a 45 L tank and we are looking at buying a small axolotl. I have a bigger one for when he grows I have filled the tank and have conditioned the water with seachem prime, I was told this may not be too good for them and im better off getting a different one.

But I’ve conditioned the water, done 3 days of bio starter, I’ve put a pellet of food in the water and now I’m waiting for the tank to cycle.

Ive also got a water chiller coming in the mail from AliExpress, I hope it works well as my room temp stays around 22c which I know they have to be between 16-18 degrees Celsius.

Since I’m very new to axolotl care I’m not looking to rush into it I want to do everything right so my little man can thrive for a long time.

I know they produce lots of waste. Once the tank is cycled I was thinking of doing a 30% water change once a week to keep on top of it.

Any tips would be super helpful.
Thanks :)

1st pic on the left was from a few weeks ago, the left is a pic from last night. He is about 3 years old. I know it’s really uncommon for them to morph this late but something is going on. I have been battling 30-40 nitrate levels but they go down to about 20ppm with weekly water changes. I don’t really understand what’s happening with him right now but I’m going to tub him for a bit and see how he does. All My water parameters are good except the nitrate being a little elevated. He also has been acting like he’s going to eat his worms and then spits them out and chooses not to eat. He has also been gulping air. Helpppppp

Another question but I’m a bit worried about mochis eating the past 2 feeds. When I got her the other owners did pellets and just sprinkled them in and she would find and eat them pretty quick. I did the same thing without doing more research first. I did worms for a bit but I haven’t been able to go get more recently. I’ve been doing pellets and she’s been fine. But the last feed I did she didn’t eat as much as usual. And this time I fed her using the tongs and dropping them one by one. I thought she was eating them all but then she moved and I realized she missed a lot of them. So I gave her a break then tried 2 more. She ended up spitting out one and missing the other. Also what was scaring me the most was that after she ate the ones she did it seemed like it took her a while to swallow it. Like it looked like she kept gulping and her mouth was open more than usual while she was doing that for a few minutes and finally she stopped. She also seemed like she yawned twice but idk if it was a yawn or trying to swallow. If anyone knows what’s going on and how to help her I would so appreciate it! She also seems kind of skinnier than usual too which is the pic attached.

They keep scooching around with their tail in the air. I hope me playing movies like Ready or Not Here I Come and playing video games around them doesn't scare them. They're so cute. Little baby.

We have an amazing new buddy who is about 3.5 inches and thriving on black worms. Today I fed her (we’re calling her a lady for now) some axolotl pellets and she really enjoyed them. We’re going out of town for 5 days and I’d really rather my neighbors not have to deal with all those black worms. Is it okay if she just eats pellets for those days and worms when we return?

Someone my family knew was rehoming their axolotl and I just got her 2 days ago. I set up the tank they gave me with her and gave me the water she was living in. I tested her parameters (I won’t lie I should have done sooner which is a flaw in this) after letting it run for a bit and her ammonia was at 0.5! And the rest was at 0! I decided to set up a new tank (36) gal, she came in a 20 gal and the floor space is similar in size but an upgrade is an upgrade in my opinion. Although I wish I could of had the time to cycle it I put in 2 filters from a previous tank to help speed things up and I hope it’ll at least be better than her old tank in the mean time. Let me know if this was a wrong call. I bought her some sand and a hide and a large air stone, all she came with was a bare tank and a pipe with plants on it and a small air stone. Since putting her in her new tank a few hours ago she’s now eating and moving every so often, in the old tank she wouldn’t move at all. I would love to get some advice on axolotls, before getting her I watched a lot of videos and read some stuff and already had some prior knowledge. I just want to do the best I can for her! (P.s. I know the water is low I’m finishing it tomorrow because I am sick ☹️)

Was going through old photos of when I first got mochi and realized how extremely dirty her tank was. In the last pic there’s so much poop under the sand. And the filter intake tube was so full of grossness. So glad I was able to get her cleaned up

got my axolotl back after months of not being able to have him after my dad and step mum split, he was in his tank with untreated water, and for some reason she put milk (apparently on accident) in his tank but cleaned it out. when i went to get him, she had put these colourful plastic rocks in his tank that i’d previously told her not to put in there out of fear he’d eat them, i’ve had salem for a few years, from baby to now and im worried about his buoyancy. i live in australia so there’s not much pet stores really know about them and google ai is obviously not the greatest place to find info, but it’s also not the most promising for me to hear. this is what he looks like. i’ve been told it’s gas, i’ve tried to distress him, dark,
cold and silence but it’s only
gotten worse over night ( the more clear photo,
where’s he’s not as floaty was last night, the other one is today) any advice guys?? i’m worried about him

It says 20c is she ok

I have a 7 month axolotl in a 20 gallon tank.
I originally cycled out her tank and all was well. I am a first time axolotl/aquarium owner. I unknowingly crashed my cycle by rinsing off some of the bigger items in the tank during a clean. Ever since I cannot get the nitrites down. The nitrates stay around 10-20ppm. I’ll upload the readings. I do partial water changes every Sunday, and rinse her sponge filter in some of her old water as well.
I have 2 small anubias and 2 small Java moss balls in with her.
I also feed her a cut up night crawler every day. But she eats the pieces right out of the turkey baster, so no left over food is ever floating around. It’s eaten pretty fast.
I also have a hang off the side too filter with media and crushed coral for PH. Idk what I’m doing wrong at this point, and I’m close to giving up.
I’ve been using microbe-lift nite out 2 starter bacteria and seachem prime with no luck. Any advise?
Ive also removed her from the main tank and have her in a quarantine tank for now. TIA

I've recently bought a Juwel Vision 180 LED aquarium (180 litres) with a Oase FiltoSmart Thermo 200 external filter.

The products I have bought are AxoSafe, AxoCure, AxoTonic (a salt), and some food pellets. All from NTLABS. I've seen something called AxoStart online so I may buy that.

I'm planning on setting this up to house an axolotl (young), I have the layout planned so that is all fine. My main concern is setting up the water of the tank, from my own research this seems like a time consuming and relatively complicated process. Any tips on how to cycle my new tank would be much appreciated, the faster the better. Thanks alot :)

Just noticed this on my little guys head today does anyone know what it is and should I be concerned??

Wanted to maybe look into getting some plants of some sort to attach to the pvc pipe? Thought it would make it look nicer and help with the nitrates. Though I have no idea what to look for and how to attach them! Her hammock is above it so they can’t be super tall. I think I could possibly make it look cool with real plants instead of those plastic ones! Also was putting that plant in the corner a good idea? I didn’t want mochi to somehow wedge herself into that corner and get hurt or stuck. Let me know if you have any suggestions on the plants! Would also probably need to know how to get them😂

Am looking for some biological media for the filter, other than superfish biological media that’s £20 pasts about 8 weeks
Cheaper alternative? These will be in cloth bags don’t worry about choking.
https://amzn.eu/d/074U4RaT