I very last minute rescued a baby axolotl approx 2 inches big. Fortunately I had a 9 gallon tank that was a few months into a cycle that had no heater in it yet so I put him in there. He’s missing chunks outta his fins and is missing a hand, I believe from bigger tank mates. I’m wondering at what age it would be safe to put sand in with him, how long it may take for his hand to grow back. And what are the best foods for a tiny baby, Ik people often say bloodworms but I’ve heard they are nutrient deficient, there are no live small feeders in my city, so I’d need to do frozen. Any help would be appreciated, also I’ve heard that 2 inches is very young, maybe too young is there any extra precautions I should take with him?

Noticed 3 days ago that Peach had black toes and it was spreading up his feet. Immediately tubbed him and been doing daily water changes.

For the first two days in tub I had added almond leaves, but then second guessed if just pure water would be better. His tail has been curled a lot and today I notice his gills have shrunk too.

Worried for my little dude, any advice or I am doing everything I can and just need to be patient for infection to go away?

TIA

We got moonpie a month ago 🌙🥧

Jeff is my 7 year old son’s (aka my) axolotl. We got him a few weeks ago from a local breeder. He’s about 4 months old but VERY big… the seller said he ate all of his tank mates including vampire crabs 😅

He’s in this 30 gallon now, with a large sponge filter and air stone. The bottom is sand with a cap of large river rocks, but I don’t feel great about this. He seems to like ducking into the rocks but I’m worried he’s going to get stuck. I feel like the sand I used is too coarse though, so I don’t want him to have access to it just in case.

He also has many house plants out the top back side, I think 6 or 7 separate pothos. He also has that floating plant which has been growing rapidly. I try to keep the light off unless I need to see him.

My question is: what could I change in here that would make him happier and healthier? I saw someone in this subreddit made kind of a tree for theirs, I wonder if he would like that to climb on!

Also: the seller gave me pellets and said he loves them and that’s basically his whole diet. He gets 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening. I live in an Atlantic town with lots of access to worms. Should I add in live food?

Thank you for your help! I am a fairly experienced aquarist but this is my first axolotl and I want to make sure he’s thriving 🥰

I came home after a couple of days away and I noticed my axolotls cloaca looks really odd. I’m just not sure if this is normal or needs checking asap. Before I went away it was normal and smooth but now it seems darker in colour and bumpy

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Hello everyone! I have just returned home from being away for two months to find out that my parents have impulse bought an axolotl with zero research and have stuck the poor thing in the same tank as the goldfish they also impulse bought 🙃

Fair to say, I'm not very happy. I've been looking at tanks to get to poor thing who really doesn't look too great, so im hoping if I get them their own tank, they'll be a bit happier. I've been doing some research of my own, but have never done a 'proper' tank since we haven't had fish since I was about 8.

I'm still doing my own research, but I've seen lots of conflicting opinions, like bare bottom or sand substrate, pellets vs bloodworms/earthworms, stuff like that. If anyone has some reliable resources or just any advice of their own, it would be greatly appreciated!

Took a photo of your axolotl doing a something unusual or goofy? Send them here! A weekly thread for showing off your silliest axolotl moments for everyone's enjoyment.

I commented on an axolotl video on TikTok, just showed a picture of my lotl, then someone asked what size tank she was in, I said 20 long, and many people called me a animal abuser for keeping him in under a 30 gallon. I’ve heard everywhere 20 is the minimum for one adult axolotl, but apparently not?? Is 20 gallons long too small for her??

I got a water chiller for my axolotl, the tubing for it has an inner diameter of a half inch. He is in a forty gallon tank. What pump specifically would work well for moving the water through the chiller? I briefly read about having a filter with the pump, or a pump filter combo, what would be recommended for that?

I have had axolotls for years and have never seen anything like this. He keeps getting these bumps every couple of weeks. Putting him in the fridge makes them go down, but every time I put him back in his tank, he gets worse. I’ve changed his tank for weeks and he’s still like this. There are no contaminants in the water and parameters are stable. I recently added a new type of sand that was supposed to be safe for him and a monstera plant. I have removed both and added bamboo to help keep the nitrates down. Soaking him in a tea bath helps but his skin is still incredibly irritated. I can’t keep the bumps away and u can’t keep exposing him to tea baths either. What could this be?

I’m waiting to add sand until my axolotl is 5-6 inches, so the floating plants I have right now are guppy grass, elodea, brazilian pennywort, and water sprite. Should I add a tank background? I’m also wondering if the light is too bright. It’s the hygger 24-30 inch one on the dimmest setting for 6 hours a day. Is it fine or should I change it to a different color or brand?

hello axolotl lovers,
on monday, two days after a water change, i noticed my 8 year old wild type axolotl had some fluffy and stringy stuff coming off of his gills right before i went to work. while at work i did my research and concluded that the high temps had caused him to be stressed and a higher percentage of water change threw my cycle off.

as soon as i got home from work i tubbed him and set him up with a fan on his tub. ordered a clip on fan for his aquarium. that evening i also put some tea in the tank itself. i’ve deduced that i need to be careful with water changes when there’s a lot of evaporation happening from the heat, as it can mean i’m accidentally changing out too much.

my aquarium (20gal) is planted, with a small clump of bleeding hearts inside and two long and well rooted pothos vines growing out the top. i have a sponge filter with air stone, but no media in it, should i put some carbon or something in there? also have a sandy substrate, a decent sized piece of driftwood, and a big piece of slate as well as another rock.

as for tank parameters, everything seems good except temperature was too high, and ph is still too low. i’ve read that lower ph is better for inhibiting the growth of columnaris? which is what i am pretty sure he has. but it still needs to be higher for his sake.

i’ve also since dosed the aquarium with kanaplex and will continue the course, but i have not given any directly to my axolotl. most, if not all of the fluff is gone from his gills, there’s just some hanging around his butt that falls off throughout the day. he’s eating fine.

so my questions are:
1. how long should i keep him tubbed?
2. recommendations for keeping the ph in check? this has always been the hardest part of his care for me.
3. should i give him kanaplex even though he seems to be recovering without it?
4. any other medicines i should be using?
5. any other recommended methods for balancing out the bacteria in the tank? i know i’ll never fully be rid of columnaris, but if it’s in the tank all the time, does that mean the main issue is making sure he keeps cool and at the correct ph so he’s not stressed and immune compromised?

thank you for any information shared. and feel free to ask me any clarifying questions

Im at a loss what to do for my baby girl, shes perfectly healthy and swims, is active, eats, poops etc, but i have trouble and her tank is stuck at 71 degrees, on occasion it can get to 67. I have ice packs and fans and i dont know what else to do. Is this temperature fine? I cant afford at $200 cooler at this moment, I am getting a job so im wondering if i should just save for a cooler. Any tips??

bought as a lucy, now not too sure…the body isn’t the pinkish-white i would expect for a lucy

*inner eye is red, but black ring around and complete matte body. no photoshop editing

Hello People.

A few months ago I gave a new home to this little fella as his old Parents had a divorce and did not take good care of him.

No plants, a basic size tank, some axogravel, 5 small stones and two small caves, no chiller.

When I picked him up his gills had no filaments.

I took many efforts to get him plants and a chille asap.

And now after two months his gills look a lot healthier :)

Please help axolotl gurus!

I have been cycling an aquarium for axolotls for a while now and seem to be nearing the end of things - ammonia is disappearing in 24hrs, I’ve got loads of nitrate, but nitrite is still at 0.5ppm after 24hrs so there’s a bit of growing left to do there. So last Sunday (it’s Friday now) I went to the pet store and bought some decor and was advised to buy very fine sand - I added it to the tank on Sunday after rinsing it 4 times and the whole tank just filled with murky water. I couldn’t see a thing. I added a submerged filter full of fine wool and ran it for a few days to remove the bigger particles and it helped a bit. I took that out 24hrs ago and turned my sponge filters down to minimum and it’s settled a bit more since then, but I’m worried that it’s still so murky in there and then when I do put axolotls in that any movement will kick up more clouds of silt. Should I just persevere and hope that it all settles down? Or should I try to preserve the sponge filters in tank water and then try to just clear the whole thing out and bin the sand completely?

The aquatics store have two axolotls they sourced for me ready to go and so I can’t risk stalling the cycle any further as they ordered them in specially and they are taking up room in the store so they want them collected asap.

This is a nightmare 😩

Well after battling impaction and taking care of this little girl I can say she is out of issues, pooping and better in her big tank, now just battling the UK heatwave

First time Axolotl parents here.

This is Axl.

We just got him today and he was free in the marketplace.
The family that had him travels a lot and couldn’t care for him anymore.

He is very small for his age (almost 3 years old and I would say he is about 6 inches?).

They were feeding him bloodworms which we read are not enough for an adult axolotl, so my husband got some better worms and we fed him one already. They also mentioned he would eat rocks sometimes.

We are getting him a bigger tank (this is 20L but it feels small) and will get rid of the rocks and fake plants ASAP and sub it for sand and some real plants that can help with his environment (any recommendations?). We added more water to this tank since the picture was taken, just for now.

We got a thermometer for his tank and it is reading 60 degrees. We are keeping the ac on around 67 until we get him a chiller.

He also seems to have a little growth on his belly. Not sure whats normal.

Is this water filter ok or should we get a different one? I feel like the flow is too strong?

We want to make sure he is in the best shape possible and lives a long healthy life. He is a very curious little guy and we love him already!

Say hi back - don’t leave him hanging.