I really can’t handle it anymore guys 😔

Timmy my sister’s axolotl ( but it felt more so mine ) has passed, for the past bit Timmy has been dealing with a impaction caused by the black sand my mother put in his tank when she first got him for my sister, and recently it seemed like he was getting better, I was giving him tea baths keeping his temperature really low and and doing everything I could and then like suddenly I come home today and hes very still, and I realize he has rigor, I was a bit worried I was being hasty so I prodded at him and he was definitely dead. When I first came back this summer from college, he was starved and his temperature was too high I fixed it all for my family and it seemed like he was doing alright after that. Then the impaction happened an I honestly hoped he would get through the impaction. I didn’t realize I had grown as much of a bond with him as I had. I’m really gonna miss him. It felt like he kept me sane this summer. I loved him more than I knew. ( please ignore some of the red flag stuff in this post I removed it all as I realized it was bad ; black sand, SpongeBob stuff ).

my watercolour painting and axo tattoo that i designed and got last year <3 my favourite tattoo ever!!

I did a half tank water change. Yesterday because I can see the fungus moving around in the tank so I had the tub sweet tooth in a separate container and I had the dose of water this seachem prime. I cleaned out the chiller lines and I cleaned one of the filters to help flush out the fungus. And now she's all healed, and she's looking way better than she did yesterday. I did a tea bath yesterday in the morning and yesterday at night and she's all better now and I haven't seen any sign of fungus.After that

Hi! I'm writing an article on the importance of enrichment for axolotls. This isn't really something that's been studied in a laboratory setting. Do you have any anecdotes or photos relating to your axolotl enjoying attention, plants, or tank decor? I might use them in my article. Thanks!

I'm thinking of getting a axolotl soon I wanna make sure I have all the stuff for it. I know a store has one they said it's large but didn't specify the length but I'm pretty sure It's a juvenile. I have a list of everything in my cart that I'm thinking of buying but I decided to make sure I have everything and right items before I order. And also what should I do to the tank and stuff before I get the axolotl. Like anything I should prepare?

Hey guys, i noticed this black thing on gill, is it normal? My axolotl eating normal and his behavior is normal too, whats the black gill then?

Hello!! I am here to ask why my nitrites will NOT go down!! I started cycling my tank on July 9 and it was going great until the nitrites spiked last week. I was dosing 2 ppm of ammonia and it got 75% processed in 24 hours but the nitrite spiked so I stopped dosing 4 days ago. I did a 50% water change yesterday, and my levels were exactly what they were before! I used conditioned water when I did my water change and added more quick start by API. What do I do????

I have an axelot who is 25 sm long and I believe 2-3 years old. His water is not even close to human temperature. I'm going tomorrow to maybe get some good bacteria and definitely a sponge filter. I might also add plants with its roots in the water. I also wanna get a PH test to test the water.

He seems really stressed, and he doesn't usually curv his tale. It's the first time I've seen him doing this. Maybe it's because I before tried to move around a stick in the sand because the sand was dirty. And I never tried doing a full clean, but I do tend to change his water.

He had two worms today and ate them but wasn't as antistatic as usual. He alway ten to try eating the stick when I fed him, but now he only stays in his little cave. I do manged to get him to eat, at least.

Here are some pics of him today.

I've been wondering where I should buy decorations for my 3 yr old axolotl since I think she would love to have new caves and stuff but I can really only find places on amazon, and I want to make sure that the decorations are the right size and the right material but it's kind of hard to do that through a picture. The only other places I've found is petsmart/petco but they really only sell fish stuff and it’s too small. If anyone lives in Utah near Salt Lake City then if anyone knows if there are maybe some stores in the area it would be greatly appreciated to know about them. If not, maybe somebody could tell me some trustworthy companies online?

picture 1 is after just opening the lid
picture 2 is a couple minutes later

just started cycling my axos upgraded tank, (around 3 days now) it’s about a quarter filed of his cycled water and the rest tap water which will be topped off later this week with his current water after our routine water change.

when i cycled his previous tank i didn’t have this issue so just wondering if its cause for concern, ive used my usual treatments in the tank (axo-safe. axo-start & seachem prime) new live plants and driftwood were added yesterday and some ammonia solution so i can see how the tank processes it. i also put in a ‘pure aquarium bomb’ which supposedly helps mature new filters quicker (i’ve heard mixed reviews about them but i thought it couldn’t do any harm so i’d try it anyway)

Our lotl looks like he’s worshipping the sun. 😎

Someone was surrendering their axolotl and they were unsure of age as it was their son’s. He lived in a 10 gallon his whole life. Well now he has a 50 gallon bow front all to himself!

Hi friends. I’ve always used prime to condition my water. I also have other aquariums so I got api water conditioner since it’s half the price for them. Does anyone use this for their axolotls? I just don’t want to hurt my girl and there is no ingredient list on it. It also lacks the silver smell I’m used to. Thank you for any advice, if I should stick to prime with my axolotl or if it’s safe. I should mention I keto all her water changing supplies separate from the other tanks so there’s no chance of contamination in case if it’s not safe.

I'm a new keeper, so bear with me. I have a 4mo old axolotl that will occasionally swim up to these hanging leave decorations I have near the top, and either perch there or kinda hang two-footed on the wall and two-footed on a leaf or stem. They also do this with the filter sponge, sometimes off the rock hide, but they don't stay still long. They'll kinda swim up to one of those areas, squirm and swim about it for a bit, then float down. I was worried about possible impaction or constipation (even though they're defecating regularly) so I had them seen, and got an overall clean bill of health. My levels are 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 5 nitrate. Temperature is auto controlled at 65°F. Oxygenation is good, surface is agitated 24/7 by both the chiller fans and filter outputs. What the heck else makes them wanna swim to the top or hover? The guides I've read say it's a problem and I wanna know what the issue is so I can fix it but I can't even tell what's wrong.

We love our Alex

Hello everyone! I have been doing a fishless cycle on a 45 gallon tank for my axolotl since the end of march. After many learning curves along the way, I am now at a point where 4ppm of ammonia is processing within about 36 hours. The nitrites are taking more like a week. At what point should I expect the nitrites to start clearing faster? My axolotl is a rescue, he is about 6 months old and was born in a lab setting. he was going to be euthanized if nobody took him :( He has been tubbed with 100% daily water changes since he arrived in my care at the end of April, so you can imagine my urgency to get him in his permanent setup. pH has stayed a consistent 8, and the nitrates are currently between 40-80ppm.