Hello!
My name is Justina, and my husband Ej and I are water hobbiests. Weve got a 2year old daughter, and were all obsessed with fish and their marine environments.
Recently, we started raising an axolotl we've named Oliver.
We bought her and her tank mate whom we've named Artie, and we watched them doot around happily in complete bliss. For one day. Then our tank overheated (72°f) during the night (I work nights) while no one was awake to check on it. The thermostat in the house was raised due to freezing weather (we live in a house with 6 other people) and although the ambient day time temp of the tank is 64°f, that night really messed them up. We tried fridging them after wards for a couple of days; the water in the fridge had read stably at 62°f. Oliver is fine. She had slight discoloration in small patches that went away. Her gill fronds look a little 'clumpy' which is concerning, but she's otherwise fine. We ended up losing Artie. Even after fridging him, and maintaining a stable temp, his condition deteriated over the 3 days until he ultimatly succumbed and died. He started shedding his slime layer, his gill fronds curled and clumped, and his color just slowly drained. Every thing i had read said that fridging was the best option because of the temp flux, since he wasnt showing signs of fungus which would require a salt bath first.
SO, that brings us here.
All of this happened with in the last week. Iv got oliver in a stand alone 10gal, no air or filter, daily 20% water changes and top floating plants. Were ordering an aquarium fan, and better thermometer. For now were doing small frozen water bottles at night since the temp fluxes only happen then; other wise the temp is at 64f perpetually.
We were looking for advice and help, which is why we joined the site.
Should we replace Artie with another axie, since she was used to having one? Iv read very conflicting things, where some sources say alone is fine, some say social should be kept in pairs, some say 10gal is fine for a pair, some say 20gal+ only, ect.
Oliver is only 5in long, and so was Artie. I'll attach photos.
We also have some tadpoles and a freshwater 20gal long display tank with an angel, eels and gurami (both seperate). We love water pets, and just want to give them good lives. Any advice is welcome, sorry if this was tldr or something that would warrant subforum moving.
Cheers~
My name is Justina, and my husband Ej and I are water hobbiests. Weve got a 2year old daughter, and were all obsessed with fish and their marine environments.
Recently, we started raising an axolotl we've named Oliver.
We bought her and her tank mate whom we've named Artie, and we watched them doot around happily in complete bliss. For one day. Then our tank overheated (72°f) during the night (I work nights) while no one was awake to check on it. The thermostat in the house was raised due to freezing weather (we live in a house with 6 other people) and although the ambient day time temp of the tank is 64°f, that night really messed them up. We tried fridging them after wards for a couple of days; the water in the fridge had read stably at 62°f. Oliver is fine. She had slight discoloration in small patches that went away. Her gill fronds look a little 'clumpy' which is concerning, but she's otherwise fine. We ended up losing Artie. Even after fridging him, and maintaining a stable temp, his condition deteriated over the 3 days until he ultimatly succumbed and died. He started shedding his slime layer, his gill fronds curled and clumped, and his color just slowly drained. Every thing i had read said that fridging was the best option because of the temp flux, since he wasnt showing signs of fungus which would require a salt bath first.
SO, that brings us here.
All of this happened with in the last week. Iv got oliver in a stand alone 10gal, no air or filter, daily 20% water changes and top floating plants. Were ordering an aquarium fan, and better thermometer. For now were doing small frozen water bottles at night since the temp fluxes only happen then; other wise the temp is at 64f perpetually.
We were looking for advice and help, which is why we joined the site.
Should we replace Artie with another axie, since she was used to having one? Iv read very conflicting things, where some sources say alone is fine, some say social should be kept in pairs, some say 10gal is fine for a pair, some say 20gal+ only, ect.
Oliver is only 5in long, and so was Artie. I'll attach photos.
We also have some tadpoles and a freshwater 20gal long display tank with an angel, eels and gurami (both seperate). We love water pets, and just want to give them good lives. Any advice is welcome, sorry if this was tldr or something that would warrant subforum moving.
Cheers~