So many pet stores are not correctly informing buyers on care.  Most are in business for the mighty dollar.

I don’t know what pet shops you’ve been going to but I know 100% we don’t do tht at the shop I work for! Animal welfare is too priority, I’ve refused sale of a lot of animals because something isn’t quite right.

same !! My mom and pop shop refuses sales all the time. And all we deal with is exotics. No dogs. Cat occasionally when the kitten season is really bad. We take in rescues get them shots and re home.

Please reassure your daughter it is NOT her fault.  This group can provide lots of great information  should she change her mind and want to have another.

Probably wasn’t completely cycled.  I would start again. Also, what dechlorinator were you using? Some of them are toxic. I only recommend prime by sea chem.

The tank was not cycled. It began cycling when you put the axolotl in and the spike in nitrites killed him. The pet store misinformed you badly. It’s not your fault, they’re good at that. They think they know what they’re talking about but they usually have no idea.

I agree that the tank probably wasn’t completely cycled. A completely cycled tank should have some nitrates but no nitrites or ammonia. The nitrite spike makes me think it was on the final cycle. Usually the ammonia will spike, then come down as the nitrites spike, then the nitrites will go away as the nitrates build up.

Also, you used dessert blend sand? As in reptile sand? I’m assuming that has chemicals in it that are not safe for aquatics, as i’ve never heard it being safe to use for aquariums. I also agree that your tank was not cycled yet:( Sadly it takes quite a while to really cycle an aquarium. I’m sorry you were misinformed!

also do a 100% water change and possibly change your filter medium before getting a new baby. Their might be leftover toxins from the sand hiding somewhere.

A rinse with tap water would kill the bacteria, but if there’s chemicals from the sand, they likely won’t be fully removed with a rinse. It’s safest to buy new filter media, clean the filter completely, and recycle the tank.

From what it sounds like, the tank wasn’t cycled in the first place; so it’s best to just clean everything, maybe get new filter pads, and begin the cycling process.

It doesnt actually sound like anything you did was that terrible, cycling of course is something that does take time, but putting him in fresh dechlorinated water would have saved him from a nitrite spike. You would notice sores/lesions, fungus and other physical signs if it were water quality hurting him.

Step 1: literally never trust what a pet store says. They have no idea how to care for these animals and I have rescued some from them.

And there’s controversy around cycling a tank because adding beneficial bacteria and priming the water will usually let you add an animal immediately. I’ve seen pet stores add a heater to an axolotl tank…big no-no. Adding an axolotl into a 20g will normally cause a spike you’d just have to watch and make sure that it doesn’t reach a dangerous level.

Im hoping you all can give us the correct steps, tank items etc we need. My babies heart is broken. We trusted them since they told us they had them as pets.

It’s really unfortunate but some cycling products say right on the bottle safe to add fish day 1. The tank just hadnt completely cycled, adding him caused it to tip off balance and spike. Mistakes happen.

Here’s a good link which explains how to cycle, what it is, and what you need. It can take about a month. I’m sorry that it happened, it’s very common that pet stores don’t even mention the nitrogen cycle, as they’re trying to make a quick sale. Feel free to message me with any questions.

I agree that the tank wasn’t cycled and the type of sand was wrong. At that size, go bare bottom as they were under 5in. Also, frozen bloodworms are a treat. Earthworms, red worms, pellets, and repashy grub pie are good staples. Also, at that age they need to eat 1 to 2 times a day.

https://fishlab.com/how-to-cycle-aquarium/

2 weeks isn’t enough for a tank to cycle, especially if it did not have any inhabitants. Now that you have, I hope you didn’t clean it out yet. Just keep running the filter. Sometimes it takes a month at least. If you have other aquatic animals like fish, plop one in there to get it going. You’ll be fine if you try again once your tank is cycled

I’ve had a lot of issues with my axies because I never knew about cycling tanks before getting them. I did in fish cycle with them and thank GOD they didn’t die. They’ve had problems since though. I know If something has spiked because salsa my pink boy swims a lot. And his gills have never recovered.

Then I bought my tank second hand from axolotl owners to find out the sand is crapola and I removed it but they’ve been pooping sand for weeks.

pet shops give the worst advice! And some axi owners too. Best advice I’ve gotten is from here and axolotls down under (as I’m An aussie) didn’t even know about chillers till 3 weeks ago!

I had my axies for a year when this happened and I followed every instruction in this feed. They were fine one day and the next they were floating. I did salt baths. Everything and they still died. 1 year. Watching them grow from literally tadpoles to big boys. Hand feeding them at every feeding. Watching every movement to make sure they were perfect. Water was chilled. Only the best for my babies. The only thing that happened differently was that I went to work and wasnt giving them as much attention as I had before. Tested water and everything was fine. Still heart broken… please tell your daughter that she did absolutely nothing wrong. As I am experienced and the same thing happened to me.

This is my second axie, Lotl. I too unfortunately  lost my first axie. However I did my research but still ended up losing him. So it’s not her fault, she was given bad information. I bought him from a pet store who did not care about what was good for him and only saw $$$. I tried to rescue him but he was to far gone. Tell your daughter not to give up. This sucks but it’s tough life lesson. One she will remember and for that it will so much more personal. She will learn and appreciate it so much more now. She will educate herself willingly now instead of taking advice from someone who is trying to make some $$$. Unfortunately not all stores have sincere, dedicated and responsible owners/employees! She can join groups like this, ask questions, learn from others and educate others as well. There’s a ton of information to learn here, some people may not be as nice as the should but there are so many kind, caring, understanding and genuine people here who really do love their axies and want to help others and do it out of the kindness of their heart and not for any other reasons. I myself have learned so much and am grateful to be a part of such a wonderful group. Tell her if she’s not ready that’s fine but keep learning what she can and one day if she’s ready then she can try again. I truly love having my axies, I’m hooked! Lol

That’s a horrible experience. If she is ok to get another, I have some that I would give you one of,if you would pay shipping and handling.

We have some that are babies (Axolotl  Oasis) . We would love to make your girl happy. And will supply you with one or two for free . Just pm us and we can figure out some stuff. We are located in Canada tho so no shipping to the USA