Can anyone tell me where I can find all the information about walking fish. Thanks.?

Question

My daughter had 2 walking fish, and she lost 1 and the other 1 got very sick. We thought we were going 2 lose it as well. The only thing we can think of, was when she topped up the tank and put liquid into the water to take out the chlorine. She also feeds them mealworms and bloodworms. Well, the mealworms had fungi growing on them from sitting in the bottom of the tank for awhile. Could this have caused it? A couple of days after she put the liquid in, the dark walking fish died. The white 1 was sick. We took it out and brought in some pond water from the front yard. Filled a small tank with water just enought to cover him. He seemed to get a lot better. We tried to put him back in the big fish tank again and he went lifeless again. We had to take him out again. Could somebody please help me.
Thank you.
Diane

Answer 1

The walking "fish" is actually a type of salamander called an axolotl, and these are sensitive to chemicals. It's best for them if you don't add anything more than needed (water conditioner to remove chlorine/chloramine). The fungus you saw (probably Achlya or Saprolegnia) is always present in aquaria, but relatively harmless. It grows on old food, but only attacks fish or other aquatic organisms if they're already sick, weakened, or have open wounds. But since it takes about 2 days to produce a good growth of "fuzz", you or your daughter should be removing uneaten food before this.

Do you test your water for ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate? If these build up and the water isn't changed frequently enough, they can be toxic to your axolotl. They also need cool water (around 65o) with very gentle aeration.

There may have been differences in the temperature or pH of the tank water and pondwater, and this is what did the second one in.

They also tend to be prone to air in their digestive systems if they aren't given food that sinks (you'll notice them floating near the surface and burping air bubbles). The bloodworms are fine to give to them, but also try sinking fish pellets or turtle pellets that you soak a minute or so prior to feeding.

Here are two links to sites I like with axolotl info: http://www.axolotl.org/ , http://inky.50megs.com/axolotlnewfaq.html

Answer 2

I think it might have been because the old food sitting there might have spoiled the water and made them sick. Sorry.

Your supposed to remove the food if they dont eat it within 5 minutes, if you leave it there it will spoil the water.