HELP ME FROM NEW ZEALAND

Hey please help me. My large male axie who is coming up 10 has lost his gills. He is large and shares his tank with a pond fish (who was a feeder fish that he never caught) and a couple of feeder fish who dissapear when hez hungry! They never bother him and try to stay away but still his gills are nothing but tiny red dots! They used to be huge....The only thing I can think of is that he has been negleted by my younger brother for the last 6months but I have rescued him but still I see no change....please help what do you think

Jemma...kiwi in need}}}}}

[kapo]

Could be a combination of fish and/or water quality.

Fish are not usually ideal tankmates, I know that they are feeder fish, but maybe the larger one or a few of them have been nibbling his gills, which could account for damage.

Also, fish create more waste (on top of an axies waste) so could also be down to high ammonia/nitrite in the water? Have you tested the tankwater using test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? What is your tank temp too? And, if the fish are in same tank, is it possible to move them to another tank?

(If you don't have a test kit take a sample of water to the petshop and ask them to test it and give you the readings for each).

Other thing, is he in the same tank that your brother had or have you moved him to a completely new setup tank recently? If so has it been cycled?

If the ammonia and/or nitrite are above 0 then do a 20-30% waterchange (this could also account for gill damage - high ammonia/nitrite toxicity).

Ok...what am I looking for in regards to a test kit? Can I just go into a pet shop and ask for a test kit? Do you know how much they are? Just a ball park figure.

And Cycling??? Ive read others in the forum talking about it but I hav no idea what it is!

Ahhh Im such a bad owner! I got my axie when I was really young and guess I just thought I could chuck him in a tank and think he was fine.... oh so young and stupid! Now I really want him to be happy!! Well Him or her I dont even know.

They temp is quite cold. I will have to measure i and let you know...what is the optimum temp?

It is the same tank that my brother had but has been completly cleaned and the stones where boiled and cooled becasue I noticed there were these white worm things all over the tank....I mean ALL OVER! Broke my heart.

Anyway god there is so much I Have no idea about.

Ok there is also a big chunk missing out of his tail that hasnt healed.

I have been changing 25% of the water each week or so. Can you give me any ideas or clues on what I should be doing....Im like a oldie newbie axie owner. Hes realy active and seems happy and he has had a mixture of live fish and tubex worms.

Thank you so so so so much yourve been such a great help and really open my eyes! Plus you axie is so cute! My big old 'Gizmo' send his thanks too... look forward to hearing fromyou!!!!

Jemma and Gizmo

[kapo]

That is one of our axies, Brodie - she's 11months (a baby compared to yours), bit bossy, greedy and messy - always snuffles in sand (hence her face looks like a chimney sweeps!).

Ok no need to kick yourself about it, the good thing is you've found this site which is full of helpful people and advice. Also, you've managed to keep him this long, so you've done something right!

Essential things you need:

Water test kits that test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (individually they cost about $17-$20 at petshop; or you can get a master freshwater test kit which also includes low ph and high ph range testing - costs up to $75 for this one; or alternatively you can get them on Trademe/Oneway for $45-$50 - that's where we got ours).

Thermometer - try not to let your temp go above 22-24 deg. as heat stresses the axie out. They prefer cooler temps, anything between 5 deg. cel to 18 deg cel. (range from $3-$10 in price at petshop).

Turkey baster (can picked up from $2/pricebusters shops or supermarkets a bit more) - these are great for spot cleaning poos/uneaten food/waste daily.

(Message edited by kapo on October 01, 2006)

article on cycling. http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml
The tank is going to recycle as it has been stripped down and cleaned.
The white worms are a harmless flat worm but thier presence indicates that there was poor water quality.

Ed

[kapo]

I copied this from one of Jennewts posts as she says it so much better than I can (I'd probably confuse you!) "Cycling is the process where you get the tank ready by keeping a fish in it to get the tank to the point where it breaks down waste products naturally". See:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/faq/FAQwat.shtml

By doing a complete tank clean you wiped out your good bacteria on your established cycled tank and rocks and it has started cycling from scratch.

You will need to test your water (most petshops will do for free) until you can get a test kit set, especially while it is cycling.

The new cycling could have caused the gills to burn down too (from toxic ammonia and/or nitrite as the wastes decomposes). And doing only a weekly waterchange during this process won't remove enuf of it make it safe. Ideally 25% waterchanges every few days (you can gauge when you need to do a water change by testing every 2nd to 3rd day, if the ammonia and nitrite are high do a 25% waterchange then.

The worms may have been there because of excess waste - any uneaten and decaying food/waste (which could be stuck under gravel/rocks buried in sand, under decos, in between plants or caves). The turkey baster works great in these areas (saves pulling out the siphon/gravel vacuum each day.

Also how big are your rocks are they the river rocks?

Do you feed those tubifex cubes? Our 3yr olds were fed solely on those (as previous owner was too busy to vary their diet and they were easy, hence his reason for sale), but the first week or so we had them their poos were really nasty (a sort of stringy white stuff and made the temporary tank smell even tho we did complete waterchanges - while theirs was cycling). Ours loves earthworms (no need to dig for them) lift up potplants, piecs of wood/garden furniture to find them esp. after its been raining! My nephew loves to worm hunt for us even tho we have worm farms set up. We've also fed them strips of oxliver/oxheart. Ours won't eat axie pellets. Never fed them shrimp, only cos the rest of the household would object, but some axie owners do.

You could remove your axie from tank, while it is cycling and put him in a smaller container (like one of those plastic storage ones) doing complete waterchanges daily on it.

ok So heres what Im going to do....

Take gizmo out and put him in a smaller container while the tank is cycling....how long should it take??

Take out the fish into a diferent tank.

Buy the test kits and sum plants and thinking that should be using sand insted of gravel is that right??

Im a little concerned because a snail that I had in the tank has died and I have no idea why....

The rocks are quite large and they are river rocks that he has had for the last 10years. There are heaps of pipes and stuff for him to hide in.

am i heading in the right dirrection???

Let me know yous have been the biggest help ever and am really enjoying learning all of this and hope to extend my big boys life....Im going to try post some pics of the damage in the next few days to show my concerns.....

Thanks again

Jemma and Gizmo

[kapo]

I don't know about snails, could have been the water cycling (ammonia/nitrite rising).

Sand is way better than gravel, you just have to give it a stir up every so often, turkey baster works! We also have a few river rocks strewn around our sand, just have to move them every so often to make sure waste isn't stuck beneath them. We use plastic plants, floating on water, as our axies decimated the plants dug them out and they died.

Sounds good tho.