Illness/Sickness: Cloudy axie eyes help please

[Zoe]

So sorry to be posting yet again about something sure you guys are fed up with answering my questions!!!

I thought my wild axie's (Jabba) eyes had changed colour a bit this morning they looked a bit coudy but thought it may be me but upon feeding tonight my leucistic's (Mojo) eyes have also gone from black to slightly cloudy Finley my golden albino's eyes are fine what is causing this??

From what I have read in can be an ammonia problem but I do weekly tests and the water is fine and I also did a tank water change this week and I am meticulous about cleaning out poop and old food.

have just tested water again and all readings are in the ok range.

Any help again is much appreciated thanks so much! Zoe

[Zoe]

Ok slight update Jabba my wild appears to have some white bits on his gills on one side

Am I guessing I need to fridge both and give them salt baths or tea baths that I have read about, can someone with more experince in this give me advice please??

Also do I fridge them in the same container or seperate ones as 2 have cloudy eyes but only jabba has white on his gills.

As I say finley is fine so dont understand this??

None of them are showing signs of stress and all 3 are eating 2 earthworms every other day, only thing I do struggle with is keeping the tank cold as our house is hot for some reason and we dont even have the heating on but tank is around 23 and am currently waiting on some aquarium fans to be delivered at the moment.,

Thanks Zoe

[Tahnee]

Hey Zoe,

I don't really know anything about this, but does it look anything like in these pictures?
Photos of Sick Axolotls

If it is it may be a gill infection? Like I said, I don't really know and I would wait to hear from someone more knowledgeable than me for advice. Thought the pictures might help tho. :)

Good luck,
Tahnee

[Zoe]

Heh Tahnee,

Nice to hear from you again :)

Yes its def a gill infection from what I have just seen but not sure on the eye thing and where to go from there, thanks for the piccies have seen those and from what I can see its mind as onyl a few bits on his gills and mainly on one side and one bit on his leg

Just need to know what to do about it and whether to fridge them together or apart, oh these axies are stressful when ill + 2 ill kids at the moment

[Tahnee]

Zoe,

Good to hear from you too. Sorry about your axies. I also found this link:
Fish dying, gills stringy?

It has more pictures of the gill infection and some tips from one of the moderators.

If it were me... I'd be tempted to fridge them separately so that you could monitor each one. You would be able to see who was eating, pooing, etc. But, again, I would wait to hear from someone with more experience. I'm just getting into Axolotl Land and so I don't have very much experience... I just read a lot.

So sorry you are sick! :'(

[Shannon]

Can you post a pic of your axies? I am not familiar with cloudy eyes and are you sure it's a gill infection and not fungus? Water change - how much of the water did you change and what do you use to condition your water? Sorry, trying to get some ideas as to what you have going on there.

I agree that fridging would probably be a good place to start, but not sure about the tea bath as depending on diagnosis - a salt bath may be better. We also need to determine if there might be something else going in the tank...any other changes that you have made, recent diet changes?

[Zoe]

Hi there dragonlady,

Thanks for taking the time to help

Ok sorry meant fungus, apologies tired from being up most of the week with human babies :) I did a 1/3 of the tank and I use Aqua Plus which is what I have always used so dont think its a water thing as its testing fine plus its only jabba with the fungus, but both him & mojo with the cloudy eyes and finley is fine!

Ok I am going to stick them in our conservatory with the windows open so its nice and cold out there and its means I can keep them in a big big container so nicer for them :)

As for diet changes thats a no, the only change has been goign from daily to every other day but they get earthworms from my garden 90% of the time with the occassional earthworm or shrimp pellet or frozen bloodworms so nothing there I hope??

Anyway ANY advice is appreciated because as usual I am worried. Thanks again and here are the piccies!



http://www.caudata.org/forum/members...10-10-049.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/members...10-10-053.html

Ok sorry for the links I never understand why pictures load into my albums but when I come to look at them some I can view and paste onto my thread yet others when I click on them take me straight to the home page is so frustarting so hope these links work!
IF THESE DONT WORK THESE PICCIES ARE IN MY PHOTO ALBUM OF THESE GUYS AND THEY ARE THE FIRST 5 thanks for your help

[Julia]

I wonder if they have been too warm. I think you are doing the right thing by moving them into the conservatory. If their container is secure they could even go into a shaded area of the garden.....just make sure it doesn't sit in sun ( mind you I suspect this is not a problem with all this rain). If you are sure that the other has fungus then it will need salt baths. Bathe it in some salt water for about 10 minutes once or twice a day (2-3 teaspoons per litre/two pints). This should kill the fungus within a few days. Don't leave the Axolotl in the salt bath for more than 10-15 minutes each time, as the salt will start to damage the axolotl gills.

[Zoe]

Originally Posted by bellabelloo

I wonder if they have been too warm. I think you are doing the right thing by moving them into the conservatory. If their container is secure they could even go into a shaded area of the garden.....just make sure it doesn't sit in sun ( mind you I suspect this is not a problem with all this rain). If you are sure that the other has fungus then it will need salt baths. Bathe it in some salt water for about 10 minutes once or twice a day (2-3 teaspoons per litre/two pints). This should kill the fungus within a few days. Don't leave the Axolotl in the salt bath for more than 10-15 minutes each time, as the salt will start to damage the axolotl gills.

Hi Julia,

Thanks for helping :) I wondered that aswell, am really really struggling to keep my tank cool is very frustrating, I know about the various methods you can use but also know the ice bottles aren't recommended for long periods am I the only owner that struggles with this?

Anyway here is another piccy of him with the suspected ??? fungus?? so are salt baths the way forward then?? Thanks again. Zoe



[IMG]file:///C:/Users/ZOEZAK%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-4.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/Users/ZOEZAK%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-5.png[/IMG]

[Julia]

You are not alone in trying to keep the water temperatures down, mine can get high, but tend to be controlled by using a fan over the water. This year was not so bad, last year I had damp towels and fans blowing on them. They have been known to take a small holiday out doors to stay cool. If I ever win on the lottery my guys will get a chiller and a house to go around them .
The picture does look like the early stages of fungus, you may get away with out salt baths if you can get them cooler . One of mine occasionally gets the odd small tuft, but by the next day it has gone. Keep a close eye on the temperature and the water conditions and you may be ok.

[Dolores]

It's pretty hard to see... but does it look 'fluffy'? If it does it's probably fungus and then I suggest using the salt bath method.

This summer I was struggling with the water temp as well. Ice bottles didn't work well then but I think I will use a fan next time.

[Zoe]

Thanks everyone! Glad I am not the only one having trouble, a little fan I tried did not work so have bought a bigger 6 fan aquarium one so fingers crossed!!

Will keep a close eye on them and will keep you updated!!

Morrison - its so hard to see on Jabba as he keeps moving around but no it does not look fluffy going to check in the am and see then what it looks like.

Can I please ask though WHAT ABOUT THE CLOUDY EYES IS THIS FUNGUS ASWELL???? Thanks so much to all of you!!! xx

[Shannon]

Get the temps down, try the salt bath (repeat in 12 hours if no improvement), and see how it goes. I would not wait on the salt bath unless you have to (if you don't have the salt for example).That does look like fungus to me and it is aggressive once it takes hold (spreads quickly) so the faster you treat it, the better. I am hoping that the combination of lower temps and the salt bath help the eyes too...

How big is their current tank? If you have a hood, removing it can help lower the temp. Aim the fan so that it blows across the surface of the water and not straight down. I also use an airstone to help agitate the surface more (agitation encourages evaporation, evaporation aids in lowering the temp).

[Zoe]

Originally Posted by dragonlady

Get the temps down, try the salt bath (repeat in 12 hours if no improvement), and see how it goes. I would not wait on the salt bath unless you have to (if you don't have the salt for example).That does look like fungus to me and it is aggressive once it takes hold (spreads quickly) so the faster you treat it, the better. I am hoping that the combination of lower temps and the salt bath help the eyes too...

How big is their current tank? If you have a hood, removing it can help lower the temp. Aim the fan so that it blows across the surface of the water and not straight down. I also use an airstone to help agitate the surface more (agitation encourages evaporation, evaporation aids in lowering the temp).

Thanks Dragonlady they are in the cold conservatory at 18 at the moment in the dark and will do a salt bath first thing then thanks so much for the advice and yes I do have table salt so thats good!

The tank is 46.8 U.S. gallons, which is approximately 181.9 litres and I have the hood removed and thanks for the fan advice

thanks so much for your help again

[Shannon]

Make sure the table salt you use does not contain iodine. That temp sounds great! Nice size tank too!

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Zoe]

Update - ok now Finley has fungus on his gills but his eyes are fine so has just joined Mojo & Jabba in the conservatory From what I can see Jabba's fungus has cleared from his gills but his eyes are still cloudy, Mojo only has cloudy eyes??

So do I continue with salt baths for Jabba & Mojo's eyes or does anyone have any other ideas??

Also as per my earlier thread I cleaned 1/3 of the tank last Wednesday, now due to the fungus do I need to clean the tank again before I put them back in??

Once again thanks for anyones help Zoe

[melfly]

Hey Zoe sorry to hear about your problems!

What was the temp of the tank? Sorry if i've missed somewhere in this thread.

I'm not sure about the cloudy eyes! Do they look any better after they'd been salt bathed?

Mel
x

[Zoe]

Heh Mel,

Temp has been 22 have been struggling with it with the fan I had so thankfully today I have got a aquarium cooling fan arriving with 6 fans on it so hoping that will help as sure its the temp that has done this as am so careful with weekly water checks, taking out poo and any left over food

Eyes look a little better but is hard in the large container as was clearer in the tank under the light!! They have only had 2 salt baths now, 2nd this am so will see what they are like tomorrow and then maybe think about a vet as cloudy eyes worry me. Thanks for your help xx

[melfly]

I too would be concerned about the cloudy eyes.

I hope they get better soon.
Keep us informed

Mel
x

[Shannon]

I'm glad to hear the fungus has cleared, there's a great start! I am a little confused, perhaps because it is a little early for me right now (6:30am)...you mentioned two different temps. The one you are getting in the conservatory is 18, right? not 22? 18 is nice but 22 is getting on the high side.

In addressing your cloudy eyes...based on what I have been reading, there are several causes for cloudy eyes - trauma (unlikely here), a bad shed, infection...in your case, I suspect that it could be an infection and I would suggest using Furan 2 for this. Hopefully you can find it. There is a list of good medications at the bottom of this page - Axolotl Health.