Arched back, rarely eating, fungus

[Jake]

Hi, I have a black axolotl that is roughly 26cm who has recently gone through several traumas and is now becoming infected with a fungus (again), will not eat often, and she used to have a huge appetite... She has previously been floating and today i placed her in a quarantine tank with a low water level and two teaspoons of salt mixed in... I believe she may have swallowed a stone some time back before i removed the smaller ones after forum advice...

I have read the best things i can do here are the salt baths and fridging however i really dislike the idea of fridging and was wondering if the addition of epsom salts to her tank and the salt baths may help her pass the stone??

Also, I have a new four foot tank cycling at the moment and am wondering about altering the hardness? It is around 65ppm GH/KH and I am preparing some 'John's Solution' from axolotl.org and was wondering how high to make the hardness and what amount of solution would do that in a 190L tank?

Thank you to anyone who replies...

[Lids]

I didn't like the idea the idea of fridging my axolotl but it slows down the rate the fungi growth. Putting in a salt bath every 12 hours for 10 -15 mins per also helps along with treating the water wih a anti fungus treatment.

Lids

[Lids]

I previously had a axolotl who ate the stones from the tank she used to just pass them. I then changed the stones to sand and had no problems with this x not sure about having salt in the water all the time as I know salt can damage there gills and skin.

[blackdog]

The salts will help the fungus, but wont do anything about passing a stone.

I dont think you should have your axie in salt all the time, my understanding was a salt bath is a 10-15 min bath then back to normal water, i dont think long term in salt water is good. You read up here on how to do them havent you?

Fridging will help pass the stone and slow down the fungus growth, so seems to be the double whammy you want.

Why are you against fridging? if it is just because it makes you nervous because you havent done it, i can understand, but you really have to do what works best for making your axie better, not what make syou more comfortable.

They can survive in water as cold as 5 c, but they cant survive in salt water.

GH should be between 140 - 180 - no idea how john's solution changes the water, i use a commercial product. just add a little bit at a time and test. Add & test. add and test. unitl you get an idea how much solution changes the hardness by how much

just remember you can always add in more solution, but you cant take it out, so add very little by little

Bren

[Shannon]

I am not so sure about using epsom salt at all. You should be using a non-iodized salt such as sea salt or aquarium salt. It is my understanding that epsom salt is not really salt. Somebody feel free to correct me, I'm no chemist. :)

The salt baths should be for 10-15 min no more than twice a day. Fridging is reliable way to de-stress your axie actually. The low temps in a dark, quiet space really can help. I was very apprehensive the first time I fridged an axie - but every time I have fridged, I have had positive results. If you suspect a stone/impaction, fridging could really help. My avatar was fridged for a long period of time as a juvie - if that helps.

[Jake]

Hey, thank you for the help... The patches have dissappeared, she has pooped several times and her tail is straightening out... I think she was constipated, however I never frigid her, I'm glad it didn't come to that...