Illness/Sickness: Gills!

[Delirio]

Hello!

I´m writing because Camilo (my axie) seems to have something wrong with his gills, they look very thin and as if they had loss the hair (is the best description I can give, but best if you see the picts attached)
Yesterday I changed the water and all the levels are fine.
Yesterday was feeding day as well and he did not eat everything.
Also, yesterday as well, he was in a mad dash swimming all around the tank and at that moment the gills were fine.
Later on he decided to go around floating (see video) and in the video you can see the gills were fine.
Other thing, he is flicking his gills very often...
I´m rather confused on what could be going on, please if anyone can help?

[Delirio]

Just adding a link to a short video from yesterday. I hope with all this info somebody with experience can help?
I am really worried.

Camilo - YouTube

Thanks in advance

[Caitie]

Good that you've checked your levels- think you could post them up anyway?
Also, what's the temperature?
And what's the flow from your filter like? The two times I've had this happen, it's been that the filter's flow has been too strong. Although there are other causes, can you give us an idea of what your filter setup's like?

[Mandi]

You can sort of see in the video clip that the filter flow does seem to be high for the tank. When Camilo is just floating around the top he is being pushed around quite a bit. I would maybe switch to a different type of filter or maybe figure out a way to baffle it so that the current isn't so strong. I hope he feels better soon!

[timselphbwik]

Ok my two adult 8" inch axies gills are rotting off also.
Bout to try a salt bath and fridge them for the first time,as this is the worst they've been.
ONLY recent change has been more oxygen in the water from a new waterfall decoration

[Delirio]

Caitie and Mandy! Thank you so much for your reply.

The Temperature in the tank is always between 17 and 20 celsius, more on the mark of 17 than 20. Normally I put iced bottles before I go to work to ensure the water is going to be cold while I'm not at home.
I will measure the levels again today and will post them.

Regarding the filter, this is the smaller I can find that will work for the size of tank, and yes, it does generate a strong current for my taste but I got it positioned in a way that it buffers against one of the walls of the tank. If you could reccomend a brand that it will not generate strong currents I will really appreciate it.
Do you think it would be an idea to switch off the filter for few hours ? After what you and Mandi were commenting regarding the water flow, perhaps is an idea... I wait for your best opinions.

Kindest regards!

[Caitie]

NO!!! Never turn your filter off!!! The main part of what makes a filter work is all the bacteria that inhabit it- Without the water and oxygen running through the filter when it's on, they die, and you end up with ammonia spikes all over the place.

Maybe you might be better off moving to some sponge filters? I've had a 4 ft running on two sponge filters quite happily- More water changes involved, but good for regulating flow. You could also move to a canister (More high-end, much better water cleaning properties, and use the spray bar or get a longer one to reduce it even further :) ).
Also, stop the water bottles- a fan would be far better as it take 45 minutes for a water bottle to defrost in a tank, and you get a very not-good temperature swing. They're great if you're home or have someone at home to change them every 45 minutes (1h20m for the blue blocks), but if they're not monitored, they do more harm than good

[TheAxolotlWhisperer]

Originally Posted by Minniechild

NO!!! Never turn your filter off!!! The main part of what makes a filter work is all the bacteria that inhabit it- Without the water and oxygen running through the filter when it's on, they die, and you end up with ammonia spikes all over the place.

Maybe you might be better off moving to some sponge filters? I've had a 4 ft running on two sponge filters quite happily- More water changes involved, but good for regulating flow. You could also move to a canister (More high-end, much better water cleaning properties, and use the spray bar or get a longer one to reduce it even further :) ).
Also, stop the water bottles- a fan would be far better as it take 45 minutes for a water bottle to defrost in a tank, and you get a very not-good temperature swing. They're great if you're home or have someone at home to change them every 45 minutes (1h20m for the blue blocks), but if they're not monitored, they do more harm than good

You CAN turn the filter off for a few hours. The bacteria does not instantly die as long as it's moist. If for some reason you're planning on keeping it off for awhile you can put something like food to rot in some water with the filter to feed the bacteria, but if it is a couple of hours throw it in a bucket with tank water and you should be fine.

[TheAxolotlWhisperer]

Also you could increase the water level in your tank to decrease the flow.

[Caitie]

Can we just clarify that a few hours is NOT 8 hours? 'Coz we used to turn our goldfish filter off "for a few hours" each night, and kept losing fish like nobody's business. It wasn't until I got into axolotls and found this site that I realised what was wrong. But turning your filter off really isn't something you want to be doing often. BD does have a point that you can do it for an hour or two, but longer and more frequent turn offs can do quite a bit of damage to the cycle- Not so much that you'll have to start from scratch, but enough that your levels will become more unstable than usual.

[Mandi]

Turning the filter off for a couple hours is only going to alleviate the problem for those few hours. When you turn it back on, the stress will start over. This flip flop could be worse for your axolotl than just having a higher flow all the time. I would recommend either a filter with a sprayer bar that will spread out the flow and you can aim it at the glass or trying to baffle the outflow with an extra sponge or something of the like. Or a filter with an adjustable flow rate. Also turning the filter off will stop the surface water from moving which can slow down evaporation which in turn could warm your tank up... which would also be stressful.

I use an Aqua Clear filter that I have baffled two ways. I stuck an extra sponge where the water comes out and then cut a water bottle up and made a "water bottle baffle" to lessen the flow even more. It works wonderfully for me. I'm upgrading tanks soon tho and I'm seriously contemplating just getting a canister filter. They are expensive but are probably the best option for the tank I'm going to be setting up (a 33 gallon long tank)

[TheAxolotlWhisperer]

Also you can just do no filter. Mind you it's more maintenance with every other day water changes and paying closer attention to levels, but it would decrease the water movement a lot. Also I didn't think it was gonna be constant on and off. Yes you want to keep everything as stable as possible. I would just take tr filter off and get one with an adjustable flow. If your in the US and can't find one local fosterandsmith.com will have one.

[Delirio]

Thank you thank you all for your responses!

I'm already looking for a canister filter, and yes, they are expensive but they are a good investment. I'm chasing one as I type this!

Regarding the bottles, thank you for the advise, I always thoguht this was best! And as you say, it is fine if I'm home like, all the time! So now a fan (made out of a computer fan) is working. Let's see how it goes.

Good news is he is eating as usual, the gills are not flikering like a few days ago (when I first posted) .

As soon as I can I will post some pictures and more news, again thank you all for your kind advise!

[Razzledazzle]

My friends axolotl has really thin 'hair' as well, while my axolotls 'hair' looks normal. All of my friends levels are fine, the only difference between the two water sources is that I have hard water while he has soft water. When my friend had to babysit my axolotl for me a couple of times, my axolotl's 'hair' became thin as well, and then it turned back normal when I got her home.

I really don't know why exactly know why it has been doing that, since this is all a theory, but I was curious if you have changed your water source lately?