SEVERELY STRESSED AXOLOTL from NO PLANARIA! Help!

So....normally the gills of my axolotl are pretty happy and content....lately...ever since I've been feeding earth worms and the addition of new plants I've noticed an explosion in worms.....SOOOO many worms! I don't know why there's so many! I do small daily partial water changes to suck out poops, clean up un-eaten food....

My water quality is always top notch. ammonia 0 Nitrate 0 Nitrite 0 Temperature is 17Celsius.

Yet lo and behold...the explosion of the worms continued anyways....So...I have this product called no planaria that is safe for shrimp even...I've used it a few times before with great success in annihilating these worms...never before has it ever caused the gills of my axolotl to curl so much! Could this be a sign that the no planaria is poisoning him or something?

I took some pictures to show you just how stressed and curled his gills are and showing a picture from what his gills looked like last week.






Should I do an emergency full tank cleaning? Or just let the treatment run it's course? There's still lots of planaria left alive....but I can see a lot of them at the bottom of the tank writhing in agony as they die slowly......evil worms!

NOTE: I should also mention that I followed the directions on the NO planaria perfectly and used the little mini-scoop that it comes with as I always have and put half a scoop in my other Axolotls Aquarium, and a full scoop in Echo's because his was so bad. I have used this product before and never ever had my axies get curly forward stressed gills. My other axolotl, whom I only used half a scoop...his gills are a tiny bit curled forward and stressed too...but not nearly as bad as echo's.

Ok...since no one is posting at all...I can't take it anymore...I'm terrified that the no planaria has somehow become toxic and I'm going to do a full tank cleaning....this means....netting echo out and putting him into a temperary container with fresh primed water while I then empty all the water from his tank...(which then will get rid of all the worms that are still alive!!!!!!) Then I will separate all the plants, wash each plant individually in primed water....then I take the empty tank and all the plastic plants and ornaments and wash all with hot water and vinegar.

I also gently rinse the filter with a bit of primed water so as not to kill all the bacteria.

I believe putting echo in fresh water will make him have happy gills again...
this is the only possible solution that I can see to make him happy..AND get rid of a ton of the nasty worms.

The reason you have not had any replies is because no-one else has ever used the 'no planaria' treatment. Most chemicals designed for fish tanks are unsuitable for axies, and this is why you have a sick axie.

Planaria are not harmful and can be used as food for larvae, and all you need to do is scoop them out when you see them - use a fine net. They are very common, particularly in tanks under 6 months old, and they often feed on leftover food, especially pellets.

To fix the problem you need to add activated charcoal to your filter, do a big water change, and try and keep your axie cool and in dim light - it should recover in time.

There is a list of safe and unsafe treatments on axolotl.org - the general rule with axies is no chemicals unless it's on the safe list, or prescribed by a qualified exotics/herp vet.

auntiejude said:

The reason you have not had any replies is because no-one else has ever used the 'no planaria' treatment. Most chemicals designed for fish tanks are unsuitable for axies, and this is why you have a sick axie.

Planaria are not harmful and can be used as food for larvae, and all you need to do is scoop them out when you see them - use a fine net. They are very common, particularly in tanks under 6 months old, and they often feed on leftover food, especially pellets.

To fix the problem you need to add activated charcoal to your filter, do a big water change, and try and keep your axie cool and in dim light - it should recover in time.

There is a list of safe and unsafe treatments on axolotl.org - the general rule with axies is no chemicals unless it's on the safe list, or prescribed by a qualified exotics/herp vet.

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That's not quite necessarily true. I actually found some older posts right here on caudata where people have used No planaria safely with their axolotls. They never had this problem that I was suddenly faced with. I used in it the past and didn't have any problems then.....so I'm really confused as to why it was suddenly a problem now....


But...after six hours straight of work tonight I did a full cleaning of both axolotl's aquariums....and then I fed each of my axies in a big container before putting them back into their aquarium. They are SOOOOOOOOOOO much happier now. Their gills are almost back to normal! Thank goodness!

Because my growing axolotls eat so much...I think I'm going to have to feed them in a separate container from now on because my sponge filter simply cannot keep up with that much blood worms and earthworms....And apparently it didn't even matter to the worm population if I spent an hour each day sucking out all the uneaten food 20 minutes after feeding my axies...AND I was even doing daily partial water changes to replace all the water I sucked out...But...feeding them in a separate container. I feel this will be the best method and will save time...and then...there will never be any excess food for those pesky worms to thrive on! Jeeze they eat a lot! Lol. And I only feed them until their bodies were as wide as their head too!

It would be easier to do a guess if we knew the ingredients of no-planaria. All they list is herb extract. I would do a 90% water change, clean the filter, and put charcoal or carbon in the filter.

michael said:

It would be easier to do a guess if we knew the ingredients of no-planaria. All they list is herb extract. I would do a 90% water change, clean the filter, and put charcoal or carbon in the filter.

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I actually just posted right above you that last night I did a complete full tank cleaning with hot water and vinegar on both aquariums in the bathroom I also rinsed out the filter...cleaned all of the plants and decorations!

Today, both of my Axolotl's gills are back to normal and seem much more happy again! HOORAY!

No planaria is made of Betel Palm nut and is safe for all shrimp and fish. I'm beginning to think that the problem wasn't actually even the No planaria itself but was infact, was an ammonia spike that caused stress in my axis by the massive die off of all the worms that were killed from the No planaria because I have used planaria before...never had stressed Axolotls before!

Regardless....they are back to normal....eating and pooping! Lol...so that's a good sign!

And yes, I have API test kits. Although I shoulda tested the ammonia levels right before I did the full tank cleaning....everything is at 0 now though!

I seriously doubt that is safe and would not use it again.

michael said:

I seriously doubt that is safe and would not use it again.

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Well...it's safe with shrimp...and shrimp are killed by everything....lol.

NitroGlow said:

Well...it's safe with shrimp...and shrimp are killed by everything....lol.

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Axolotls are not shrimp or fish. Because they are amphibians, they'll absorb everything through their skin.

Have you read the wiki entry for betel nuts? Carcinogenic, vasoconstrictor, hypertension, tachycardia - in humans at least. No listing at all for aquatic uses for fish, shrimp or amphibians, or even as a planaria treatment. (And yes I know wiki isn't 100%, but it's the best I could find)

Nitroglow, if you come here asking for help or advice please don't argue the toss over the advice and info you are given - just either take it or leave it.