Fungus?

Hey guys, again. It would appear that my little guy doesn't want me to stop worrying. Once I had finally identified that he has iridophores and not some sort of spot and once I had finally gotten him onto an eating schedule, this happens.

Today, I saw that on the back of one of his gills is a cottonball-esque white thing that's stuck to it. Sorry that I don't have any pictures. I tried to blow on it with my turkey baster and of course it didn't come off.

When I was freaking out about him not eating/spots/etc, I did see that there were white wisps coming from the tip of the said gill but I passed it off as nothing and just assumed my eyes were bad or whatever. Now, it's a lot bigger.

I don't know why it's there. My temperature is 60ish F, 0 ammonia 0 nitrate, only one axie? He's still eating and shows no signs of stress.

I have fed him brineshrimp before so there are left debris attached to the filters and on the some of the sand that I probably can't see (shame on me) and there is also white on my anubias and javafern. To my knowledge, or at least of what I've read, white fungus-y things on plants is ok as it's just a form of algae. I could be terribly, terribly wrong. I'm not sure how it could migrate its way into my axie's gills so snugly, though.

Don't stress out. I would get your algae/glass cleaner brush out and thoroughly clean all surfaces when you do the next water change. However, do not change out the filter media or insanely clean the filter itself, because that can cause the cycle to crash.

You may have a bacteria bloom going on... this is very common in newly set up tanks. It sounds like your axolotl has a small bit of fungus on it's gill (a photo would help determine). This may or may not be related to the bacteria bloom.. I'm not sure on this.
A clean tank and clean water is the best prevention and also the best treatment.
Occasionally try to remove the fungus with a q-tip. It may fall off on it's own.

If it continues for several more days or looks like it is getting larger, I first recommend adding a 1/2 teaspoon of plain sea salt or non-iodized salt per gallon of water in the tank.
This will inhibit fungus growth without the high stress of a salt bath.

Not very good images, but.

I brought the 10g filter and some of the tank water into this set up so I don't know if that impacts the 'bacterial bloom'.

ALSO, I came in to get these pictures and he was floating. Never seen him float before, I had a heart attack. He stayed limp for a second but then swam around, blew some bubbles, and sank back down. I hope he was just floating for fun.

He was probably just floating for fun! Definitely fungus on the gill stalk.

Alrighty. What does it mean if the fungus does fall off? Is it done for good or can it grow back?

And if it isn't a bacterial bloom, what could it be?

I ask so many questions I'm sorry.

mooflakes said:

Alrighty. What does it mean if the fungus does fall off? Is it done for good or can it grow back?

And if it isn't a bacterial bloom, what could it be?

I ask so many questions I'm sorry.

Click to expand...

Its good if the fungus falls off, however it can come back if the conditions are conducive. You probably do have a bacteria bloom (based on your description). I can't think of an algae that is white like that in freshwater...

Ahh okay. Is there any way to speed up the bacteria bloom? I'm considering rinsing my sponge filters a bit with tank water and get some of the gunk off of it, plus I need to do that soon anyway.

Yes. if there is gunk clogging your sponges, you should squeeze them out in a container of tank water.

It is better to ask questions than to not care about your axies health. So, don't be afraid t ask questions. But try not to get too stressed by your axie's antics. :happy:

My axies will sometimes get a bit of fungus on the ends of their gills. I suspect they get scraped or nipped and the fungus takes hold. Keep the water clean and cool and it goes away on its own. (I have noticed it is more likely to occur if nitrates have drifted up.)

Cool, cool.

On looking at my tank again today, there is a LOT of algae (which will now be called as fungus because that's what it is). Some are like webs while others are just little balls. I'm not sure if I should do a massive cleaning and scraping or not? Would that maybe harm the cycle? I just want this white stuff out.

My dark wild had a fungal blip like yours.....I put him in a shallow tank and gently teased it off with two cotton buds.......all is now well........

Weird news everyone: it's gone? I did a massive tank clean-up (or at least tried to) so let's see what happens. :happy:

Did this work