Could plants have caused the bumps

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Mackiot

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So, if anyone had seen my past thread, my axolotl has had strange lumps all over her body for well over a month now. she still acts normally and eats, and is overall fine with the exception of the lumps. but i recently thought of something. back in December i had introduced a small aquatic plant to the tank to see if i would be able to keep live plants in the tank or not. my axolotl would constantly tear it up and destroy it so it never worked out and i ended up tossing the plant. Anyways, what i was wondering, is it possible that the plant, or even the soil, have brought something into my tank and that caused these mysterious lumps? what kinds of bacteria/fungus can come from plants? i cant remember what type of plant it was, but it was one of the top recommended to those who live plant with axolotls. if it was something caused by the plants it would be one step closer to clearing the bumps up, whatever they are.
 
I have quite a dew before and after images on my previous thread

https://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=111170

I've tried salt baths but it didn't really help, and the only thing I got from the vet was it was something bacterial. He suggested going to a specialist that is several hours away from were I live. After some short research I ha e considered using Meliflex at a small dosage, mainly because I really can't afford to go to a specialist and at this point I'm really out of options.
 
Are the plants you have live? And were you able to quarantine them before adding them to the tank?
I'm not sure what the bumps could be, hopefully someone will see this and have an idea.
Can you let us know your tank parameters and temperature?
 
it was a single live plant to test and see if my axi would leave it alone, i wanted to do a planted tank because i hear they help keep it clean and help with parameters, but i didn't want to go all out in case my axi would constantly uproot them like i hear others do, and she did. i had it quarantined for a couple of days(maybe five? it was several months back now, im not really sure. I probably should have waited longer but i was eager to try it out) and it wasn't in the tank for more than a week before she destroyed it.
water parameters are at normal levels, ive been keeping up with them and been doing water changes often. i stoped with the salt baths because they werent doing anything and were stressing her out causing more harm than good. this week when im done with college/testing im going to put her in a tub and treat her from there, stuff like fridging(i wasnt able to do that from college) and ill probably do multiple water changes a day, and like i said, im probably going to try out a small bit of Meliflex to see if that helps at all.
currently there are no live plants in the tank. there are a few small decorations and i hide and for the time being im on a bare bottom and will probibly stay that way untill i figure out whats going on. i have a biological filter set on low flow, all in a 20 gal. long tank.
i have considered emptying out the whole thing and scrubbing everything clean, starting from scratch but i would have no were to house my axi while the tank re-establishes itself
 
Mackiot said:
it was a single live plant to test and see if my axi would leave it alone, i wanted to do a planted tank because i hear they help keep it clean and help with parameters, but i didn't want to go all out in case my axi would constantly uproot them like i hear others do, and she did. i had it quarantined for a couple of days(maybe five? it was several months back now, im not really sure. I probably should have waited longer but i was eager to try it out) and it wasn't in the tank for more than a week before she destroyed it.
water parameters are at normal levels, ive been keeping up with them and been doing water changes often. i stoped with the salt baths because they werent doing anything and were stressing her out causing more harm than good. this week when im done with college/testing im going to put her in a tub and treat her from there, stuff like fridging(i wasnt able to do that from college) and ill probably do multiple water changes a day, and like i said, im probably going to try out a small bit of Meliflex to see if that helps at all.
currently there are no live plants in the tank. there are a few small decorations and i hide and for the time being im on a bare bottom and will probibly stay that way untill i figure out whats going on. i have a biological filter set on low flow, all in a 20 gal. long tank.
i have considered emptying out the whole thing and scrubbing everything clean, starting from scratch but i would have no were to house my axi while the tank re-establishes itself
Click to expand...

1.What are normal params for you? Can you post a picture of them?
2.Meliflex = API Melafix?
3. If vet says it is something bacterial why not try your luck with Seachem Kanaplex?
4. Post picture of #1 :rolleyes:
 
It very much looks like columnaris. Your vet really should have been able to notice that, or at least done a culture. I'm gonna guess this was their first time treating an amphibian.

With respect to your original question, no this isn't the plant's fault. F. columnare is an opportunistic pathogen -- if it managed to take hold, it means your lotl's immune system was down due to stress of some kind. Maybe the water was too warm, or you were a little behind on water changes, or a new tankmate was introduced... The first thing you'll want to do is find the source of stress and fix it.

On top of that, since this is an advanced case, I would recommend treating with Kanaplex, Furan-2, or (ideally) both at once. But if you want to be sure, you could ask your vet to do a skin scraping and a culture for Flavobacterium columnare.
 
The vet I went to actually specialized in amphibians, though he admitted he had never treated an axolotl before. If it is columnaris it doesn't look like any other case I have seen. These are perfect circles that are raised and white, though I think it's the slime coat that make them look white, I think the bumps themselves are red, it's hard to tell. She has gotten better though. She had no tankmates with her, other than the plant. I think I stated this in another thread, I'm bot sure, but after adding Meliflex to the water she finally started to clear up. I can't really give water parameters because I have her in a tub that I'm keeping her in and changing the water once a day, that way I know it's fresh and clean, and also I'm going back in fourth between medicated water and nonmedicated. I do admit the wayer temperature was a little higher than i wanted it to be, sticking in the high sixties anf usually staying around 70, but now i have a fan on and it stays around the lower sixties. Amonia nitrates and all that are usually at the zeros and ph is usually at 7. I do have harder heater but from what I understand these guys actually prefer it that way. At this point she is slowly recovering and what I need hep with is getting her appetite back. I just bought blood worms today to see if she will take a small bit of those. Also if you think it would be best for me to switch medications i will give it a try.
 
Great news! I got her to finally eat. I gave her some blood worms and she ate a few bites! She ate about half of what I gave her, which is a start. I'm glad I got something in her at least
 
That is good! Did you change meds too?
 
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