Fungus

Hey,
One of my axolotls has fungus and i dont know what to do. She has had fungus before so i gave her a saltbath and it almost killed her, i'm not experienced at this and would rather not have to do that. I phoned up an aquarium shop and they said to put fungus ade in the water but fungus-ade contains malachite green and on the axolotl site(i think it was) it said that anything with malachite green in it is poisonous for axololtls? Please help!!

Malachite green

Hi i have just lost an axie today from fungus so i dont know if i can help you, though i also was told to buy malachite green from the pet shop and came here and found it was poisinous, so i went to the pet store and they agreed that it was poisinous and that they had called the company and the company had told them to use a quarter of the malachite green. so i stopped using this product instantly and used the salt baths instead. i gave her, her last salt water bath this morning and i found her dead this afternoon im not sure what caused it but i have my suspicions that it was the malachite green and a mix of salt. i also wanted to ask you if you had previously cycled your tank as this may also cause the stress which may have caused your fungus problem hope you can find some help and fast it is really important.

on another note: try my thread for some more advice there is a fungus killer that some one had recommended

i was recommended from
Dietmar
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Junior Member:

Quote: to get rid of fungus in the tank you could use blue malachite as it is in TetraMedica GeneralTonic. Black tea would be okay too. That won't harm the axolotls.

Thanks Raccy. I'm sorry to hear of your loss =(
Yes i have cycled my tank and have had my tank and axies for about 7 month-ish now! What kind of salt did you use to bath yours in? Last time i salt bathed one of my axies i just used table salt ... but i dont think that is the right kind of salt to use? Thanks for your reply!

i was told to use aquarium salt or kosher salt for my axies fungus..

Am sure I read somewhere on this site or forum that regular household salt is OK, but not sure of concentration.

For salt baths, non-iodized salt should be used (sea salt, kosher salt, over here even dishwasher-salt is without any additives at all...but you would have to check this out with your local products!).

I use the following concentration, depending on how long the axolotls stay in the salt bath:
- 1 tea spoon of salt per 1 litre of water for short-time intensive baths (up to twice a day for 10 minutes)
- 1 tea spoon of salt per 10 to 50 litres of water for long-time salt baths (one night up to several days - the higher the salt concentration, the shorter the time!)

There is a special article on Caudata Culture for salt baths with more information as well:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml

Malachite green is in fact toxic to amphibians; I think what Dietmar meant was Methylene blue

Good luck with the treatment!

Phoenixtear said:

For salt baths, non-iodized salt should be used (sea salt, kosher salt, over here even dishwasher-salt is without any additives at all...but you would have to check this out with your local products!).

I use the following concentration, depending on how long the axolotls stay in the salt bath:
- 1 tea spoon of salt per 1 litre of water for short-time intensive baths (up to twice a day for 10 minutes)
- 1 tea spoon of salt per 10 to 50 litres of water for long-time salt baths (one night up to several days - the higher the salt concentration, the shorter the time!)

There is a special article on Caudata Culture for salt baths with more information as well:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml

Malachite green is in fact toxic to amphibians; I think what Dietmar meant was Methylene blue

Good luck with the treatment!

Click to expand...

hi guys,
a quick passage from a axolotis book/by peter w scott,
axolotls may be affected with white tuffs on body particularty around head and gills,
the major organism is saprolegnia,this major organism is well known and is a major water borne fungus.
these fungal infections are associated with ,
poor water quality,rough handlings or excessively warm water,temps changing on a daily or hourly level,
Treatment is as in book and is followed by all animal labs in australia that i have contacted so far 6 to be precise/my daughter works at uni sa in lab.
Treatment of all fungal infections /is the same as tropical fish but in a very small dose/or salt baths with non iodinzed salt.
Treatment is with mercurochrome or zinc-free malachite green but only as a 1 to 10 ppm solution,only retreat with above after a three days if the infection is severe,
But you can use only one or the other not both at same time as amphibians ,because of skin is involved in respiration ,has a very high absorptive capacity.
axolotls treated with very low does of mercurochrome should not be placed in fridge but treated for max 5 mins then back in normal tank,axolotls treated with 2 times daily salt baths should be placed in fridge with a mim temp of 5c.
So as i have said this was in book /and my daughter has asked 6 unis with axies and so far all have come back with same.
I am a green horn to all this but i hope it helps.
Regards/catherine

Phoenixtear said:

Malachite green is in fact toxic to amphibians; I think what Dietmar meant was Methylene blue

Click to expand...

yes, sorry, mixed it up the words ... methylene blue is the right thing, malachite green is just for short baths on very tiny doses.