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Fungus and not eating

Ganymede264

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My axie has stayed with me about 5 months. Yesterday, I found out that one of his gills got "white fluffly stuff" on it, so I medicated him with Furan-2. Today, the white stuff on his gill has disappeared; this evening I gave him 1 cube of frozen bloodworms but he didn't eat them.
I intend to change 1/2 of his tank's water and add another dose of Furan-2.

Please advise me whether I should continue adding medicine and how I can get my axie to return to his routine appetite?

Many thanks,
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi Ganymede,

Its best to post up some pics here for verification of diagnosis. However based on your description, its sounds like your axie might have a fungal infection.

The treatment for fungal infection is fridging and salt baths. Furan 2 is a wide spectrum antibiotic that treats bacterial infection, so it is ineffective in treating the fungal infection. I would highly recommend you not to self medicate your axies with chemicals and drugs off the counter. Inaccurate dosage can lead to toxicity and death in the axies to resistance developing in the bacteria. Furthermore, if you added this to your tank water, you may have effectively killed off a lot of the beneficial bacteria in your tank. Therefore, stop all furan-2 medications.

Take a look at this site about salt baths. http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml

Basically just prepare a tub of fresh dechlorinated water and dissolve 2 to 3 flat teaspoonfuls of non-iodized salt per litre of water. You can use salt such as kosher salt, freshwater aquarium salt or sea salt. Do not use table salt. You can then place your axie in the salt solution for about 10 minutes but no longer than 15 minutes per session. Excessive salt solution soaking can cause damage to the axie's gills and skin.

My recommendation is for you to also fridge your axolotl during this period. Fridging your axie will destress it, boost its immune system and render harmful pathogens (both bacterial and fungal) less viable.

- Set your fridge to about 5 degree celsius.
- Put your axie in a container large enough to allow it to stretch its limbs and tail comfortably.
- Fill with fresh dechlorinated water enough to submerge it but not allowing it to float.
- Cover with a lid. You can use a perforated lid or netting to prevent it jumping out.
- Use a tea towel to cover it to keep the environment dark.
- Perform 100% water changes daily with clean dechlorinated water.
- You can pre prepare bottles of water in the fridge.
- Continue to offer a variety of nutritious food daily. Try live wriggly food like blackworms, bloodworms, earthworms. You can also try the usual pellet, offer treats of shrimp and fish etc. Otherwise you can also blend everything in a food processor and then roll the resultant mash into a pea sized ball to try offer your axie. Remove uneaten food within 20 min.

I would try fridging your axolotl for 2 weeks and continually monitor for improvement. Please update on the progress every couple of days. The appetite will improve as the fungal infection is cured.

Cheers
 

Ganymede264

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I medicated my axie with Furan-2, because the indication of Furan-2 said "Anti Fungus". In fact, the white fluffy stuff on my axie's gill disappeared yesterday, but this gill looks "shorter" than it used to be. The only thing I worry about him is that he didn't take food since yesterday. Today, I'll change the water in his tank and try to give my axie some live food, hopefully he will enjoy it :rolleyes: About adding my axie to the fridge, I'm not sure whether this is appropriate to him, because he was originally raised in a farm from Thailand and then transferred to the local pet shop in Viet Nam; so he might already acclimate to tropical weather?
Thanks for your recommendation, I stop adding Furan-2 in the tank to avoid over dose.
 
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Darkmaverick

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Hi Ganymede,

Furan 2 contains nitrofurazone, furazolidone and methylene blue. Nitrofurazone and furazolidone are definitely antibacterial although they can also treat some protozoa. They are used commonly in Myxobolus cerebralis infections in fish. Methylene blue does have some anti-fungal properties. However you are forgetting 3 main things here. Firstly, axolotls are amphibians and not fish. Furan-2 is targetted for use in fish. Amphibians process drugs differently from fish. Secondly, all medications have side or adverse effects, this is especially worse when you use drugs that are not indicated (such as the 2 antibacterials). Thirdly, the medication is added directly into water which means you kill the beneficial bacteria in the tank, your axie also cannot move away because its fully aquatic. Why go to this extreme when there are safe conservative treatments like fridging and salt or tea baths available? It would be very unfair to the axie.

Sometimes just physical agitation (for eg. using forceps) will loosen and remove fungal elements from the gills. Dead tissue will also fall off with agitation. However, there could be microscopic remnants of the fungus present that can easily take hold and flare up again if optimal conditions are not provided for regneration and repair.

You would have to ensure that the water your axie is in has good water parameters, temperature and no excessive currents. Aim for 0 ammonia and nitrites and <60 nitrates. Ideally pH should be neutral even though axies can tolerate a range. Temperature ideally around 18 degree celsius and nothing more than 22 degrees especially over prolonged periods.

Feeding live food is fine. However, if you are using feeder fish you would need to quarantine them for 30 days before offering it. Suitable feeder fish includes guppies, platys and minnows. However, fish is not suitable as a main staple. Other live food such as earthworms, bloodworms, blackworms are all suitable as staple food if you don't use pellets, and are nutritionally complete. They also stimulate feeding with their movements. You can also offer occasional treats of shrimp and fish etc. Its best to offer a large variety of food types to ensure best nutrition.

I hate to say this but axolotls are axolotls, no matter where they are bred, their physiology is the same. Therefore, you cannot assume the axolotls will acclimatize to tropical weather because they simply couldn't. Fridging has been scientifically proven to be effective in treating fungal infections and destressing your axie. Prolonged exposure to high temperatures has also been scientifically proven to result in increased stress and illness and even death in your axie. I really do hope you take heed of the advice.

Cheers
 

Ganymede264

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In fact, my mom just put a lot of stuff in the fridge today, and she said that they were all "important" food that couldn't be moved :eek: I remember that someone here had given me an advice of putting a bottle of ice into the axolotl's tank to gradually reduce the temperature. I'll try this :happy:
 

Jennewt

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There is no such thing as a tropical-adapted axolotl. A pond (even in Thailand) may have fairly cool water; ponds have a miraculous ability to resist heating up, as long as they don't receive direct sunlight.
 

Ganymede264

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Here are all figures that I've got from the water in my axie's tank:
- pH:6-6.5
- Temp: 28C (It's likely over heat :(, so I put a bottle of frozen solid in the tank and hope that the temperature would be declined tomorrow)
As mentioned, one of his gills got fungus, but the fungus has gone away. However, now all of his gills don't look "feathery" as they used to be; the gills don't deteriorate, but they just look like 6 sticks :confused:. Today he doesn't eat the frozen bloodworms either, and sometimes he swims up to the surface to gulp air. Besides, I've just changed 2/3 of the water (dechlorinated water indeed). Now and then, my axie does crawl around his place, and when I "pet" him, he does swim around the tank (I know I shouldn't touch him, but I just really worry when seeing him not moving).
Before my axie got this fungal infection, I had fed him frozen bloodworms and feeder fish (in my country, the local pet shop just sells "tiny snakehead fish" as live food). Since I picked up my axie from the local pet shop, he always liked to eat these tiny snakehead fish and there was no trouble with that. There's no tank-mate with him, and I remove the wastes and leftover food everyday. I changed 1/3 of the water once a week, and always used dechlorinated water and added a small amount of plain salt into his tank for each water change.

I really don't know what had caused him to catch the fungal infection? How can I prevent the fungal infection?

I do look forward to your recommendation,

Many thanks,
 

Jacquie

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Here are all figures that I've got from the water in my axie's tank:
- pH:6-6.5
- Temp: 28C (It's likely over heat :(, so I put a bottle of frozen solid in the tank and hope that the temperature would be declined tomorrow)
As mentioned, one of his gills got fungus, but the fungus has gone away. However, now all of his gills don't look "feathery" as they used to be; the gills don't deteriorate, but they just look like 6 sticks :confused:. Today he doesn't eat the frozen bloodworms either, and sometimes he swims up to the surface to gulp air. Besides, I've just changed 2/3 of the water (dechlorinated water indeed). Now and then, my axie does crawl around his place, and when I "pet" him, he does swim around the tank (I know I shouldn't touch him, but I just really worry when seeing him not moving).
Before my axie got this fungal infection, I had fed him frozen bloodworms and feeder fish (in my country, the local pet shop just sells "tiny snakehead fish" as live food). Since I picked up my axie from the local pet shop, he always liked to eat these tiny snakehead fish and there was no trouble with that. There's no tank-mate with him, and I remove the wastes and leftover food everyday. I changed 1/3 of the water once a week, and always used dechlorinated water and added a small amount of plain salt into his tank for each water change.

I really don't know what had caused him to catch the fungal infection? How can I prevent the fungal infection?

I do look forward to your recommendation,

Many thanks,

The usual culprits that cause fungus are water quality issues, stress, and warm water. Fungus is highly oppurtunistic, if the axolotl is vulnerable the fungus will take advantage. Fungus will also thrive in warm water, as the other's have advised it is imperative that that axolotl be moved to a cooler environment for the axolotl's rejuvination and to inhibit the fungus from returning.

The fridge has many advantages which have been outlined by Rayson in the previous posts.

Additionally the advantage of the fridge is that the temperature is kept at a constant cold temperature, fluctuating temperatures are highly stressful to an axolotl, particuarly if that axie is sick.

The optimum temperature for axolotls is 14-18C, they can tolerate temperatures up to 22C, if the temperature climbs above 24C the axolotl will quickly succomb to illness and most likely death.

For help in cooling an aquarium and keeping it cool please read this article. The procedure for using frozen bottles is outlined in this axolotl requirements page - just scroll down to 'Temperature and Cooling'.


Warm water not only stresses the axolotl, but has an effect on water quality and oxygen levels.
  • Warm water makes toxins in the water such as Ammonia more toxic
  • Warm water decreases the amount of oxygen in the water
To prevent fungus returning, the axolotl must be in a cool stress free environment and the water quality must be good, if there is a problem with either of these important elements the fungus will keep coming back.

While being stressed and ill, the axolotl will not eat.

Could you advise us as to your water parameters for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate?

If the pH is 6-6.5 this is a bit too low.

To raise the pH and keep it at a constant, you can use shell grit or coral sand. The shell grit or coral sand after being rinsed, just needs to be put in a stocking and placed in the tank. The amount of shell grit or coral sand used depends on the size of the tank. I would add a cup at a time to the stocking, wait a few days, test the pH and add another cup as needed until the pH level is in the desired range 6.5 - 8.

Please DO NOT use chemical pH uppers and downers as axolotls are highly sensitive to chemicals, and these uppers and downers cause fluctuations in pH which is dangerous to the axolotl. Using natural methods such as shell grit and coral sand keeps the pH at a constant and controlled level.
 

Ganymede264

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Today, the temperature goes down to 20C. I will feed my axie live food instead of frozen bloodworms to encourage his appetite.
About my axie's gills, they just don't look feathery as they were before. Why do the fimbriae disappear on my axie's gills? How can I help my axie to recover the feathery parts of his gills?
At the moment, there's only an external filter in my axie's tank. Do I need to increase the aeration by putting an airstone in it? It is said that the bubble driven filter would help to reduce the temperature in the tank, is that the sponge filter?
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi Ganymede,

The gill fimbriae can deteriorate due to illness and stress. Poor water conditions are usually the cause. If you provide good environmental conditions and nutrition, the gills can regenerate and the fimbriae will return. Ensure optimal water parameters, temperature, low water currents.

An external filter is fine. In fact, i think external canister filters are the best possible type. Bubbles can help aerate the tank and also increase evaporation (and hence cooling). There are many other ways to cool your tank. Take note that you still want to ensure low water currents.

Firstly ensure that your tank is not in direct sunlight or a heat source. You can increase evaporation by use of fans, replacing the tank lid with a mesh netting etc. Ideally, you can invest in a marine chiller. Otherwise other temporary methods like ice bottles will work fine as well.

Cheers
 

Ganymede264

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As I don't find any white cotton-like stuff on my axie's body and gills , I stop treating him with anything. Now I just try to reduce the tank's temperature gradually until it gets to 18C. I also try to increase the pH to 7-7.5.
Am I supposed to treat my axie one more time with the salt bath or the tea bath? I'm afraid that the bathing method may distress my axie at this time, as he was terrified when I cleaned his tank yesterday.
For current situation, keeping my axie's environment cool and calm and giving him some food to have now and then seem to be a safe solution, right? Is there anything more that I need to do for my axie, please suggest? In fact, I equip my axie's tank with a Hang-on-the-Back filter (HOB filter).
I heard of vitamins for boosting health of pets, but the local pet shop only sells vitamins for fish. Is there any product of vitamins for amphibians such as axolotls?

Thanks,
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi Ganymede,

If there are no more visible fungal infection seen, there is no necessity to give another tea or salt bath. Just ensure optimal environmental conditions will suffice.

Ideally water chemistry should read 0 ammonia and nitrite and <60 nitrates. pH should ideally be neutral around 7-7.5. Water temperature is best around 18 degree celsius and with low water currents.

Within the tank, ensure that you keep the tank bare bottomed or with sand substrate. Gravel can cause impaction. In addition, provide at least 2 hiding places per axie.

Keep the tank dim, cool and away from excessive disturbances such as heavy human traffic, stereos or lamps that can cause vibrations or sudden light exposure.

Supplementary vitamins are not indicated nor necessary as long as you provide a wide selection of nutritious food types. Earthworms, bloodworms, blackworms and pellets are all suitable as staples. Treats include bits of shrimp, fish, beef heart etc. Vary the diet around and remove any uneaten food within a 20 min sitting during feeding sessions.

Cheers.
 

Ganymede264

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My axie has eaten his live food tonight :D I put 3 feeder fish into his tank, at first he didn't show any interest in them, yet after a few hours, there was only 1 fish in his tank :rolleyes:
Thank you so much everyone for your advice, especially the "cool temperature trick", it works wonder :happy:
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi Ganymede,

The happy ending itself is already most rewarding. It is nice to know both owner and axie are happy and well.

You are most welcomed.

Cheers.
 
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