Violent swimming in the water?

Hi guys. I've been having a lot of trouble with my axolotl and have been bothering people here lately, but now I think I have another problem.

For two days now, my axolotl does these sudden dashes in the water and bumping all the rocks and splashing the water, and then when she's done, she hides in her hideout. It's like someone startled her or bumped the table she's on or something.

I also noticed that behind one of her gill branch, there was a small white region...perhaps it’s a fungus? I don't know if that's the problem or if it's a skin problem, since she has shed before, or maybe something's making her itch.

Also, her tank may still be cycling and I’ve been doing 20 % water changes daily, but it’s taking a long time. Do you guys think I should put her in the fridge as it cycles? Maybe that’s also bothering her.

She lives in a 20 gallon tank alone. There is an air stone, a filter, a cave, and river rocks in the tank.

I have the water parameters below:

NO3-40 ppm
NO2-5 ppm
pH-7
kH-0 ppm
GH-60 ppm
Temp: 58˚ F

What do you guys think I should do? Anyone familiar with these symptoms? I was thinking of starting a salt bath incase that white patch on her one gill is the reason and maybe putting her in the fridge until the water cycles.

I'm new to axolotls, so any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I have the exact same problem with my newest leucistic axie :/
I bought him from an aquarium a bit over a week ago, and he did have really short gill branches. (Couldn't work out why, because his tankmates were all big and healthy with lovely gills).
But occasionally, I have caught him swimming around really frantically, scraping his gills on the sand and tank corners. Just this morning he seemed particularly loopy and has actually scratched off a few gill filaments with his back foot :S
I think I noticed a white spot in his gills... But I can't see it now. He may have brushed it off :/
He also hasn't been eating as regularly as the others, and has been passing a few stones of gravel into my sandy tank (Which does make me worry, but it doesn't seem to be a real problem, more just uncomfortable)

I'm also considering doing a salt bath, but I've spotted a few threads mentioning a bath in green tea. This is supposedly gentler than a salt bath, and should help clear up minor issues -- but could probably exacerbate bad infections by driving them deeper.
As anyone on this site will tell you, fridging is just about the best thing you can do for an axie
It's relaxing and therapeutic, and will naturally boost their immune system. If you can change the water daily and keep the fridge temperature at a safe 7 degrees celcius, you might as well fridge your axie.

Might I ask how long you've had your tank for? A tank seems to take 4-6wks to cycle, but can take as long as 10 :/

It shouldn't take long, I'm sure this thread will be noticed by someone who can offer us a difinitive solution

Hi, thanks for the reply . Anyways, I've had her in a 10 gallon in October and then I switched to a 20 gallon in November, transferring the water from the 10 gal to the 20 gal and then adding fresh water.

I think it's definitely the fungus behind her ear that's making her miserable and my water. I started the salt bath today and will continue until her gill gets a little better. I'm also going to keep her in the fridge until the nitrate and nitrite levels go down.

bunny27 said:

Hi, thanks for the reply . Anyways, I've had her in a 10 gallon in October and then I switched to a 20 gallon in November, transferring the water from the 10 gal to the 20 gal and then adding fresh water.

I think it's definitely the fungus behind her ear that's making her miserable and my water. I started the salt bath today and will continue until her gill gets a little better. I'm also going to keep her in the fridge until the nitrate and nitrite levels go down.

Click to expand...

Only the nitrite needs to go down. The nitrate is fine.

Next time you switch tanks, try to transfer some "dirty" ornaments or substrate or filter media. The bacteria that cycle the tank live on surfaces. There are some in the water too, but the process is faster if you transfer materials that are already colonized.

Best of luck with the treatments.

Thank you Jennewt! I'll keep that in mind!

Firstly unless you are sure it's fungus on your axie I wouldn't do salt baths, if it's a minor skin irritation tea baths are much less 'stingy' than salt baths. This is done with normal black tea (like you make to drink without the milk) and can soothe irritated skin.

Hope everything settles down for you and your axie.

Hi, I think it is a fungus. It looks like a white cotton ball on her back gills and a few days ago, it was just a small white region, and now it's grown bigger!

So do you guys think it's a fungus? She tries to rub her head under her pot and the cave rock she has in the tank like she's trying to scratch it or something...

Thanks everyone!

The best way to tell for sure is post some photos up. If it's cottony looking then it more than likely is fungus.

Thanks Kerry1968! After doing a couple of salt baths, it seems she has some how scratched the cotton ball off. Now there's only a small bit left. I'll post some pictures later, but thanks everyone!

That's great news! You need to do the salt baths until you are sure all traces of fungus have gone and then continue for a couple of days after that just to be absolutely sure. I'm not too sure of the exact routine as recommended by Darkmaverick our friendly forum vet, but I think once a day for 2 days after the fungus has disappeared is enough.

Hey guys, so, it's day three since I started the salt bath using API Freshwater Salt. I did twice for 10 minutes on day 1, once for 10 min on day 2, and today, i did twice again for 10 min. But today, I noticed she was "hiccupping" and flicking her gills every time she hiccupped. She's hiccupping like she would if she was eating and trying to move the food in her mouth, if you guys know what I mean.

Now I'm nervous about the salt bath. Is this normal? I feel like it isn't. She's only got a little fungus left and it looks like it's hanging off of her gill.

Here are some pictures, which were poorly taken with my sucking camera. It should be all pink on the gills and then one branch has a white fuzz or spot. I circled where the fungus is. :



It's frustrating me. I would really like to continue the bath, but not really if it's going to worsen things. I know I'm a worry wart, but please help!

The hicupping you see with salt baths are normal. They are a reflex action to expel any undigested food in the tummy when the axie is in the salt bath. In some emergencies when the axie accidentally swallowed something (ie gravel), a 'first aid' measure could be soaking the axie in a salt bath for 5min to make them regurgitate it out if its small enough. Not to worry with this.

Yes, that is fungus and still requires more salt baths. I normally advise 5 days of 2x salt baths daily spaced 8-10 hours apart for 10 min. The rest of the week, 1x daily of salt bath for 10min. Continue to monitor thoughout.

Thank you thank you thank you! And thanks to everyone! It's a relief the hiccups aren't serious and today, I found the fungus that she must have scratched off, but I'll still do a few salt baths incase. I'm so happy !

Hey guys! Just to update for those who care (lol), Piccolo's doing great! Her huge fungus ball are gone, I think. I just put her in the fridge for the first time yesterday, so I hope I'm doing everything right. I followed instructions from Angel Sanctuary. She's in the fridge until the water in her tank is done cycling. I'm trying to lower the Nitrite levels.

The fridge temperature isn't 5 degrees C, but 4 degrees C. Is that alright? or do I have to adjust it so it's 5 degrees C? I've read that they were supposed to be lathargic in the fridge but sometimes I see her moving around quite a lot, should I worry about this?

Also, about the gills, it looks like her gill feathers or fimbriae are different looking. It used to be long and feathery and thick, and now it's shortened and it even looks like some fell off or eroded? they also look all tangly and curly. Is this stress? Is it a outcome of the salt baths and the fungus? I noticed the tips of some fimbriae were white.

Here are some pictures, the first one is when she was healthy and had long feathers on her gills. You can probably see the white tips in some of the pictures and how tangly they all are:



Sorry for asking so many questions! Please don't kill me ! I just really care for my axie.

We welcome questions and there is no hassle at all. It is always a pleasure to be of assistance. The fridging instructions on the axolotl sanctuary site are written by our moderator Jacquie. They are very comprehensive and clear and i am glad you found them useful.

Activity levels vary axie to axie while fridged. Sometimes axies may dart about when you open the fridge door and axie tub lid but i hypothesise that it is due to the sudden light exposure or disruption to the 'stillness'. i woudn't be too worried about that. It is preferable for the temperature to be 5 degrees and above but a slight dip shouldn't be too much of a problem. There is small overlapping 'buffer zone'. The concern was that temperatures below that can cause cellular damage due to cold shock.

Unfortunately fungal infections and salt balths do damage the gill fimbriae, resulting in shortened gills. Sometimes dead tissues can appear paler. However, with the amount of tender loving care you are giving your axie, i would not be surprised that very soon your axie's gills will be healthy and fluffy again.

Hey bunny27,

If it is possible for you to adjust the temp of your fridge to something warmer, please do. 5°C is really the absolute minimum that can be considered beneficial or even healthy for your axolotl. Anything below and you run the risk of cell degredation (like frostbite).

-Eva

Hi, yes, I was just curious if 4 degrees celcius was okay, because the fridge says to allow 24 hours for it to change temperatures, but now it's at 5 degrees celcius. Thank you everyone! You guys are all so kind!