Illness/Sickness: Gill Fungus...again, WHY?!

Gill Fungus...AGAIN, WHY?!

Hey guys. I've been on here a lot since one of my axolotls just keeps getting gill fungus. Warning though: a freaking essay ahead, sorry.

So, she's had gill fungus before and I have treated it with salt baths and it has worked every time, but my question is, do axolotls get gill fungus this often?

This is her third time getting fungus . I checked my water parameters today while she was having her 10 min. salt bath and they all seemed okay.

Nitrite=0
Ammonia=0
pH= ~7
Nitrate= I have no idea since the kit doesn't have a nitrate testing...

I was thinking it's probably the temperature which is currently at ~60-62 degrees F (16 °C and 17 °C), but according to this site: Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity, this temperature should be okay. She was fine all winter. All her previous fungus developed in 60 degrees temp as well...

So my question is just, how often do axolotls get gill fungus? Is it just mine that keeps getting them, especially at this temperature that is supposed to be okay for them?

I just need to know incase it's my water or if it's normal to have this many gill fungus (which I know it's probably not ). If it's the temperature, I'll probably need to invest in a refridgerator.

If anyone has any idea, please let me know.

Thanks in advance!

So far every thing seems fine. What do you feed your axolotl and and what do you have in your tank? ... Hoping to eliminate other potential problems

She has 2 plants in her tank, some large river rocks, a pot, a cave. She lives in a 20 gallon tank by herself. There's a large filter with the flow on low and an airstone.

I dont' know why she's keeps getting gill fungus. Doing salt baths helps with the fungus, but the gills also gets damaged in the process...so I want to make sure she doesn't get so many fungus in the future.

Hi,

as Julia asked before, what do you feed him? Do you sometimes feed him pellets?
Organic materials, like uneaten and overseen pellets dissolve and collapse into little pieces of waste really fast which can stuck and mold between the gill filaments, leading to fungus.

Tina

Oh sorry, I totally forgot to answer that. Yes, she's only fed on earthworms since I hate cleaning those little particles stuff and I don't even know where to get pellets.

I do notice that on the bottom of the floor, there are small particles or dust-like things. I have tried to clean those up, but every time I do, more just appears right after....could this be the problem? anyone knows how to clean these particles? I've been using a vaccuum. i think these dust things are from the poop, but it's not like they are floating in the water, they are at the bottom of the tank.

Your parameters sound good as Bellabelloo said. The dust could be from the poop. How did you prep the rocks before adding them? What sort of pot? Are the plants potted or loose? Sorry, trying to get an accurate picture.

Large river rocks can hide all kinds of nasties - I just changed from them to sand in my tanks for that precise reason. Unless you are moving every single rock, every single time - there could be trouble lurking. I was shocked when I took the rocks out of mine because I thought I had vacuumed every nook and cranny!

I thought I'd just post up a picture of how her tank looks like.

I preped the rocks by washing it with extremely hot water, but those rocks have been in the tank since October of last year so I don't think they should be a problem...The pot is just a smooth glazzed pot as seen in the background of the pic. The plants are potted. I do try to vaccuum between the rocks and it does contain those nasty particles. Does sand work better keeping those paricles away? I would have thought sand was a lot harder to clean and maintain...I just hope it's not those particles that are causing the fungus. ARGHS. they'are so hard to clean!

Thanks for the tank pic! What a cutie!!! Some of those rocks look a little small. Too big to swallow maybe, but might still fit in that mouth. I've been surprised after reading these posts to find out how large a stone an axie may attempt! I thought my rocks were clean too...until I started removing them!

As for the plants, being potted, there may be a little fertilizer in there or some other unfriendly so you may want to redo those yourself. If you switch to sand, I would gently wash whatever ornaments you choose to return to the tank just to be sure and you could just "plant" your greenery right in the sand with a small weight if you're concerned about her accidentally uprooting them.

Right now may be a great time for the change since you will be treating for fungus. Treat her as you were advised before and make sure to keep her going for a few days after you see it completely gone to make sure she's not carrying anything back to her renovated (maybe!) home.

I have always hated sand for reptiles, for fish, etc. I am a recent convert to sand and so far it is much easier. With axies, we have slow moving water and I think that makes all the difference. Everything sits right on top and is easy to spot. A little vacuuming and you're done!

In case you don't know - Use playsand or aquarium and sift it for gravel, then rinse until the water runs clear. Keep it to an inch or less and stir it every month or so just to make sure no gases are getting trapped.

Good luck! Keep us posted! She's a beauty!

Thank you!! Well, her fungus is about to come off so I'm pretty happy. I've moved the filter so that it was in the middle of the tank and the bottom seemed to clear up a bit. I have taken one of the plants out of the pot and maybe the other one too.

Does the sand make the water cloudy though? I may just try sand if it would be easier to spot those particles and vaccuum them that way. I did notice one time she had a black dust in her gill and I thought she'd just shake it off but then it developed into a fungus.

And about the rocks, I had no clue they could fit into their mouths! I thought these rocks were big enough! Well, I'll be taking out some rocks then, thanks for the heads up!

You have to thoroughly rinse the sand before adding it and I suggest sifting it as well for small stones. A great way to rinse the sand is to put it in a pillowcase and run water through while mixing the sand until it runs clear. My tanks were "cloudy" when it was first put in but once settled - beautiful!

They're little vacuums and their mouths open super wide! Love to see your tank once you have it set up!

Hi bunny27,

If I see correctly, at least the plant is still wrapped in this white stuff we call in German "stone wool" (someone here told me once what it's called in English but I forgot, sorry). This needs to be removed - carefully, so as not to harm the plant's roots - because it will collect chemicals like a sponge. There may also be a ring around the plants made of lead - this also needs to be removed.

Most of your stones look large enough - if they are as large as the axolotl's head or larger, they will be fine. It's the stack of them that collects muck, as you noticed. To clean it, you have to move the stones, which only sets the muck to swimming and settling again later. Sand makes the water cloudy at first and can take a few days to settle, but it is much easier to clean. Just don't layer it any thicker than one inch because deeper sand forms air pockets that turn "sour" and contaminate your tank. You could also leave the bare bottom and the larger stones, if the glass floor doesn't seem to bother your axolotls (difficult to grip when walking).

I'd love to see pics of your changed tank, too! :happy:

-Eva

Thank you so much everyone for helping me! Well, Piccolo lost her fungus, but I'm still going to continue the salt bath for about 5-6ish minutes, less than last time since it's gone.

I think I will try sand but I just have one question. Do I want to remove Piccolo from her tank when I put in the sand and wait for the sand to settle and then put her back in or can I just put the sand in with her still in the tank? And what about the filter? should I turn it off when I put in the sand since I want it to settle? would introducing sand into my cycled water mess up the chemistry?

Okay, that was more than one question, but whatever. If sand will reduce the little particles and reduce a little bit of stress from Piccolo, then I'm willing to try. I hate it when she gets gill fungus because I hate seeing her other healthy feathers get destroyed from the salt bath.

Thanks everyone, Oh, and I did take out the plants and washed their roots before putting them back.

Glad to hear the great news. Now is actually a great time to add the sand if you can. Piccolo (cute name!) can stay in the fridge a few more days until you get it changed and as you are wrapping up her fungus treatments. If you rinse out the sand really well (sift it for gravel too) and add it to the tank a little at a time (don't just dump it in). You can turn the filter off while adding the sand, but turn it right back on. If your sand is well rinsed, then there should be no issues. You are keeping his ornaments and his plants. Don't clean the filter out either - you will lose your beneficial bacteria. Don't clean anything going back in his tank - leave his ornaments in if you want and work around them, you can shake the sand off. The sand will only take a couple days to totally settle and by then, Piccolo will be ready to go back in. Your balance should be fine and Piccolo should enjoy his newly remodeled home as well as feeling much better thanks to your diligence!

I don't really get why you are so fund of sand. I really do hate it... I think it is hard to clean, because the vacuum things in Holland are much to strong to vacuum it, so I needed to sift/screen (don't know the good word) it with a screen that is normally used for lizards and stuff. But still, it stayed quite dirty. So I'm glad I replaced it for real small gravel.

I don't know. I'm still doing some research (on the cons and pros) to decide if I'd like to switch to sand or not. I think having the filter in the middle of the tank is really helping to clear those annoying partilces. So I'll see how it goes and if need be, I'll switch to sand. Isn't small gravel kind of bad? I thought we weren't supposed to use small gravel? () ?

Hi we changed to sand and its the best thing we did, we have no problem cleaning

@bunny: You should not use gravel larger than 1mm if you choose that route. Here is a link about substrates: Caudata Culture Articles - Aquarium Substrates

@cif: I don't know why you are having difficulty with sand. I use a Python for my large tank and it sucks up a minimal amount of sand while cleaning. I stir the sand with the tip and voila, I love the ease! Sorry it's not working for you. In case you are not familiar with a Python: it is a long hose you connect to your sink faucet, turn on the water, and then the water forms a vacuum through the connector that can be set to vacuum or to fill. Maybe you can find a manual vacuum, I use a manual on my smaller tanks that has a squeeze bulb in the middle so you don't have to "taste" the tank water.

I have always hated sand myself but with the slow moving water needed for an axolotl, I find it quite easy to maintain. I tried no substrate, big pond rocks, and now I have sand - and the sand is the easiest yet to maintain. I haven't tried tile but it does look really nice. Good luck, Bunny and take a look at Wendy's tank, it is a nice setup too!

So far I've heard very little complaints about sand so maybe I will try it . I'm kind of excited. Thanks everyone for your support and knowledge!