Fuzzy Axie? Worried he might die!

Hey guys, i recently got a couple of baby axies, they're probably about 4-5 months old right now. The first of the two floated almost constantly and then died suddenly about a week ago. The second has always eaten well but recently has become very very very thin. This morning i noticed he was covered with either a type of "fuzz" thats not wispy like the normal fungus i've seen before or a series of very tiny bumps all over his body. I can't really tell which. I tried to take a picture but unfortunately it wont come out on film. Does anyone know of anything that fits this discription?
I just gave him a salt bath and plan on continuing those twice a day.

I also am not sure about my water specs, the temp is slightly high but my heat sink to keep the tank cool stresses the axies out since its a strong current. I recently added some additives to my tank to add helpful bacteria and reduce the level of nitrates/nitrites (whichever is the bad one.) But those haven't seemed to affect my adult axie in the tank at all (the baby is in a breeder floaty thing inside the tank but separate from my adult.)

If someone could help me out taht would be great, i dont want to lose my second baby too!

hi
it would be very helpful if you could post a photo.....does it look like cotton wool?....i have never dealt with babies im sorry so im not really sure on what to tell you but maybe you could put him in the fridge to help him destress until someone with more knowledge can comment.......i would also do a 20% water change (while he is having a fridge holiday).....every axie is diffrent, so just because one doesnt react to something does mean it is ok for all of them......i hope evrything works out ok for you and your baby
lea

It doesnt really look like cotton wool. It's very close to his skin, almost like tiny boils or bumps on him. I wish i could post a picture of him that shows it, but the bumps are so tiny they dont show up on film very well if at all. I'm continuing the salt baths, about 7 minutes since he's a baby.

OH! also, i was thinking about fridging him, but he's so thin im worried about slowing down his metabolism any more.

katzenjammer360 said:

I recently added some additives to my tank to add helpful bacteria and reduce the level of nitrates/nitrites (whichever is the bad one.)

Click to expand...

What sort of additives? You may have accidentally added anaerobic bacteria as well. High temps can't help either. Can you at least borrow a cell phone camera and get some pictures?

What is the temp of your tank? If these bumps are heat related, salt baths are going to only irritate a skin irritation. If you don't think this is fungus, please stop the salt baths. As far as fridging, if he's not eating well now, you need his metabolism slowed down until you get a handle on what is happening.

Mac asks a good question, hopefully, you are not talking about that bottled bacteria - that stuff does just what Mac says, adds more bad bacteria to what you already have.

I strongly suggest fridging him and get a good set of parameters on your tank. If your ammonia is up, it will kill your baby very quickly.

I wish you luck, but please try to get a pic as soon as you can as requested. Thanks.

Hi katzenjammer360,

I would definitely test the water. You can take a sample to a pet shop and they will test it for you for free - and while you're there you can pick up a dropper test kit (not the dip strips!) to test ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

Little bumps could be any number of things. It could be "ammonia burn" or similar, a reaction to unclean water. Warm water and added bacteria would definitely compound this problem. It could be parasites. it could be a virus or a bacterial infection. It might be nothing. A photo would definitely be helpful.

Do you use a dechlorinator?

Meanwhile, daily water changes of at elast 20% of the water volume are a good start, or a trip to the fridge (which requires 100% water changes daily). Hope you can get a pic up soon.

Good luck to you,

-Eva

Thanks so much guys, sorry it's been so long. I began fridging him and had my water checked and the ammonia was high. I stopped the salt baths also. Hopefully he'll begin to turn around. Right now he's just not getting worse, which i guess is good. But i dont see him getting better either.