Illness/Sickness: Maracyn Help Please for Sick Axie

Ok back again, still with same problems, cant get my tank temperature near what it needs to be which is very frustrating, here we are in winter and my tank still sits at 23 have installed a new air pump with massive airstone & removed the lid fully and yet still tank is at 23, why oh why is my tank so hot

So my axies are still in the conservatory, they briefly came back to the tank after a 50% water change and added almond leaves and within 2 days jabba had mild fungus again on his gills and his cloudy eyes returned, mojo followed suit a few days later, finley however is fine! All 3 are eating fine and water is testing 100% ok.

So guys this is my last shot! I have bought some very expensive maracyn off ebay at about 3 times the price in desperate hope that this will clear whatever bacteria has got into my tank which I dont understand how or why!!!

Does anyone know how I treat with maracyn, is it half of the dose thats recommended on the bottle?

If I have no luck after this I am going to rehome Jabba as he seems to be the one that is constantly ill and its not fair on him as he is getting stressed and I cant seem to help him no matter what I do, have hopefully found him a home with another caudata member if I have no further luck as there health and happiness goes above my feelings just not sure how I will explain this one away to my boy

Thanks as usual for any help

Your tank could be hot because of a number of reasons. Heat is put out by your air pump and filter. It could be heating up because of sunlight. Have you tried different thermometers? The one you're using could be faulty.

Maracyn is not going to clear up any fungus. It's effectively erythromycin, an antibacterial medication. And even if it WAS a fungus treatment, you have to get to the root of the cause, or the fungus will keep coming back. You may have to relocate the tank to a cooler part of the house. Why not put the tank in the conservatory if that's where it's coolest?

Hi Kaysie

Thanks for replying

Ok I have an external filter (fluval 205) and I was advised on here to get an air pump as the aggravation the bubbles would make would lower the temp but sadly it made on difference. The tank is in the coolest room our lounge and is not in direct sunlight. The conservatory is only cold as its winter and its is only cold in the am and evening during the PM I am putting them in the shade outside.

Shame its not the answer but also conservatory is like an oven in the summer and my tank is massive so not easily moved.

Thanks again Zoe

How many gallons is your tank? How many gallons is the Fluval 205 rated for? How many axolotls are in the tank?

Hi Kaysie,

I have 3 axies of about 5-6 inches in a 46.8 gallon tank. The Fluval 205 filter is for 40 gallons but the tank is filled to 40 gallons so not sure if that makes a difference :happy:

I would downsize your filter to the next size down. I bet it's putting out a fair bit of heat. And you don't really need that big of a filter because you don't have the tank filled to capacity with animals. That is, you have a lot of water relative to the number of animals in it, so you don't need as much filtration.

I have a 30 gallon tank with 2 axolotls, and I have a waterfall type filter with no media in it (just the pump and the biowheel), and a sponge filter, and that's perfectly adequate. Maybe you could try just leaving the tank without the filter on for a few days and see if that helps the temperature. Although if you do this, make sure you protect your bacterial colony by either putting your bacterial media into an open bowl or running the filter in an alternate water source, like a bucket.

Also, it could be stress from water movement that's causing the myriad of illnesses. There is such a thing as having the water too clean as well.

Kaysie, thanks so much a lot of what you say makes a lot of sense! I actually turned down the flow as worried it may be too harsh for them, I have no experience with external filters I must admit and found this one hard to sort out plus when I went to clean the media after a month the media was clean but I presume that is beacuse unlike my messy goldfish with axies the food gets eaten or taken out aswell as the poo so there is not actually that much for the filter to get rid of, am I right in thinking that???

Ok I will turn the filter off and see how I go with that, only question I would then ask is if that does work do I need to downgrade to a smaller filter and if so I presume external again as internal would cause more heat??

Only other question and apologies for taking anymore of your time up as I REALLY appreciate your help is how is my 205 filter causing heat if it is only tubes in the tank (as I say I am new to external filters)??

Thanks again, Zoe

P.S. Ok have just turmed the filter off and FYI the canister in the cupboard is cold and so are the tubes that go into the tank so not sure that is causing any heat but you guys are the experts and I def think you are onto something with the flow and probably from the bit that sucks the water in as the out tube is a bit above water again to cause as much aggitation to the water as possible. Thanks again am willing to try anything I just want my axies back in their tank happy!

External filters do give off less heat when compared to internal filters, correct.

By having the output tube (the one that puts the water back into the tank) above the water, you're creating pretty significant flow. Excess agitation to the water will cause excess agitation to your axolotls. I used a spray-bar on my canister filter. I ran the bar vertically, and put most of it under water, pointing to the corner. If you put the intake tube and output tube on opposite sides of the tank, you'll have great water circulation with minimal current, unless your filter is too big for your tank. If you want surface agitation, a simple air stone/bubbler is enough for that without causing too much flow.

Heat is transferred to the water when it goes through the pump in the canister. This now-warmed water flows through the tubes and into your tank. It may not be warming the water significantly, that's just a guess on my part. It could be another external factor. What's around the tank? Think appliances, maybe a TV or something that's on a lot. Ducts from a neighboring room?

You said your media is often clean when you clean the tank. Since you remove the food/poo quickly, it doesn't get sucked into the filter. That leads me to believe you have too much filtration for your tank. The filter isn't designed to remove ALL the waste in the tank, but there to help you keep the tank clean. If you're removing all the waste by hand, there's no need for such a big filter. It's basically just moving water around then.

Once again a big thank you!!!! I tried to get the aggitation to lower the water temps but as I say it made no difference so is back under the water and hopefully you can see from the piccy above of my tank the in tube is at the left of the tank and the output tube at the right so they are as far apart as they can be The TV is about 2 meters away from the tank and the wall the tank is against is the outside wall so no heat sources.

I think you are 100% right about the filter as it shoudl not be clean like that, I have a Fluval U3 filter in my 125 fish tank and that is minging after a few weeks but that is typical of messy goldfish And yes my axies primarily eat earthworms so there is no mess and poop gets picked up as soon as I see it so there tank is pretty clean.

Kaysie thank you for all your time and help, lets see how we go tomorrow, for now I have the top open and air stone going so will see what the temp is like later tonight / tomorrow.

Appreciate all your thoughts and comments thanks again x

That's what I'm here for

I really hope this all works out. I hate to see little guys suffer. You're doing an excellent job trying to find the source of the problems.

Thanks so much you really have been very kind and its nice to have some new ideas for my guys as I dont want to have to give them up but if I cant sort these problems then I will have no choice as I dont want them suffering either as I feel I am always on here with something and also everything that can be tried has been tried just feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall, thank goodness for you kind guys that are willing to help even my local vet did not bother getting back to me

Will update you tomorrow and fingers crossed, again thanks x

wouldn't it be easier to invest in a chiller and save yourselves and your axy's all the stress of heat and being moved around a lot to cooler spots? When we got our axy I spent a month worrying about her temperature and when we moved her into a bigger tank, we just bit the bullet, ate noodles and beans for a couple of weeks and bought a chiller on ebay for about a quarter what it would cost new. It wasn't a hard decision when the fans we bought just about lifted the roof, they were that loud. Now, Lottie is chill and happy and healthy, and I'm happy not to mess around with ice bottles and fans and towels. I disturb her tank very rarely and she likes it that way. Rapid temperature fluctuations and higher temps over long periods really mess with their metabolisms and expose them to stress and infection, and fungus just loves warm water.

Just a suggestion. For us, the chiller was completely worth the price we paid for it in lessening the stress of our little hungerbeast.

Kaysie - well THANK YOU and well done!!! On waking this morning even with the heating on the tank is at 21 so looks like a new external filter is in order will look at the Fluval 105 I think

Manifest - I totally agree with you and if it was not for the fact I am already working 4 jobs from am to late evening + looking after my 2 all day I would buy one in a shot. Money is tight and its not even a case of living off beans for the week and with both my kids birthdays in November so bad time of year! I will however be keeping my eye out for a second hand one as I do have a birthday coming up and I do want the best for my axies as giving them up will be very sad if I have to but mnaybe only option if I cant sort them out

AGAIN THANKS ALL FOR YOUR HELP x

That's great to hear! I'm glad I could help. Hopefully it stays this way.

Thanks Kaysie for being so continious with your replies on this thread has really helped me, now just got to decide whether I go for the Fluval 105 or a different filter entirely some have recommended waterfall ones etc, very new to these so going to have to look into this

Thanks again x

Ok update for you....

Have now bought a Fluval 105 filter so got to install it tomorrow so that will help on the temp and on the flow but my very exciting news is I won a chiller on ebay tonight, not cheap at £153 but considering its worth £360 I am chuffed and it now means my lovely axies can live in comfort, I dont have the stress worrying about the temps anymore and hopefully the fungus will stay away!!

At the moment all 3 are clear of fungus, Mojo and Jabba still have a tiny bit of white on their eyes but the Maracyn seems to be helping out, so I may be £203 out of pocket this week but it will be worth it if my axies are happy just not so sure hubby is oooopppssss

Thanks to Shannon, Kaysie & Julia for all your help with my guys x

excellent!!!!!!!!!

Thanks & should have said thanks for your help aswell daremo sorry x

glad they are ok =], i remember having a problem like this i ended up with about 5 bottles off ice floating in the tank hehe, it worked wonder's though =]

How are they Zoe?