Possible Gill Fungus

After my fight with Planaria in my 40g lotl tank, (which I won, thanks), my Wild Type's gills have been less than fluffy. Missing in some parts, the feathers thinned out, ect. Once the planaria were mostly gone, they seemed to be recovering- fluffed out, normally active, happy... But over the last couple of days, he and my Melanoid have gotten this white substance on their gills. From what I can tell, it doesn't look particularly like a fungus... It's not usually attached to the actual stem, but seems to be more caught up in the fimbrae(feathers). And it's not in spherical shape, like I see some of the other photos of fungus that grow along the gills. It's more... drape-like. I want to be 100% sure this isn't a fungus, though, before I dismiss it!

Could this possibly be from where some of the fimbrae have died, and the white substance is the dead tissue?

I mentioned in another post that I have previously tried salt baths on my Melanoid. The process was nothing but traumatizing. Cole thrashed and rolled around in the tub before I scooped him out. I followed the forum instructions, 1-2tsp per litre of water. I'd rather NOT have to salt bath again, but if I have to, I'll try to.

As a note, it got warm yesterday and the tank went up from its normal 62f to around 66f. I put a fan on it last night before bed, and over a 12-hour period, the tank cooled from that to about 55f. I think if it were a fungus, it'd spread alot slower in these conditions.

ANY help is appreciated!

I cant really see from your picture but if it looks like cottonwool then I would say yes it is fungus and you can start the saltbaths, you could also try and use a cottonbud to gently take the stuff off.
Lea

When Cole got his tail-fungus, it looked like a spiky ball of cotton, like how you describe. However, Pandor's gill-something doesn't looking like that at all. It just looks like some has gotten caught in their gills. It's never "attached" persay, because when I use something to try and dislodge it, it comes off (and gets sucked out of the tank.)

It sounds like you are catching the fungus very early. From the pictures, it looks like fungus to me. Often times you can use a q-tip or something and pull off the bulk of it, which will mean fewer salt baths.

just out of curiosity why would planaria harm your axolotls gills? The reason I'm asking is I have some planaria in my tank, but I've never heard of it ever being harmful. Mine doesn't seem bothered by it, and I catch him snapping at what looks like nothing so I'm assuming its the planaria. I usually transfer some of the planaria to my larvae tank in the hopes that he'll get a snack.

Carson-
I had a TON of planaria, due to some plant mush that got caught behind a mesh wall. (My stupid attempt to make a christmas moss wall, lol.) I read on this very forum that an excessive amount of planaria can irritate the axolotl's gills. When I say a TON, I mean it. Whenever the axolotls moved, the little white worms would go FLYING around the tank, lol. They were all over my walls, all over my plants, all over my driftwood... It was terrible. And my lotls gills didn't start thinning out until the planaria arrived. After I got rid of the mush and the little wormies, their gills began to fluff back out. Now, I'm just riddled with this white GUNK on their gills. >_<

Planaria is fine to have in tanks, as long as it isn't excessive, I think. They help break down nasty stuff, and even though people don't ususally see them, they're almost always in your tank anyway. =)

Wanted to add some vids. Ignore the chatter in the background, my boyfriend and his father were having a good chat in the middle of my filming. -_-;

The "fungus" in question is on the top left gill, you can really see it move around at the .26-.30 mark.

P1060449.mp4 video by AuraCantos - Photobucket