Illness/Sickness: Fungal infection, gills darkening and looking listless

Hey guys, a few days ago I woke up to find my axie had a growing fungal infection on her gills (a day or two before that she was floating at the surface of the tank a lot). We fridged her for a day, and after that I started giving her salt baths - I've given her two so far, once a day instead of two/three since I've been very busy.

She seemed okay (fairly active when I took her out to salt bath her, her gills seemed a bit listless but I figured it was because of the infection, and she wasn't eating but she had been fridged and I assumed she just wasn't hungry because of that), and the infection seemed to be shrinking.

I took her out just before to check on her, and I'm starting to get worried. Her gill stalks are looking dark underneath her skin, blackish, there seem to be less filaments, and she's only using one gill at the moment to breath. They're gross and floppy and not their usual colour, and I'm worried that it's something more serious than just a fungal infection? They also seem to have large off-white spots on them - I'm not sure if that's just her usual markings that look off because her gills are blackish, or the fungus.

I've been very careful with her salt baths, only leaving her in for 10 minutes at a time, and she seemed fine but I'm not sure if they're doing more harm than good?


Should I keep salt bathing her? More frequently? Maybe less salt? ('ve been putting roughly 2 teaspoons into a 1.25l bottle).

(Note: her gills have always been rather small, I guess she was bitten a lot at the pet store)

I don't know much about metharmophosing, but maybe she is?
Im sorry for you and your Axie, hope she gets better soon

As far as I know she's still pretty young for an axie (a reasonable size but not a big adult yet), and axolotls rarely if ever metamorphose by themselves.

(though it would be really rad if she did, and the darkness wasn't her being ill :'(( )

Thank you though! I hope so too, I'm tempted to give her a salt bath right now but I want to wait and see what others think. ,__,

it's not morphing.

fungus looks like white cotton wool growing on your axie. fungus takes hold as a secondary infection when your animal is stressed.

receding gills can result from stress caused by high temperatures and poor water quality. check your water chemistry and temperature now.

looks to me like your axie isn't that young, it looks to be sexually mature, that implies it's probably at least a year old.

how big is your tank and can you provide a picture of it?

edit:

as for the gills, axies can also brethe through their skin and have under developed lungs that would develop if they changed to the land dwelling form so you may see your axie gulp at the surface, which is normal and all axies do it from time to time.

also add a airstone to your tank if you don't have one already.

Their water quality wasn't doing so hot - it was obviously the cause of her infection (which is definitely fungal, most of it is located under her gills at the moment so it's difficult to see in the picture), coupled with the stress of floating badly. I've been doing daily changes since and have removed most of their plastic plants so they don't get grimy (left their hiding log there) and cleaned out the gunk from the filter. The ammonia was fairly high before I started the daily changes. I'm wondering if I should remove their sand to make cleaning the tank bottom easier. (I get lumped with looking after the entire tank, but since I'm out at uni a lot and my housemate often feeds them messy bloodworms, more often than not the food builds up when I'm not there to clean it.)

We have two other axies in there, both who belong to my housemate, and they seem to be much happier now. They're very responsive and eating fine. Their tank temperature is usually around 22-20oC or slightly lower - I've been putting in ice bottles more recently when it gets higher than 20. It's usually very stable.


Tank size is about 60L if I remember.
We had this filter given to us as part of an axolotl starter kit by the aquarium but it doesn't seem to be providing enough oxygen, so next chance I have to go to a pet store I'll get them an air stone.


Edit: I... I know they breath air at the surface, we've had these guys for at least two months and do a fair amount of research to make sure they're happy. I know all general information amount them, but not much when it comes to illness, because besides a little bit of floaty constipation we haven't had serious problems.

60L is far too small for 3 axies. 60L is the minimum for one adult. this could be the source of your bad water chemistry. you need about 50L per axie.

The tank is 60cm by 30cm; the third axolotl is much smaller than the other two, and they all seem to fit in fine. They haven't had any trouble with space, they never fight and have their own spots to chill out.

I definitely don't have $300+ for a tank three times this size lol. The bad water was thanks to me not being able to clean it as often as I usually do and my housemate not doing it either - with proper cleaning it should be fine.

I'm concerned about her gill problem at the moment, not the tank problems because it's been getting thorough attention. The other axolotls are fine and when her infection clears up the tank chemistry should be back to normal.

I agree, the tank is far too small for three axolotl. Three a axolotl, in such a small area will produce a lot of waste. Even with a filter and regular spot feeding you will have a huge problem with the water quality. How about using some plastic crates instead? I appreciate they are not so attractive as a regular fish tank, but you can probably afford one for each axolotl. Also have a look and see if you have a 'freecycle', you may be able to pick up larger tanks and equipment for free.

Yeah, try the site above or Craigslist or something. You need a larger tank or you need to re-home two of them as that tank is not even large enough for ONE axoltol.

There's no way you should be spending $300+ for a properly sized tank, even brand-new.

This is just not an adequate environment for them and if you can't afford a new tank or to compromise with tubs, they need a new home with someone who can afford to take care of them. I don't want to sound mean, but keeping them in such a small tank together is not fair to them as living creatures. :/

It's possible to get large fishtanks for under 100$? I was lucky to get an old 40cm fishtank for less than 30$ once - I see them going for 60$ usually. As a poor uni student who survives off government benefits I just don't have the money for anything large (this tank itself was a birthday present)

Humm the aquarium we got them from said that it would be large enough for three, but listening to pet stores is usually not a good idea anyway haha. Two of the axolotls are my housemate's and I know without asking she'd refuse to rehome them as well as refuse to listen to the advice given. I'm not really sure what to do in that regard.
EDIT: I'll search around on Gumtree (which is more or less like craigslist), they seem to have reasonably priced tanks that are larger)



Does anybody have actual advice on the sick axolotl though, since that's what I came in asking advice for. :T

Good news! I ended up just going ahead and giving her a salt bath, and I think the blackness around her gills has faded a little bit? She's breathing through both now. I tried feeding her both pellets and bloodworms and she wasn't interested at all though, but I've got my fingers crossed. Most of the visible fungus balls have vanished.

Continue the salt baths twice a day as well as keeping her in the fridge. The fridge promotes the healing and it is not uncommon for them to not be hungry. Do a search for fridging and salt baths on here, there are several good guides.

I will say nothing about the size of the tank only that if you have stripped it down and cleaned it as you say you have lost any start of a cycle you may have had. It would be a good idea to find something with a larger volume to keep water chemistry in better balance.

Look for long tanks and not tall.