Axolotl Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

InsanityAxolotl · Apr 7, 2013

Hi,
My Axie is shedding his skin and or slime coat, it comes off so easily it comes off when he swims and he eats it, its transparent in color, it doesnt seem to be actual skin,

ph 7
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10-30ppm
phosphate is high because i use regulator - plantless tank, i use fake plants
GH - Very hard
temp 18 average max 21
filter is low output with a decent amount of surface disruption for air

i cleaned him lightly with a cottonbud which he seemed to like, it came back within 2-3 days,
I can post a photo later when it comes back fully.

any ideas?

Neil C · Apr 7, 2013

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

Shedding skin is not a good sign and is usually caused by poor water quality or high temps. Please do not clean your axolotl with a cotton bud as you're probably doing more harm than good. A partial water change might be a good start. What is regulator out if interest?

Regards Neil

InsanityAxolotl · Apr 7, 2013

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

neutral regulator by seachem, is like a ph buffer but stronger at the cost of increased phosphates,
water quality is good and i do water changes 2-3 times a week 20%
always use seachem prime before adding the water and always balance ph and temps before adding new water,

InsanityAxolotl · Apr 8, 2013

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a634/Insanity447/20130408_170608_zpsf6f5ec1b.jpg

This flakey area comes off when he swims?

PH still 7
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
temp is under 20 all the time

no lights or anything either

Chirple · Apr 8, 2013

He looks quite thin. Has he been eating well?

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Neil C · Apr 8, 2013

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

Why do you feel the need to balance the PH? Axolotls are tolerant of quite a wide range of water PHs and unless your water is something out of the ordinary I wouldn't bother with the regulator.

Regards Neil

InsanityAxolotl · Apr 8, 2013

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

When i first started using aquariums i wanted to cover all bases that includes balancing ph, but lately ive not been adding it with water changes so theres very small amounts of it now and soon to be none,
its better than having ph swings and not knowing what to do,
but now im more experienced i dont need it.

InsanityAxolotl · Apr 9, 2013

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

Just an update, Ive added some Stress zyme to the tank which has aparently been proven to reduce stress by 40%
after 1 day after adding it hes shedding has stopped,
can anyone help me find the reason why he may be stressed, all the parameteres and temps are good, i also keep a blanket over 1 half of the tank for a dark area and he has hiding spots and plants to hang from, no airstones and filter is set to low and ive aligned the water level for good airation?

thank you

InsanityAxolotl · Apr 9, 2013

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a634/Insanity447/20130410_114734_zps93e1957a.jpg

nevermind, after a few hours this happened again, and again when he swims it comes off and he eats it

FX1C · Apr 10, 2013

Rather than trying to work out what is causing it & leaving your lotl in water that is obviously causing some major issues. Remove your axolotl to a clean fresh tub of dechlorinated water & do daily water changes 100% and scrub the tub every second day. You can put a sponge filter in if you like but squeeze it out when you do the daily water change.

Meanwhile you can trouble shoot the problem - the most important thing is to get that axolotl into fresh water detox...stat!

<3 >o_o< <3

Jen10s · Apr 10, 2013

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

Really agree with Nikki71, the sooner you get him out of that tank into a container of clean, dechlorinated water the better. Maybe even a tea bath might be called for.

Not sure why you need to add so many chemicals to,your water to maintain those parameters. You should only be adding tap water, dechlorinated with a simple dechlorinator, aged for 24 hrs - NOTHING ELSE. Your tank surely can never cycle whilst your adding all that stuff, not to mention what it seems to be doing to your Axies skin & slime coat.

Suggest you run tests on your tap water (dechlorinated) and go from there. Also have been told Stress Zyme is rubbish anyway. Good luck.

Chirple · Apr 10, 2013

I agree with Jen. Fewer chemicals is better - your axolotl could be having a reaction to one or more of them.

Things that may work for fish are often not tested to work for amphibians and I would not use anything like that unless you have gotten an okay from a reliable amphibian source

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InsanityAxolotl · Apr 10, 2013

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

Good advice and thanks everyone but here are my issues as well,
At the moment im only using prime for dechlor, I havent used anything else like neutral regulator or anything in weeks, Ive only really added the stress coat as an attempt recently, since hes been shedding ive always done a 100% water change twice as i was changing substrate and decided not to keep any water (I didnt have a mini cycle)
the tank has been cycled for ages and never had a problem,

what do you mean by adding all these chemicals?
I'm only really using just the seachem prime, Ive also put him in a container for a few days before with nothing but prime and he still was shedding,

get this.. when i bought him from the shop, their water had ammonia and nitrites and high temps and he wasnt shedding, now he comes to me and gets better water conditions and starts shedding.

for now im gonna put him in a container again and if it works ill do an 80% water change and only use prime.

80% shouldnt make me mini cycle as i use an ovoerdose of the matrix filter media and it works really strongly...
Ill take photos from day 1-7 and post them

Petersgirl · Apr 10, 2013

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

This is what one Axolotl supplier had to say on the matter:

My Water Dragon (axolotl) skin is peeling off / shedding off. What should I do?
This is normal for a Water Dragon (axolotl) peeling off / shedding off their skin. Put your Water Dragon in a 2 1/2 Gallon tank and do water changes every day. You need to maintain the best possible water quality; Cold Clean Water every day. Remove any uneaten food and waste after 12 hours so that your Water Dragon will not eat food that is contaminated with bacteria. During this time feed your Water Dragon (axolotl) frozen bloodworms until the skin has peeled off / shed off is completely.

So essentially it's a hospital jobbie. I suppose it's because the fresh new skin underneath will be extra sensitive.

I don't mean to offend you, but could it be fungal if it's not just plain old shedding?

The symptoms include:

If your axolotl:
- Looks skinny
- has a filmy cloudy slime covering their body
- the top part of the tail that runs their back is missing
- wont eat
- looks uncomfortable

OR

- has white salty spots (ick)

If they have this they recommend a salt bath, but I really think a tea bath would be kinder, especially given their exposed new skin.

Hope this helps and that he gets better soon

snuggly time · Apr 10, 2013

Re: Axolotil Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

I'd try what Nikki said. If he's still shedding in the tub with fresh water every day I'd perhaps try another type of dechlorinator.
My advise would be to keep up with regular water changes daily in the axies tank. When he's in a separate tub then you must do 100% water changes with the tub water.

I know seachem is supposed to be a good product, but if it continues it can't hurt to check it's not the dechlorinator causing issues. - This is just an idea anyway, good luck.

FX1C · Apr 10, 2013

Do you accurately measure the prime before adding it to the tap water?

If you've done 100% changes in your tank, your cycle is guaranteed to have crashed.

Keeping your axolotl isolated in a clean tub with 100% changes & tub scrubbing it's totally different to keeping in a tank with 80% changes as you have got surface bacteria on tank walls & any items in the tank. The idea of removing & detoxing with 100% changes is so that whatever is the irritant will be eliminated.

Tea baths are great for slime coats & adding the tea to the clean water will help to soothe the slime coat.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1365635782.444697.jpg

If you can get some API stress coat+ to replace the prime it may help your cycle to stabilise quicker as it doesn't bind ammonia like prime does. The stress coat also adds a bit of Aloe Vera to the water which is great for slime coats.

<3 >o_o< <3

InsanityAxolotl · Apr 11, 2013

Yeah im using stress coat+ in the main tank not stress zyme, got them mixed up because i have both,
As far as the 100% water change, my understanding of the cycle was that when its cycled your ammonia and nitrites will stay at 0 and nitrates will increase, when i did the 100% water change i never got any spikes up from 0 and everything stayed stable,
but yeah atm ive got him in the Qtank with fresh water and only prime atm, all the flakey bits fell off in the tank transfer (it comes of that easy) so lets see if it comes back,
I can replace prime with stress coat+ for now to trial yeah.

InsanityAxolotl · Apr 11, 2013

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a634/Insanity447/20130412_095148_zps8cea36d1.jpg

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a634/Insanity447/20130412_094423_zpsb4870da5.jpg

when he went into the tub he had no shedding skin as it all fell off in the transfer,
as you can see in the 2 photos obove its come back and he still seems to like eating it.
the only thing im using is stress coat+ nothing else, temp is good also..
the only thing i can think of that may be doing this is the ph,
im thinking about starting to raise it slowly to 8 and see how that goes, what do you guys think?

InsanityAxolotl · Apr 11, 2013

Also if i wanted to keep the ph around 7.6-8 how would i do so?
I have alkaline buffer and alkaline regulator, the regulator adds phosphates so the alkaline buffer sounds better, but is it safer oposed to crushed coral / baking soda?

Chirple · Apr 11, 2013

You need to focus on cycling the main tank and getting that little guy up to a healthy weight. You want the body to be about the width of its head. What are you feeding?

I wouldn't worry about pH. Just cycle the tank. Stability is more important than a number. If your tank is stable and you change only 20% or so a week the pH is not going to fluctuate wildly even if the tap water is somewhat variable.

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Axolotl Shedding Skin/Slime coat?

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