Illness/Sickness: Young axie not well

Hi all,

Just registered on the forum but have read it a lot over the past few months. Here is a quick back story on Tiny.

We have two axies in a 30 gal tank and wanted a black one to go with them. The two we have are were about 5 months old at the time and we bought a 3 month old one off a breeder. All was well and no nipping or problems for 3 weeks or so then one night tiny lost a foot and a front leg so I had to put her in my spare tank as I think they had developed a taste for Tiny. This tank is only a small 5 gallon and not cycled as it was empty so I have been doing regular water changes of 30% sometimes daily but never more than 3 days apart and checking quality twice a week. Everything was going fine and tinys legs were growing back but 3 days ago was the last time she ate and now her gill feathers have gone. I have been feeding her mainly on small earthworm which I bought from a fishing shop. She is very lethargic too. I think there is a hint of fungus visible on her gills and I really want to make her better asap! Pictures on my flickr page

Tiny is ill - a set on Flickr

Water quality is something that despite regular changes is not great and I can't understand why the PH is high as there is nothing in the tank that I would think could raise it. Substrate is play sand.

Todays water readings were as follows....

PH 8.0
Ammonia 0.5ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0ppm

I carried out a large water change to try and minimise problems. The only thing that I have changed is I was using stress zyme to treat my water during changes, I just use a dechlorinator for a few changes and then I have Seachem Prime now that I used today.

Any help appreciated as I really want to help make her better.

Best regards,

Martin

You need to change more water and more often in an uncycled tank. I had a dozen juveniles in separate 15 to 20 litre water volumes and was changing 90% every other day as they grew bigger. And cleaning with the turkey baster on the days in between. That worked up to about 5 inches. I would recommend large daily changes if you are getting ammonia readings. Some recommend 100% changes, and cleaning the glass. Since your axolotl is recovering from the ammonia this might be a better option at the moment.

Also, the cooler, the better. Mine were fine at 14 to 18c.

I couldn't recommend any chemicals except dechlorinator.

And I kept a clump of Java moss in each tank for shelter, support and minor ammonia removal. This I would recommend.

Hope this is helpful.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

From the pictures do you think the symptoms are ammonia burns then? I did suspect this may be the cause. I don't have an issue with doing large water changes every day if that is what it takes to recover Tinys health.

Best regards,

Martin

I'm still a pretty new axie owner (and going through my own cycling issues right now as well as just getting over a big scare with my little one), so I don't really have much advice to offer. But maybe abandon the whole tank and go for daily 100% water changes in smaller tubs? I know that's what my axie is going through right now. I'm not personally doing it because I gave him to a more experienced caudata user who lives in my town (Mortimer, very, very experienced, she knows what she's doing!). If I understand the process right, one tub has water that is aging and the other has the axie in already aged water. If you don't have a turkey baster, they work really well for sucking the poop out of the water. If you put the axie in the aged water once a day and then refill that tub that you just took the axie out of with new water to age for the next day, you should be okay. As for what's going on health wise, though, I'm not sure what to say.. I know that the crimped tail (that wave along the top) is not a good sign though): I wish I could be of more help and I hope Tiny pulls through!

I dont see off hand anything wrong with your axies from the picture.

I would recommend since your axie is recovering from an injury to be doing 100% water changes daily and cleaning whatever they are in. Keeping the water clean and fresh will help healing and minimize the chance of fungus. And you do not need to worry about ammonia levels and such if you are keeping the water fresh.
No chemicals other them dechlorinator should be used

Do you see any fluffy white stuff? I cant see any fungus in your pictures in all honesty. Salt bathes are stressful on axolotls and should only be carried out if you know there is actually fungus growing

As far as lethargy goes that ammonia level could cause a little lethargy.
Dont worry about the pH 8 is perfect.

I'm just seeing this. I am watching someone's leucistic axolotl whose tail looked identical to yours for a while......luckily, his tail is straightening out now. The one I'm watching doesn't have the damage to his gill filaments, though.

I'm willing to bet it's ammonia burns. What I did with the one I'm watching (that seems to be helping) is this:

--Separated him into a small plastic tub with cooler, treated, aged water (at about 60-62 degrees)

--I change 100% of the water twice a day (making sure that the water temps are the same)

--I added a TINY amount of Pimafix (extraction West Indian Bay Tree) to the water after aging it (and prior to introducing it to his tub). I used 1/10 of the recommended dose, which came out to about 2 drops per gallon. Not much at all. Because the one I am watching has pinkish skin and his veins are prominent, I thought that using the Bay Tree extract would be soothing (and I couldn't find Indian Almond Leaves). I have seen no ill side-effects, and the little one's tail is slowly straightening out.

Does your little guy have an appetite? How is he acting?

I hope this is helpful.

Sharon

Sorry i didnt look at all your pictures!

What are you using to test your water? The picture with the axies tail is telling me its quite stressed.

Id recommend like stated above abandon the tank altogether and put it in a tub of fresh dechlorinated water. Rinsing it out and changing the water completely daily. I suspect that the ammonia may be higher then you say. This is important to do asap the faster you get it in clean water the better the outcome.
And fungus will grow ifthey arent in clean water. It is a win win situation putting it in a tub till you get everything under control

Keep us updated

Thanks again for the many replies. I am using a master test kit and I have a turkey baster etc. Tiny has no appetite, just sits in the corner flicking her gills. Re: The wrinkled tail when in the tank it isn't wrinkled it was because she is getting too big for the measuring jug I used to take pictures in. I have no suitable tubs for the changes but I can sort some tomorrow and move to this method and just let the tank cycle on its own.

Is Prime ok to use as a Dechlorinator for Axolotl? I am fairly sure it is but I want to be certain...

Best regards,

Martin

Prime is fine

Good news is today tiny ate for as far as I can tell the 1st time. I am doing the fresh water twice a day using tubs as suggested. I thought that I would find her dead by Saturday morning but now I am 90% I can turn this around and get her back to health. She also moved around a lot more today which looks positive.

Thanks for the help, it was really useful.

Best regards,

Martin

Hello all again!,

Just an update on Tiny and her progress after getting very ill. She got a bout of fungus which was a pain to treat. I kept on top of regular water changes and used Pimafix at a weak dose as mentioned above. Things were a bit hit and miss and I stripped the new tank down and cleaned it thoroughly and finally got on top of everything. Both of the limbs she lost in the attack are almost back with toes and fingers visible. The end result is a happy Axie who eats like there is no tomorrow http://flickr.com/gp/bengdogg/8sY58f/

Really pleased with this outcome so thanks again for all the help! :happy:

Oh one quick question looking at todays picture regarding the eyes. These got fungus on at one point. Am I right in saying they should return to a less cloudy beady black eye or is this just the way axies age??