White threads coming from sick axolotls rear

Confession: My water quality was poor and bordering on too warm for a few weeks last month which has never bothered my very healthy axy before but I obviously crossed some line because he became quite lethargic and stopped eating. I fixed up the tank two weeks ago but around a week ago he started floating and hardly moving. I fridged him for three days while I cycled the water again and dosed the tank with Pimafix, then went and bought a chiller and got it set up.

He's greatly improved, back in the tank at 11 degrees C and not floating, supporting himself/holding his head high again but he's still not eating. He's also still not moving around much but I'm hoping that's due to the temps being low. I noticed he has some whispy white stuff coming from his cloaca and have attached a pic, it's from an iphone while he was in the fridge so it's a bad pic but it shows enough I hope.



I went to an aquarium shop with the pics and they said it was parasites and sold me Sterizin which I had started pouring into the tank before I realised wtf it was, I'd read about it as toxic on a list here. Only half a dose went in and most of the heavy metals were still in the bottom of the measuring cup so I'm hoping it wasn't enough to do damage :/

What do you guys think it is and what is my next course of action? I'd really like him to be eating as it's coming up on three weeks now without food but he still looks fairly fat though I worry that could be bloat :/ I felt him while I was fridging him and couldnt feel any hardness or obstructions and his rear and cloaca are not swollen.

Do I need to get him more well before increasing the tank temp, will he eat at all while it's this cold? I was thinking of putting some cherry shrimp into the tank tomorrow as he gleefully ate the last lot I put in there to help keep the tank clean.

All advice gratefully received!

Oof, never listen to the pet shop! They usually know jack squat about axolotls. In general I would never medicate your lotl unless it was directed by a vet.

Make sure you changed ALL the water, if not isolate him in brand new, clean and cool dechlorinated water. For feeding him, try earth worms. Nutritionally they're much better and he can still 'hunt' them because they wriggle.

How long should I leave him without food before I try force feeding him? Here's a pic of his current size and he doesn't look bloated to me:



I have the cherry shrimp they're water matching right now. Though I also haven't checked they'll be ok at 10 degrees yet. Lot to learn about fish husbandry right now.

Would someone let me know if s/he should still be this size after 2 weeks of not eating? I want to know if it is bloat and I need to keep treating or when I need to try force feeding. I find conflicting advice and would like confirmation on what's right. Just don't want to make a mistake that kills him.

She may not eat at the lower temps, size wise she looks good to me. My adults tend to get fed twice weekly with earthworms. What do you usually feed her and how often? Also are the white threads still there?

The white threads are not still there, I've given a single salt bath which did seem to get off a lot of stuff that wasn't previously visible to the naked eye. Lots of ultra fine strings though they might have been mucous were showing up in the tub of salted water once there was a layer of salt building up on them.

This axy came to me about 8 months ago from my kids daycare center at deaths door incredibly thin and not eating. Here's what he looked like day one ..



With the new tank, new food and feeding him a small amount of frozen axy food containing shrimp and clams, sliced, with tongs every day he picked up but that was winter. I was still feeding him every day or every second day which is probably too much now he's back at full size but I have a battery operated stick aquarium vacuum I used to get out any leftovers instantly and it mostly all went straight down - he loves to strike at his food like a snake. I have ammonia and PH visual indicators in the tank and they never get high but the nitrates were right up when I checked two weeks ago.

I think our summer and the water temp increase got me as I've owned fish but never owned an axolotl before. Thank goodness this forum was here or I'd have had no idea.

The good news is I let the tank get up to 14 degrees over the course of yesterday as the six cherry shrimp I put in needed a temp range of 15+. This morning he's moved around the tank a bit overnight and I can only find one of the shrimp in the tank. Hopefully they have prompted him to hunt as I hoped.

Now if he would just start taking food and pooing again I will relax!

Last things while he's got a thread on the forum - I have no idea how old this axy is. Is there any way to tell? His gills have always been short and while they are now a lot more fluffy they haven't grown back long like I hoped they would. Does that indicate he's older?

I think my tank was oxygen poor. When the water quality was bad we had a snail bloom and also green hair algae, that was my first indication there were too many nutrients in the tank. When I got everything out for a clean while he was in the fridge I noticed my sponge filter, which has an aerating attachment, was blocked in the air intake so it wasn't oxygenating the water like I was assuming it should be. I removed the hair algae and the filter stream now has bubbles in it again.

After reading a previous thread where a poster had gotten two older axys and one with short gills died after not enough oxygen in the tank I'm wondering if that's what my primary problem was after the high nitrates.

Still on tenterhooks but things are looking positive.