Illness/Sickness: Fungus

Shuichi · May 25, 2014

I have 3 adult axies that were moved temporarily due to having babies. I kept the 2 females in one tank and the male in another. I noticed yesterday that the male has lost all of his fluffy gills to fungus and around his tail too. I started giving him salt baths today and keeping him refrigerated, he's eating fine and it looks like the fungus on his tail has gone but the tip is curved and red.

The issue I have though, is that before I noticed this, I put him in with the females to clean his tank out. One seems fine but the other has white marks on the tip of her gills, the same as the sick one does. I separated both females earlier but she hasn't moved from the same spot in over 6 hours. Her gills are flapping forward fairly often so I was wondering if it was worth giving her salt baths too but not refrigerating her because she's fine otherwise.

Skudo09 · May 26, 2014

How was the tank cleaned out? What are the parameters in the tanks? Are you able to post photos?

Shuichi · May 27, 2014

Just a normal water change, I only have the strips which I've read are quite unreliable. The 2 tanks are fine though.

Here's a picture of her gills, though the males doesn't seem to be healing even with salt baths. She is moving around fine now too.

Elise · May 27, 2014

The white tips often indicate the gills receeding slightly. It's a process of atrophy in the presence of an abundance of disolved oxygen. Perfectly normal and unrelated to any of the illnesses you are dealing with.

Shuichi · May 27, 2014

This is happening to my other axolotl, though a lot worse. Should I stop the salt baths?
Is there a way to stop the receding or will it heal itself?

Elise · May 27, 2014

Can you include a few pictures of all of your axolotls. It sounds as though one has a fungal infection and the other two are fine.

Shuichi · May 28, 2014

The wild's stalks have always looked like that, she did lose some off her fluffy gills a while back but it doesn't seem to have been a problem.

HayleyK · May 28, 2014

I don't really see fungus, good water parameters and temps will help. You can help by popping in some Indian almond leaves into the tank.

Also, it looks like you have a melanoid, not a wild

Shuichi · May 28, 2014

Should I stop the salt baths? Will the gills heal by themselves?

Thanks for the replies so far.

Elise · May 28, 2014

I don't see any reason to continue with the salt baths. Two look perfectly healthy and the only one with any issues that I can see is your leucistic. His gills are lacking filament, are inflamed, and shows possible necrosis. Have you noticed the gills getting worse with the salt baths or were they in this condition before you started the treatment? Salt baths have been known to cause gill damage if the concentration or duration is excessive.

Some additional pictures of your leucistic would help. Ammonia toxicity could also be the cause for the gill damage. Have you been doing daily water changes or are you removing him from his tank for the salt baths? If the latter, check the parameters in his tank.

Shuichi · May 28, 2014

They were like that before, I don't think they're any worse than before the salt baths. He's been in the fridge the last 3 or 4 days and I've been changing the water daily. It's not in the picture but the end of his tail is curved.

Sweetie · May 28, 2014

I would definitely cease the salt baths. That does not look like fungus to me, and the salt baths would be irritating to him. I would try Indian almond leaves to soothe his skin and keep his tank parameters perfect.

Shuichi · May 30, 2014

I checked on him today, his gills look a little better though one now has 2 white marks on it. I still have him fridged but he is eating and I should be able to get some Indian almond leaves by early next week. Attached a picture of his tail too.

Will it work if I put the leaves in a tub in the fridge for a few days then put him in?

layna · May 30, 2014

If your tank is cool, there is no need to keep your axie in the fridge.
This just slows his metabolism and means he may not want to eat, but it also wont do any harm, the almond leaves work best after a couple of days when they have broken down a bit just pop them in the tank/tub and then put your axie in

Shuichi · Jun 1, 2014

So I went to the pet shop to get the Indian almond leaves.. and left with 2 young axies. One looks fine, the other looks as if 2 of its gills have merged into 1 and its feet look underdeveloped(?) It seems fine so I'm assuming its a runt of the litter like my melanoid.

The problem I have is that I now don't have enough tanks. I'm currently cycling the big tank, and I only have 2 smaller tanks, 1 for the females and 1 for the new ones. The only option I have is the pictured plastic tub but the room can get quite warm (which I believe is the reason the male got ill/how he got worse so quickly) and I really don't want him to get ill again. I'll try putting the leaves in for a couple of days first but I'm not sure how long is safe to leave him in there without a filter.

layna · Jun 3, 2014

Do you have a desk top fan you could use? just point it over the top of the water and it should keep it cooler

Shuichi · Jun 3, 2014

I've found opening a window cools the tanks down a little, but I do have a fan. The only thing is the tanks are in my bedroom so I can't cool them down overnight.

I put the male in the tea bath earlier. I've noticed a slight change in his colour already but he is stressing out often, but I'm putting that down to the temperature change. The whites on his gills have fell off since, one when I moved him and it bled a little.

My only concern now is the tip of his tail. I'll post another update in a few days to see how the bath works out.

Thanks for all the replies. :happy:

Shuichi · Jun 8, 2014

I took a picture today during a clean out. Bad quality, but the redness has gone. When I went to put him back, he managed to escape onto the floor. He has some red marks on his tail, but nothing serious.

Sweetie · Jun 8, 2014

His slime coat may have been compromised by his little escape act - there are water conditioners such as Prime that have aloe vera in them to help with restoring the slime coat. The Indian almond leaves will be helpful in soothing his skin too.
Meanwhile, the tea baths seem to have helped lessen the redness and irritation of his skin, which is a good start.
You do need to lower the tank temperature - try searching this site for threads with suggestions on this, as there are a number of good ideas you could try. Aim to keep it under 20 degrees celcius.
For your new lotls, it is important to do 100% water changes with cool, dechlorinated water while they are in the tub.

Shuichi · Jun 8, 2014

I did put a leaf in, he was out for about 10 seconds. I did an 80% change on the young ones, they stress easily so I didn't want to take them out in case the same thing happened. Other than that they've all been fine the last week.

Illness/Sickness: Fungus

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