White things on gills

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spot26

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Today my gold albino is swimming frantically around the tank. She is scratching/kicking her gills with her back feet. I took a closer look and i can see that the fluffy part of her gills have white things on them. It doesn't look like fungus. And i can't tell if its just a change of colour. But something is really irritating her.
I feed her earthworms and pellets. Shes in a 2.5ft tank with fluval canister filter and she shares her tank with a wild type male.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10-20
Ph 6.8
Temp 20

Should i do a salt bath and see if it clears up?
I'm trying to get a clear enough picture of her gills to post here. In the mean time...any ideas?
 
Salt can be irritating enough anyway, if you're unsure I would maybe suggest Indian Almond leaves instead as they do have an antifungal property and is a lot more soothing for the skin.

Fungus looks like a fluffy spot, kind of like the white mould you can see on bread. If it just looks fleshy its most likely an injury/dead skin. It would be really helpful if you could try to take a better photo.
 
Thanks for replying. It doesn't look like fungus, it looks like the tiny hair like fillaments(????) not sure of the exact name, are going white. She is fairly marbled in colour so again im not sure if it's just her colour and the scratching is an entirely different matter.
I have a picture that i'll post soon. Hope it's clear enough.
 
Photo of Axolotl gills is attached.
 

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  • Axolotl Penny gills.jpg
    Axolotl Penny gills.jpg
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I don't see anything at all besides iridophores/xanthophores (whatever they are called) on his filaments. It's like the same as on his body. As for the scratching it's usually from irritation. Your water chemistry looks fine and I don't see any damage or fungus to the gills.

Try a tea bath anyway. But looks all normal to me.
 
That's great!!! Thankyou.
Can i add the tea to their tank? I don't want to take her out to do it and i don't mind the tank going brown for a while.
Is it 1 cup of black tea for every 10 litres?
 
The Indian almond leaves should help soothe, as suggested. Or tea baths. Both have similar properties. And yes, it is one cup of black (fermented) tea per 10 litres and yes, you can add it to the tank.
 
I think your axolotl looks perfectly fine.

I'll add that there is also the option to skip any treatment and monitor your axolotl's behavior and condition for a few days, looking for any changes. Perhaps he just had an itchy day. Perhaps not, but with a tea bath, the darkened water can make noticing new symptoms a bit more challenging.

Providing a stable and consistent environment really does do wonders by itself sometimes.
 
Thank you. Maybe I will monitor her for a few days and if it continues I will try the tea.
 
Ok, so a few days after posting here, my golden started to get some fungus on her gills. I gave her a salt bath and most of it came off. The rest came off on its own.
Then a few days later my male started acting the same way. Scratching at his gills and rubbing his head on the driftwood. He also had some fungus a few days after that so I salt bathed him too. Its been about a week and he has started scratching again, this time twisting his body almost in half!!!
I have just purchased a new 4ft tank for all 4 of my axies but I'm reluctant to put these 2 in there in case they have flukes or a parasite.
I've never taken an axie to the vet before, but if I take them, would they be able to rule out fluke and parasites?
Anyone got any ideas??
 
The usual advice is to do twice-daily salt baths (about 10 mins, no longer than 15) and to continue them for a couple of days after the fungus/symptoms disappear, just to be certain it is completely eradicated. You may need to do the salt bath routine again.
Also, what is the temperature of your tank? Higher temperatures than recommended can encourage fungal infections.
 
I didn't do twice daily salt baths and the male only got 2 10min salt baths. The 2nd one he didn't cope to well and I had to take him out early.
Temp is 15 degrees at the moment but I think it was up around 19 at the time.
Should I do the salt bathing again, this time twice daily even if there's no fungus present?
 
According to your description, I think that is Saprolegniasis. Just change your water everyday with dechlorination. Also, disinfect your tank and filter. After 4 days, the axolotl will feel better. :happy:
 
moilance said:
According to your description, I think that is Saprolegniasis. Just change your water everyday with dechlorination. Also, disinfect your tank and filter. After 4 days, the axolotl will feel better. :happy:
Click to expand...

Disinfecting the tank and filter will crash your cycle. Fungal spores are always present in the water. Bad water parameters, temperature and stress can cause fungus. There's no need to disinfect these things.
 
So, I'm still not sure what I should do with these guys. Just do frequent water changes? My tank has been running for years so I'm not willing to disinfect my tank and filter unless it's something major and if my axies have flukes, I'm sure they would have other symotoms by now.
There is still no sign of any fungus returning on their gills so I wont salt bath them.
 
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