White spots + random floating fungus?

Okay, so first things first, and probably the thing I could totally just be paranoid about. I have a wild type axolotl who had little to no white spots when I got him, but over time, he's gotten many of them. They aren't cotton-y, and they aren't getting bigger, he just seems to have slowly gotten them over time. Now, I haven't seen a whole lot of wild types with white spots, so this somewhat concerns me- especially the single white "freckle" he's had on his face for over a month. I'll include a picture or two for your convenience!

So second of all, I've noticed a lot of tiny flecks of fluffy white stuff in my tank. I assume it's fungus, but it's very strange, because it's never attached to anything- not the rocks, not the fake plants, and not my axolotl himself. The little cotton flakes just kind of settle to the bottom of the tank or are pushed by the filter, and no matter how much I suck them out, I always see more afterwords.

I suspect the sponge in my filter may be contaminated from a prior incident a long while back, so I'm going to try and replace it tomorrow. The tank is slightly warmer than it should be due to the sudden influx of summer heat, could that cause these odd little bits of cotton fungus? I'm not so sure what I'm dealing with. I've checked the water quality quite recently and it was as perfect as could be, especially for water around this area, so I'm stuck.

Assistance is greatly appreciated for both these issues. Thank you!

( You can probably see a lot of the little white particles in the images.)

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Hi jjdickenson,

I wouldn't worry too much about the white spots on him, they're not cottony, so they're most likely just normal iridophores(or however you spell the damn word) that most wild/albino axies get. As long as he's acting normally and healthy, an damn does he look healthy, he's fine! I over worry like this about my axies all the time, so no worries, haha!

As for the floating "fungus" I think it's just particles of some white algae or something? I highly doubt it's fungus that's floating in the water, because of it was, it'd attach to something I'd assume.

As for the filter replacement, make sure your new filter sponge that you're getting is in with the old one for at least a week or two, so the bacteria from your old one can colonize in the new one, unless you actually want to restart your cycle, don't know why you would put all that work on yourself though! I highly doubt it's anything bad in your filter sponge, your axie looks healthy as can be, no need to overdo the work.

All in all, you're just a typical overworrying axie parent, haha, but at the end of the day, it's better to be safe than sorry, right?! I mean, how crazy can we get about small things like this?! Healthy looking axie you have there, all looks well!

Thank you!

Gosh, I know I worry a lot. I was 90% sure that his spots were perfectly normal but if there was even that 10% chance they weren't, I'd like to know, ya know?

I'll still try the new sponge but I'll definitely make sure I let it sit for a while and such. I hope it's simply something like algae- I just don't know where in the world it would come from, and it DOES appear somewhat fuzzy/cotton-ish in texture so it leaves me simply puzzled. Like I said, however, I've not noticed it attached to anything at all in the tank.

I'm glad he's looking healthy!! He nicked his tail a few weeks back but it healed absolutely fine, I was thinking that if there WAS fungus in the tank, it definitely would have been all over that, but it healed without a hitch. So I don't know what to say!

Again, thank you. Hopefully I can get this all figured out in a jiffy.

jjdickinson said:

Thank you!

Gosh, I know I worry a lot. I was 90% sure that his spots were perfectly normal but if there was even that 10% chance they weren't, I'd like to know, ya know?

I'll still try the new sponge but I'll definitely make sure I let it sit for a while and such. I hope it's simply something like algae- I just don't know where in the world it would come from, and it DOES appear somewhat fuzzy/cotton-ish in texture so it leaves me simply puzzled. Like I said, however, I've not noticed it attached to anything at all in the tank.

I'm glad he's looking healthy!! He nicked his tail a few weeks back but it healed absolutely fine, I was thinking that if there WAS fungus in the tank, it definitely would have been all over that, but it healed without a hitch. So I don't know what to say!

Again, thank you. Hopefully I can get this all figured out in a jiffy.

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No problemo! It's what we do! Help each other out, but yeah, in my 30 gallon with my 3 juvies I have stuff floating around too, it's white algae and kinda looks fuzzy, it's in my tank as well, and my 3 juvies are as healthy as can be!

But yeah, as for the sponge, let it sit with the old sponge in order for you not to restart your cycle!

Hope all goes well!