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Chronic Fungus: Need Help/Advice!

katbeck99

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Apr 11, 2017
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My axolotl, Lady, has had a fungus problem for over a year now... yes you heard that right. I have four axolotls in the same tank and she is the only one who has experienced chronic fungus. I have isolated her many times and attempted to treat it with many medications (Furan-2, tetracycline, methylene blue, Indian almond leaves, etc.) but nothing has helped! She is still eating/acting like normal. My water parameters are: 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitries, 20-40 ppm nitrates, pH = 7.0. I got Lady from a woman who said she rescued her from a 20 gallon long with 20 axolotls, so maybe her immune system is damaged and she keeps getting fungus? Maybe she's stressed and that's why she keeps getting fungus? I have no idea what else to do. Please help!
 

khatnip

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hi! so i'm not axolotl expert, but i've found that using melafix (to heal wounds) and pimafix (to get rid of the fungus) has helped me significantly in cases of fungus. Unfortunately, these are just to help cure the symptoms, and not the cause. I use pimafix only long enough to get rid of the fungus, and continue to use the melafix as recommended to help promote healing. In extreme cases, I have found that salt baths work very well to get rid of the fungus but I use that very sparingly because I can visibly tell it hurts my axie!
I don't know if you would need to separate your axie to treat her with the melafix and pimafix, but from my point of view they're relatively harmless and do not drastically change my water parameters.
https://www.amazon.com/API-PIMAFIX-Antifungal-Freshwater-Saltwater/dp/B000256ES0/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=melafix&qid=1565194078&s=gateway&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/API-Freshwater-Bacterial-Infection-16-Ounce/dp/B0002567T6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=melafix&qid=1565194078&s=gateway&sr=8-3

You can also buy these at walmart or a pet store.

As for the weak immune system -- make sure she is on a regular eating schedule and, while i've never done it or researched it for axies specifically, it might be worth a shot putting her on some vitamins. I've seen that help for fish more than medicine does.
 

KumquatSquats

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Mine stopped getting fungus once I brought my GH/KH up and kept my PH a little on the high end, about 7.6-7.8

Increasing the water hardness allows for better osmoregulation and I believe that too soft of water is a likely reason we see so much recurrent illness in axolotls. Just like we need salts to remain hydrated so too do amphibians, in appropriate levels of course.
I actually add 1tbsp per 10gals - aquarium salt whenever I do a water change per a recommendation from an older user of this site (Michael --- something or another), after doing my own research this seems to line up with the salt blends used in labs to maintain overall health of their axolotl stock. In addition to this I use Seachem Equilibrium for magnesium and calcium supplementation, I could make my own mix but i'm lazy.

Over medicating can also contribute to recurrent illness so I would generally recommend salt or tannins as the first line treatment for fungal infections. Reduction of temperature can also inhibit fungal growth.
 
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