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Gills are falling off/disintegrating Please help

michael

michael

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I just noticed that my axolotl's gills are much much smaller and look very sickly. He does go up for air occasionally, but I don't know if it is "excessive" However, I don't have any airation at all, so I will remedy that asap. Someone mentioned a salt bath in another thread, and if that is needed, how do I do it? As far as I know, you aren't suposed to touch the axolotl, so how do I get him out of the tank? I'm posting pictures here, sorry about the poor quality. I've only had him for 6 months and I'm really worried.. please help
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d130/Rooster752/sickxenu2.jpg<br><br>http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d130/Rooster752/sickxenu1.jpg

(Message edited by rooster752 on June 29, 2006)
 
S

stewart

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Here is a link to the salt bath page.http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml
I dont think that salt baths would be nesecery due to them being used to get rid of fungus/paricites. You can touch the axolotl but only if you have clean hands(NO SOAP MUST BE ON YOUR HANDS), do it very gently and not to squese hem/her. As for taking him/her out of the water use a net. Gills recede when there is lots of air in the water, are there any fish in the tank with him/her. If so take them out.
 
L

lorie

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Ahh that couls be to do with the fillter. If the filters too pwerful the gills will crinkle up etc etc. I sugest trying to divert the current or something if the fillter is the problem.

You may even have an axolotl turning into a land lizard.
 
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sherri

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To me that looks like it may be her gills have been burned by ammonia.Did you cycle your tank? Do you have an ammonia test? If the ammonia is high, you need to do daily water changes of 25% or so, depending on ammonia levels.
Let us know more. Hope your axie gets well soon
 
michael

michael

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I cycled the tank for about 2.5 weeks and change about 20% of the water weekly while vacuuming the gravel. I do have an ammonia test but havne't tested for a few weeks, but I will do that when I get home from work. I'm using a fluval 104 filter with a spraybar that is spraying the water onto the side of the aquarium. I have the output on the filter set to about 1/3 or 40 percent. There are a few tiny fish in there now with him that I put in just to see if I could get him to eat since I thought that might be more fun than just eating bloodworms. I just put them in yesterday though, so they aren't the problem, though I've had fish in there before, but never for more than a few days. So it probably isn't a case of there not being enough air in the water though and airation isn't the problem?
 
E

edward

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In most cases cycling for 2.5 weeks (17-20 days) isn't sufficient to fully cycle the tank. Most likely you are still mid-cycle and the issues you are seeing could be due to high ammonia and/or high nitrite.
When cycling the tank with animals in the tank, you really need to test the water on a daily basis for ammonia and nitrite as these can kill the animals in the tank.
I would also suggest removing the fish as they are adding to the bioload in the tank and can cause the levels of ammonia and nitrite to get a lot higher.
I would also suggest reviewing http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml


Ed
 
michael

michael

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Okay, I tested for both PH and ammonia. The ph is 7.4 and the ammonia is very very low/practically 0 ppm. I just changed the carbon media in the filter today. I took the fish out of the aquarium. Now that I look at him, he is definitely surfacing for air much much more than he ever has. What does this mean? I'm posting pictures of the spraybar/filter setup. The spraybar is pointed towards the side of the aquarium and the filter is on a low setting. For what its worth, he hangs out a lot by the intake on the filter. Could this be bad for him?
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d130/Rooster752/filter2.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d130/Rooster752/filter.jpg
 
michael

michael

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Most problems with axolotl are from temperature, water quality, or food. What temp is it? What are you feeding it? Are you sure it isn't swallowing gravel? What size is the tank?

I'd fill that tank up close to the top to give more water volume.

Other possible problems are fish nipping, disease from stress, disease from the fish, not being an axolotl. If it is really a tiger salamander then its gills will shrink.

If the axolotl feels sticky instead of slippery it is an indication of disease.
 
michael

michael

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Okay, I just tested for NO2 and NO3. No2 is at 0 ppm. no3 is at 10 ppm. So, that looks pretty good. It is a 25 gallon tank, only filled about halfway. It is eating bloodworms and I've never seen him eat gravel. The temp is at 74 degrees, which looks like its a little high. I'm goign to try moving it to a different part of the house to see if I can reduce that.
 
E

edward

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What are you using for a test kit? These levels are not what I would normally expect to see in a tank that has only been cycling for a little over 2.5 weeks or even one that has recently completed its cycle.

A nitrate level of 10 ppm is very low and is not typically seen in an enclosure where there are only 20% water changes and the animals are fed on bloodworms in a recently completed cycle.

Ed
 
E

edward

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Okay, if you cycled the tank in January, then it hasn't cycled for 2.5 weeks. It had cycled for a significantly longer period of time.....

Ed
 
michael

michael

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I thought when you said cycle you were just referring to running the whole setup without any animals in it. Sorry, I'm really new at all this.. does it look as if its just the temperature that could be cuasing the problems though? What about him going up to the surface of the water a lot?
 
E

edward

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No Cycling refers to the process as outlined here http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml during which the nitrifying bacteria become established and convert nitrogenous waste.
If the axolotl has been in the tank for the last 6 months then the cycle began at the time of the introduction of the axolotl and would have averaged 30-60 days.

Warmer water holds less oxygen which when combined with the reduction of the gills makes it harder for the axolotls to breath.

Ed
 
michael

michael

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Okay, so if I move the tank to a differnet part of the house and cool the water down, should he begin to get better?
 
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beata

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Ed Kowalski -I'm from Poland .I understand this problem fifty/fifty .Do you speak Polish.
I have 3 axolotls J need contact in polish language.Please answer me
 
E

edward

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Hi Michael,

Yes getting the temperature down will help the axolotl.

Ed
 
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