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Illness/Sickness: White slimy coating: The Australian summer

Maldark

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Further Update:

Max has been in the fridge for just over a week now and the ammonia levels in his tank have reached zero but with still high nitrite, so working on getting everything to zero before I put him back in (and getting a chiller).

Im just really worried about him not eating. We had him for about a week before we put him in the fridge and in that time he only ate three meal worms just before containment. He hasn't eaten either earthworms cut into small pieces or the meal worms which I knew he did eat since being in the fridge. He seems skinny to me but I might just be overreacting.
Im considering making that 'miracle mash' however I'm currently having trouble locating any axelotl or trout pellets for use. Any other suggestions on how to get him to eat??

The ball thing on his gills is gone, I managed to get it off and there doesn't seem to be any other signs of fungus which is good. So all in all, he seems healthy.

Thanks for all your time, Liz.
 

Jacquie

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He hasn't eaten either earthworms cut into small pieces or the meal worms which I knew he did eat since being in the fridge. He seems skinny to me but I might just be overreacting.
Im considering making that 'miracle mash' however I'm currently having trouble locating any axelotl or trout pellets for use. Any other suggestions on how to get him to eat??

Hi Liz,

While in the fridge, the axolotl will not be encouraged to eat as the metabolism is slowed right down.

If you would like to try to encourage the axie to eat, you can move him to the coolest place in the house and feed him when the temperature is from about 12C upwards. Optimum temperatures for feeding are 14C to about 22C. If the coolest place in the house is above 24C however, then the axie is better off being in the fridge.

In conjunction with fridging, an axie can go without food for about three months.

On cooler days, you can take him out of the fridge and put the container someplace cool to feed the axie up a bit. When the weather heats up to intolerable levels, move axie back to the fridge.

Mealworms are hard to digest and should only ever be fed as an occasional treat. Also, ensure the mealworm is decapitated before feeding to the axolotl as the mealworm has strong mandibles capable of chewing and tearing through the axolotl's internals.

Earthworm is the best food by far.
 

Maldark

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I have successfully cycled Max's tank, both ammonia and nitrite levels are at zero. I can't put him back in yet because it is still too hot for him, especially with the heat wave at the moment. Im waiting for some money to come through to buy him a chiller and perhaps a bigger tank.

However, the fates do not want me to have a healthy happy axelotl. Max has developed fungus. :( The ball i mentioned in an earlier post that was on his gills must have been fungus, but it fell off so i thought all was good. But the last two days i've noticed it on his toes, and I think its spreading.

What i don't understand is, how did he get fungus whilst in the fridge? He had daily water changes so it couldn't be the quality of the water could it? Is it possible to cause this problem with too much/ not enough dechlorinator in the water? Can too much dechlorinator be a problem?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I just want him healthy again.

Thanks

Liz
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi Liz,

Firstly, good job on following through the fridging, water cycling and water changes etc. I think it is a good strategy to leave your axie in the fridge to tide over the heat wave.

Fungal infections tend to be opportunistic. Meaning that there is usually an underlying cause. These could include things like being immunocompromised (stress, concurrent illness, malnutrition), poor water quality, even to a certain extent, the inherent genetic predisposition.

Continue keeping your axolotl in the fridge is a good idea. The cool temperature destresses your axolotl and render the conditions less favourable for fungus to establish as they prefer higher temperatures. This does not mean it will not be present in the water etc. It is just less proliferative.

Daily water changes, besides ensuring the water paremeters are all ideal, also get rids of fungus that may remain in the water (almost like a dilution thing). Just continue to fridge your axolotl and perform water changes as you have been doing.

It is best to follow the instructions on using your dechlorinator. Make sure you use the recommended amount per unit volume of water. Dechlorination itself is not really the cause of fungal infections. They are independant separate things.

If fungal problems continue to exist, you would have to perform salt solution baths. Refer to the following link.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml

Best regards
 

Maldark

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I've been giving Max salt baths of only 1tsp per 1.25L of water because I dont think the fungus is too bad yet and i dont want to over stress him. I noticed that especially the first time, white stuff came off him, like flakes, at first i thought it was non dissolved salt, but i touched it and it was not salt, just sorta like skin. Is this normal?

Also, as i was changing him today i found he did a big poop, hes done a few since being in the fridge and they seem to be getting messier and greener. This at first worried me, but on further inspection, i noticed he'd passed a small stone. Not one that is in our tank, so it must have been there since the pet shop perhaps. Could this have increased his chances of getting fungus? Also, i read in another forum that greenish poop was potentially a bad sign??

Your advice would be helpful and appreciated.

Thanks,

Liz
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi Liz,

Sometimes normal axolotl skin shedding can appear as whitish flakes coming off the body. It can resemble fungus.

Congrats on finding poop and the passed out small stone. Poop itself can be very telling. "Poopology" tells me that your axie's gastrointestinal tract is patent (meaning nothing is stuck) and your axie is eating (hence theres poop). I think those are very positive signs.

Green poop itself may not necessary mean something bad. The colour of the poop also depends on what you feed your axie. Some types of food upon digestion can take on a greenish hue. Sometimes when an axolotl has been inappetant/anorexic for a period of time, there may be a higher passage of greenish digestive bile. If you continue to feed your axie a variety of nutritious food, the greenish poop should gradually normalise again.

Cheers
 

Maldark

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Max is doing very well lately, eating a whole worm every few days. He's more active too which is great. Im now ready to put him back in his tank and have been researching chillers to buy and i've found this one, http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=404. Its a good price and good for my size tank, but I haven't found any reviews telling me of how well it works. I dont know alot about what I need for the system to work, so any advice would be helpful. Also, I noticed i'd need to buy a pump to actually pump the water through the chiller, can anyone please recommend a type or brand thats relatively cheap that with do the job? I've just noticed through research there are a lot of different types and I have no idea what would be best for Max.

Thanks for all your help.

Liz
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi Liz,

Thanks for updating us about Max. It is always so rewarding to hear happy endings.

I use a larger model of a hailea chiller much like the one you picked out. Personally i think they are really economical and work reliably. You shouldn't have problems with it.

Do you use a canister filter? If you do, you can simply connect your chiller to your filter.

Warm unfiltered tank water -> Filter inlet -> Filter outlet -> Chiller Inlet -> Chiller Outlet -> Cold filtered water returns to tank.

It is actually much better to set up your chiller this way, because you are ensuring filtered water goes into your chiller rather than unfiltered water with detritus that could potentially clog up your chiller tubings. In addition, the filter would have the in build pump to move the water through.

The only thing you have to be careful about is to get the connection hosing in the right diameter such that they can fit snugly over the inlet and outlet ports of both chiller and filter.

Cheers.
 

Maldark

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No I don't use a canister filter, I use an air filter. So it would be more beneficial to buy a canister filter, or some other sort of filter that can pump water and attatch it to the chiller than to buy a separate pump in addition to the filter im already using? The only problem is, its a small tank, only ~50L so the flow rate of 1000Lph (thats one of the smallest i've seen) would be way too much for my tank, and would cause Max stress due to water flow right? I just have no idea what im doing and need all the advice I can get. I would really appreciate suggestions on the best kind of setup for filter/pump/chiller. Thanks again.

Liz
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi Liz,

Yes its much better to connect your chiller through an external canister filter unit.

The advantages as i mentioned in the earlier post are:

- It ensures clean filtered water passing through the chiller unit not clog up the rather fine and narrow tubings in the chiller unit.

- The filter's pump would be sufficient to drive the water through the chiller.

- The setup is also really simple and straightforward. all you need are connection tubings which you can get rather cheaply from the aquarium shop.

- Minimise heating the tank water up due to pumps etc that might require placement within the tank. (I generally dont like submersion type apparatus, makes me wary of electricity but thats just me)

- Do away with finding the ideal pump compatibility (which can be rather confusing ask Neke hehe)

- Canister filters are in my opinion the best type of filter there is. Covers mechanical, chemical and biological filtration very effectively.

If it is within your budget, i really do encourage you to invest in one. It really pays for itself in the long run.

You are right that you don't need an excessively powerful filter. Select the one most appropriate for your tank volume and then you can buffer against excessive water flow by using a spray bar. You can also diffuse the water strength by directing the outlet against the tank glass surface to let it trickle down, running the filtered and chilled water through fenestrations/perforations along a length of outlet tubing etc. You can also reposition some tank ornaments/ caves etc. to allow water from the outlet to flow down on them instead of directly onto the water surface. You can be creative here, there are lots of methods.

Zeeman3000 has also recently connected his new chiller up and running with a canister filter. I thought i shall just share his good news that after his long wait, its running smoothly.

Cheers
 

Neke

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OMG do not ask me about chillers or pumps, I do not want to talk about it! Just don't even think about trying to hook up 9 different pumps one after another because every pet store in your area will ban you from their shops for continually returning pumps and filters... None of them work, especially in a small tank - the filters and pumps big enough to pump the water through your chiller will be too big to physically fit inside the tank. An external is the way to go, although I bought my stupid chiller before summer hit and I still haven't gotten around to picking out a compatible external canister filter. Good luck... Listen to Ray, he seems to know everything about chillers!
 
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