What to do?

White Patches, won't eat, and floating on his side

My Bengi is sick, I came to find him with white patches on his body. He has " slime" on his feet. It looks like they are deteriorating. He hasn't eaten in a few days. I have been doing salt baths and changing his water daily.

A few pictures would help greatly.

Here are some pictures

Re: White Patches, won't eat, and floating on his side

10 gallons
temp is 64 degrees
I don't have substrate, I have a bigger rocks that he can't swallow.
Ph 7.2
He usually eat blood worms, I tried pellets but he didn't like em at all. I got him live foods but he wasn't going to have it. He just leaves them.
I don't have a filter, But I do weekly cleanings and every other day I take out about 15-20% of the water.

Re: White Patches, won't eat, and floating on his side

tle224235 said:

10 gallons
temp is 64 degrees
I don't have substrate, I have a bigger rocks that he can't swallow.
Ph 7.2
He usually eat blood worms, I tried pellets but he didn't like em at all. I got him live foods but he wasn't going to have it. He just leaves them.
I don't have a filter, But I do weekly cleanings and every other day I take out about 15-20% of the water.

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Do you ever test for ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate? Since you do not have a filter the tank has no way of hosting enough beneficial bacteria for a nitrogen cycle. You should be doing close to 100% water changes daily. Ammonia can really build up in a 10 gallon fast and that will really stress out your axolotl.

I have been doing 100% water changes this past week since he has been ill. I have been doing salt baths. His spots have gone away. He still has that 'slime' on his feet. The slime seems to be turning toes white. I have been trying to hand feed him. He still hasn't eaten.

I went and took a few more pictures of him

You should try and feed him some scallop pieces - apparently they LOVE it. I would also suggest that once he does start eating - you move him over to earthworms - he looks like he could do with picking up some weight (he has probably lost some because he hasnt been eating).

I think for the best advice possible, you should either as Auntijude or Hayley - you can personal message them with the details - they know a lot about this stuff

tle224235 said:

I have been doing 100% water changes this past week since he has been ill. I have been doing salt baths. His spots have gone away. He still has that 'slime' on his feet. The slime seems to be turning toes white. I have been trying to hand feed him. He still hasn't eaten.

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He might have a bacterial infection or he might just be shedding. Someone on here explained that there can be harmful bacteria that build up on the floor of uncleaned aquariums just waiting for the chance to infect. They cause the toes to disintegrate and fall off if left untreated. Maybe instead of trying to treat for fungus look at some of the threads on bacterial infections and see if those help you out.

Here is a better picture he had cotton looking patches on him around 4 days ago. When I saw them I started doing salt baths, then I began to do water changes. He is in pretty bad shape.

As mentioned above, a filter is needed and will help stabilise the nitrogen cycle and will prevent you needing to do such big daily water changes once it's bee established. You will need ammonia, nitrite and nitrate testing kits they are an essential IMHO.

With those gems you will have to remove them eventually as they look like a hazard. It can also harbour decaying food and faecal matter which again affects the health of your lotl and water quality.

Your lotl should be put on an earthworm staple diet as they are far more nutritious (and easier!) to feed. If they are too big you can cut them to appropriate size.

As boom sloth mentioned - bacteria build up can cause toes to shed and disintegrate. I suggest using Indian almond leaves in the tank and see if there is an improvement. This doesn't look like a fungus but a breach in the slime coat leaves a chance for fungus so keep an eye out for white cottony looking stuff.

Honestly, he's in fairly poor condition, and with those glass marbles harboring waste and you not even having a filter, I'd say get him out of that tank right now.

If I were you, I'd put him in a temporary container, probably of hard plastic if you don't have a spare tank. Use cold dechlorinated water and do water changes DAILY. This will at least get him in a cleaner environment than the one he's in now. He has exposed bones on his foot, and it appears that he also has breaches in his slime coat and skin. As long as he's in that poor environment, he's going to be highly at risk to even more serious infections, so seriously get him out of that tank.

As for food, try feeding him earthworms. Blood worms, while great for juvies, aren't enough for an adult axolotl. Earthworms are the most nutritious and they're very simple. He probably won't have much of an appetite right now, but keep trying. He's thin and he's fighting illness, so he needs as much as he can get.

You need to get a filter and clean out your tank. I personally think you should start from scratch; Drain your tank completely, remove the marbles, wipe down the sides and bottom. If you want to have a substrate, make sure it's a silica-based sand that has been pre-rinsed thoroughly. Let your tank cycle while your little guy is in the separate container, and when he's well enough to return to the tank, continue to do daily partial water changes until the cycling is done.

I'm not gonna lie, he's in bad shape. Not the worst I've seen, but he's not doing too well

Embry said it all - that axie is in very poor condition and needs some serious TLC to recover. His skin is being burned away by ammonia, he has no tailfin, and he is way underweight.

Cool clean fresh water, 100% daily water changes, tea baths/almond leaves, daily worms. Clean the tank, lose the glass marbles, get a filter. Get a test kit and use it regularly.

EmbryH said:

Honestly, he's in fairly poor condition, and with those glass marbles harboring waste and you not even having a filter, I'd say get him out of that tank right now.

If I were you, I'd put him in a temporary container, probably of hard plastic if you don't have a spare tank. Use cold dechlorinated water and do water changes DAILY. This will at least get him in a cleaner environment than the one he's in now. He has exposed bones on his foot, and it appears that he also has breaches in his slime coat and skin. As long as he's in that poor environment, he's going to be highly at risk to even more serious infections, so seriously get him out of that tank.

As for food, try feeding him earthworms. Blood worms, while great for juvies, aren't enough for an adult axolotl. Earthworms are the most nutritious and they're very simple. He probably won't have much of an appetite right now, but keep trying. He's thin and he's fighting illness, so he needs as much as he can get.

You need to get a filter and clean out your tank. I personally think you should start from scratch; Drain your tank completely, remove the marbles, wipe down the sides and bottom. If you want to have a substrate, make sure it's a silica-based sand that has been pre-rinsed thoroughly. Let your tank cycle while your little guy is in the separate container, and when he's well enough to return to the tank, continue to do daily partial water changes until the cycling is done.

I'm not gonna lie, he's in bad shape. Not the worst I've seen, but he's not doing too well

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I wholeheartedly second this.

You need to improve his environment.

Here's a resource on Aquarium Cycling for you:

Scales Tails Wings and Things, What is Aquarium Cycling? How to Cycle your Tank

and one on filters (I suggest a sponge filter or a baffled HOB for a lotl):
Scales Tails Wings and Things, Types of Aquarium Filters

He is doing much better, he still hasn't eaten. He is looking much better. I have put him in the fridge and do salt baths. I have been changing the water daily. The whole on the side by his hind leg is betting smaller. The " slime" on his feet has decreased. He has gotten more active. I purchased some worms and a filter. I took out the rocks. I am going to keep him in the fridge for a few more days until his condition improves more.

Why are you salt bathing him? Salt bath is for a fungus which I can not see.. Salt can be extremely irritating. Many people have stated Indian almond tea leave baths, not salt.

I did them because I was seeing improvement in his conditions. I have stopped doing them. He is in the fridge still not eating. His gills are all curled forward.

Re: White Patches, won't eat, and floating on his side

Boomsloth said:

Since you do not have a filter the tank has no way of hosting enough beneficial bacteria for a nitrogen cycle.

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Utter nonsense, a filter provides additional surface area for bacterial colonies, it also helps guard against ammonia spikes. Tanks will cycle without a filter, though for new keepers I would recommend one. Check my album and count how many filters you can see, I have approx seventy tanks/tubs, half of my cycled tanks have no filter.
To the OP your axolotl has fungus, it doesn't need to be fridged, I would recommend salt bathing and almond leaf treatment, check my fungus sticky in the axolotl general discussion section.