Hi! I posted about a month ago about my 5-ish year old male wild type axie - Abe. In January I noticed that his color began to fade (in small patches and spots). I tried a series of salt baths and it didn't seem to do anything ... upon closer look I came to the conclusion that the lack of color was probably not an infection (at least not fungal as nothing "sloughs" off in the salt baths). He is still very active and is still eating for me (bloodworms, brine shrimp cubes and earth worms). I have purchased a water testing kit and found that the Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite levels are all 0ppm and the pH is about 6.7 ... I noticed today that his gills look like they aren't as "fluffy" the have been in the past.
He was originally a lab animal and is missing a whole rear leg and part of one of his front arms. I have two (male and female) golden albinos (in a separate tank) that I feed the same amount of food at the same time as Abe ... they are both very chubby while Abe doesn't seem to gain weight like my goldens do. I am concerned about him still and I'm looking for suggestions.
The only theory I have is water type ... for the first 4 years I've had them (all 3), I lived with my parents and they had well water. Last year I got married and moved the axies to my new house which has city water. I thought maybe the chlorine that tends to be in city water could be causing his fading color ... but, I don't know. I started treating his water with a chlorine/chloramine eliminator just this week. My other two appear healthy (although being albino I wouldn't be able to see color fading), but I'm worried about my little Abe. Could it be age related?
I would appreciate any and all help/advise! Thanks!!
He was originally a lab animal and is missing a whole rear leg and part of one of his front arms. I have two (male and female) golden albinos (in a separate tank) that I feed the same amount of food at the same time as Abe ... they are both very chubby while Abe doesn't seem to gain weight like my goldens do. I am concerned about him still and I'm looking for suggestions.
The only theory I have is water type ... for the first 4 years I've had them (all 3), I lived with my parents and they had well water. Last year I got married and moved the axies to my new house which has city water. I thought maybe the chlorine that tends to be in city water could be causing his fading color ... but, I don't know. I started treating his water with a chlorine/chloramine eliminator just this week. My other two appear healthy (although being albino I wouldn't be able to see color fading), but I'm worried about my little Abe. Could it be age related?
I would appreciate any and all help/advise! Thanks!!