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Cloudy tank/algae, axolotl looking poorly

frootbats

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Hello,
My axolotl, Chimi, isn't doing so well. He has a 20 gallon tank with a sand bottom and plenty of hiding holes and fake plants. Water temperature has been hard to maintain since I live in Arizona, but I've got an aquarium fan going that helps to chill the water. About a month ago, I moved houses and had to completely drain his tank in order to move it. Since then, I've had problems with this weird, whitish mucus in his tank.

It started out growing on one of the fake plants, and I paid it no attention until it spread to all of the other plants. I took them out to wash them, and the white stuff drifted off and got all over the tank, resulting in me having to do another complete water change to get all of it out. The only thing I found wrong with the water parameters at that time was that the ammonia was slightly high, but nothing drastic. I would take a picture of the white stuff, but it's very fine and doesn't show up in my camera very well. It's almost like hair- kind of stringy, and translucent white. I found an image on Google that looks like what I have going on, so I've attached that picture in hopes it can be identified (although what's happening in my tank is not as severe as what is happening in the picture).

Chimi didn't seem to be bothered by it at first, even though it turned his tank super cloudy. After I did the water change and added some algaefix, the tank was fine and crystal clear. Now, it's been about a week and the stuff is BACK. The tank isn't as cloudy as it was before, and the water parameters are all normal. But Chimi (a white axolotl) is turning kind of red. His tail veins seem very prominent and his gills are so dark red, they are almost purple (they however are not curved forwards). Is this some sort of fungus that I need to buy special treatment for? Should I try to get a closer look at his gills to see if they're alright? What should I do in terms of a water change (change the water, filter, etc)? Please help, I'm very stressed about him and I want him to be healthy.
 

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frootbats

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Upon further inspection... his gill tufts look a little smaller than usual, although I've noticed they grow and shrink sometimes. There is something that looks slightly light in color near the inside base of one of his gills, although it could just be a paler tuft. I'm paranoid though and thinking it might be fungus... ugh. Please, any advice is helpful. I've read about salt baths but not sure if this is the right situation to do one. Should I buy a pet store water treatment for him?
 

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I am probably not the one to answer this, but I know you must be stressing out right now and worrying so much.

If I was you I would move Chimi out of the tank and put him in the fridge to help cool him off. You said you are in Arizona, which I can imagine is pretty hot. How high is his water temperature?

You need to remove the baby so you can figure out what is going on with that stuff in his tank. This way he won't be affected by it and what you will possibly need to do to get rid of it.

Not much help I know, but your first priority should be keeping him cool and calm.
 

tipnatee

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The white stuff looks like fungus , there are many kinds of fungus but yours is the kind that you get from raising ammonia level. You need to really clean your tank , do complete water change. Another reason of cloudy water also can come from high level of phosphorus . For that you can use water clearifier . Your axolotl gills health usually effect by some toxic in the water that you maybe overlook. Once your water is through tested and all ammonia are gone you can try adding Indian almond leave extract for keeping fungus away, to get your axolotl back to health can use some aquarium salt to heal and a few drop of melafix to relaxing your axolotl damage gill.
 

frootbats

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Ok. Today I'll fridge him. There is definitely stuff on his gills :( it comes off easily though if you brush it off.
He pooped last night and pooped this morning... he doesn't poop anywhere near that often, so I think there's definitely something wrong.
How should I go about cleaning the tank? Like, should i use a certain type of soap?
His water temperature is usually around 70ish degrees F, but can get higher . I try to keep the window closed so it doesn't get warm, and keep my overhead ceiling fan going at all times too.
 

Wysper

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I wouldn't use any soap.... just clear hot water to clean everything off. But you should make sure it's all clean before you put it back together. And maybe run it for a few days before you put him back to make sure it's all gone.

Is the tank near a window where it gets sunlight during the day?
 

frootbats

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Its near a window but i rarely open the window in the interest of keeping the room cooler. Im getting some melafix today to give him. I cant put him in the fridge (my parents said they wouldnt like him near our food), but can i put him in a small tub of water surrounded by ice? Ill do a salt bath right when i get home and ill siphon the water out and change it out.
 

frootbats

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I just finished emptying out his tank, do you think I should use hot water to scrub it out as well as wash the decor with? Chimi is in a tupperware right now and I'm doing my best to keep it cool for him. His gills (which have gotten much lighter) don't have a ton of white stuff on them- one or two small strands of it, it looks more stringy than the cotton-like fungus I've seen on axolotl gills. He's still very red and vein-ey. :(
 

tipnatee

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Table salt bath can burn so you have to be very gentle . I would more recommending aquarium salt after real salt bath ( unlike normal salt it's kinda like magnesium type salt it won't burn your axie , you can also leave him in there cause it will heal the table salt burn together along with only few drop of melafix to soften the gills. Many people also might recommending tea bath afterward. Soap residue can kill axolotl in an instant but if you wish to sanitize and scrub tank completely make sure to take out filter ( of course not while axolotl in tank ) you can use some chlorine and rinse it clean after, then once you're sure it's clean then when you fill water back up make sure to use dechlorinator and test with water testing strip to see if there's any chlorine left ( Must be 100% chlorine free after) The appropriate temperature for your axie right now should keep below 68f
 

frootbats

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I didn't end up using any soap, just rinsed and sponged the tank well, and I replaced the filter cartridge. Tank now looks good as new, but Chimi is still looking bad. I managed to fridge him and I am going to leave him there until morning to see if he looks any better, and if not I will do the salt bath. I have made an aquarium salt solution for him, so I shouldn't have any problems with him being in discomfort (I won't leave him in there for more than 10ish min). He seems to be turning a more normal color in the fridge, which is good. Tomorrow morning I will post what's going on. Thanks to all of you for your help!
 

RG

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White water is caused by bacteria
This often occurs with a new aquarium.
How to Clear Cloudy Water in Your Fish Tank
Keep your axo chilled for a few days It will do him good.
Your aquarium will probably create white water again when he go back in.
I've experienced the same after switching off the refrigeration. I've then cleaned with chlorine.
I can tell you that a thorough cleaning makes no sense. You can better try to restore the balance in your tank.
It disappeared when I've add fresh pond water with cyclops. But this may not be an option for you. It must be clean and chilled water without pathogens.
Maybe bacteria from a bottle or something similar (google?)
 

tipnatee

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White water is caused by bacteria
This often occurs with a new aquarium.
How to Clear Cloudy Water in Your Fish Tank
Keep your axo chilled for a few days It will do him good.
Your aquarium will probably create white water again when he go back in.
I've experienced the same after switching off the refrigeration. I've then cleaned with chlorine.
I can tell you that a thorough cleaning makes no sense. You can better try to restore the balance in your tank.
It disappeared when I've add fresh pond water with cyclops. But this may not be an option for you. It must be clean and chilled water without pathogens.
Maybe bacteria from a bottle or something similar (google?)

Great advice , most people would think of cleaning tank and completely forgot of what to do with the filter. Good bacteria need to be reintroduce to the tank again. I've just heard of a product call evolution Aqua Pure Pond balls . It's suppose to carry good bacteria which you can add then in to your filter media.
 

frootbats

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Ok, chimi has been in the fridge for two days now. Yesterday i changed his water and there was some translucent white bits in there with him- it looked a lot like the fungus i had in the tank. I changed his water and he did fine. I just changed his water for the second time, and it didnt go so well. There was more white stuff, and when i moved him to another tupperware, he freaked out and splashed everywhere. His back legs were kind of spasming, so i quickly put him in the fridge and covered him back up. His gills look about the same, but theres some white bumpy spots near his armpits and the back of his gills.
Im at a loss. Im trying the best i can, but it just doesnt seem to be making a difference. Should i just leave him in the fridge for longer, or try a salt bath...?
 

tipnatee

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Try salt bath quick! Put your table salt in a clean tub of fresh cold water and soak your axie in for a few minutes see if any thing change ( white stuff should fall off of him and clear out) just make sure your tub doesn't have any soap residue that you didn't know about cause sometime we can't see it with out naked eyes , but it can kill axolotl . If you touch your axolotl where's the lumpy stuff at and feel like stuck and white stuff crumbs out of his slim coat he might have ich and that's deadly without salt bath treatment . So do it ASAP.
 

frootbats

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I gave him a salt bath this morning. Some of the white stuff on his armpit area was gone, it looked much better. There is some now though on the tips of his toes on one foot. I got most of it off by gently pulling at it (making sure not to hurt his toes in the process). The salt baths turn him a red color, but hes not peeling, so thats good. I actualtly have a bottle called "ick treatment" that i got from the pet store, do you think i should use it? And in the tank, i added some good bacteria already (i think the thing i used was called Stress Zyme+). He's not nibbling at my finger when i put my finger in his water (he used to always do that) but decreased appetite is normal when fridging axolotls right?
 

tipnatee

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Don't use ick fish medicine cause it doesn't work on axolotl and rather toxic for the little sensitive skin. And yes decreasing appitite will happening do to very cold temperature in the fridge ( kinda like hibernating) but cold temperature with clean fresh water will help healing him faster. Don't worry about food at this point just let him rest. Not yet back to the tank cause he might need another salt bath tomorrow morning. Just keep checking if he poop then change his tub water to maintain clean environment.
 

auntiejude

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Please stop using chemicals in your tank. Most are toxic to axies. You have a bacterial bloom which happens in almost all new tanks. Just change water to reduce cloudiness, rinse ornaments under hot running water and be patient.
You also need to check whether your water conditioner has aloe in it - that leaves a residue on everything too. Use a simple thiosulfate dechlorinator.
 
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