Help! Fungus, Parasite any body know?

Hi Everyone,

My axies Demigilla has some kind of nasty infection on his gills. Ive got some better pics of his infected gills I want know what hes got before I can treat it. He seems to be also regurgitating food alot I gave him a pellet last night and he regurgitated it. My other Axie Bronzski seems to not have this infection. I can take a pic of Bronzski too show you if he ok as well . Im hoping Rayson might come online today he very good at identifying these problems

Here are some pics of Bronzski to compare with demi, his gills look different then when I got him I dont know if its from water conditions or the power filter I had in a week ago. I just fed them and demigilla and Bronzski ate quite a few worms so Im happy theyre eating :happy:

Theres a little tuft on the first phot on the base of his top gill branch that looks a little strange not sure if it fungus or if Im being paranoid this stuff. The last pic show both of them when the gills looked a bit better, I wonder if anyone see a difference or could it be due to my tank condition, eg O2 levels or other factors.

Cheers,

Peter

Hi Zolotl,

Rayson does normally come online in the evening, when he is back from work, otherwise you can always PM him.

Rayson thinks its a case of branchitis. An inflammatory process in the gills. This appears like a case caused by bacteria or protozoa. As the weather is getting warmer in Australia, especially during the day, many subclinical illnesses flare up when the weather gets warmer as well. It is likely that the axie will require a course of antibiotics from the vet.

Fridging is always good. Tea baths and salt baths not recommnded at this stage. Always a good idea to isolate the sick axie from others to prevent spread of transmissible diseases.

Cheers.

Thanks very much for the reply Ray. Is Branchitis a similar disease to Bronchitis only affecting the gills instead? He ate a few worms toady so at least he hasnt lost his appetite.

I live in melbourne so it only 15-16 degrees in the day at the moment and the water around 12-13 degrees(quite cold) so I find it a bit strange that heat could be causing it.
I had a look today it looks as though it may be getting a bit better so I will keep feeding him and keeping the water clean as see if his sitauation improves. They share the tank together and so far Bronski (the copper type) seem unaffected, looks ok doesn't he? So Ill see if he improves, or else Ill have to put him in the fridge if he deteroriates further.
I have a feeling the disease might have been aggrevated by the small submersible filter I had in the tank I took the other filter which was causing a bit of flow even with the spray bar (the tank is less then 2 feet though its quite small).By changing the filters out this caused cloudiness of the water which may have caused levels of ammonia to rise Ive put my box filter back in and the water seems to be getting better though it still a bit cloudy. Ive been doing water changes however every 2 days or so.

I had similar infection when I kept axies back a couple year ago they occured during the heat of summer, not winter and they unfortunately died. I was in contact with Susan Duhon from the Axolotl colony and she gave me advice on salt baths and using malichite green etc, but unfortunately I didnt know how bad heat was for them. Its a constant battle I guess.

Hi Zolotl,

Branchitis is inflammation of the gill (branchial), bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchus. Its different.

Good sign that the axie still has a good appetite. Ensuring good water conditions and keeping a stable cool temperature is definitely helpful.

Malachite green is toxic to axies and should never be used on them. Tea and salt baths can be useful for superficial mild skin infections/abrasions but definitely not for any nodular abscess type infection. Not only would the salt/tea not be able to penetrate into these abscesses to treat the infection, it actually drives the infection into deeper tissues and becomes even harder to treat or become systemic.

Cheers.