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Illness/Sickness: My First Fungus!

philbaker76

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Hi guys,

Was just the other day I was saying I've never had a problem with my Axolotls.
...seems I spoke too soon.

I came home Yesterday after a few days away to find white fungus on my Axolotls gills. :eek: Kept Axies for about three years now, and this is my first fungus. :mad:

All four from the same tank, I've quarantined them, completely cleaned the tank and gave them three salt baths yesterday, one bath today so far.

Really worried about a Gold male, he seems the worst; gills are all but gone and he's really sluggish; his snout is slightly red and so is the tip of his tail. Others seem OK in themselves; but all four are showing signs of stress.

They could have been effected by the fungus for about three-four days; not sure how quick it spreads ~ but the little fellas gills are covered in it.

Few of questions:
  1. how long should I continue to do the salt baths for?
  2. when should I see a noticable improvement?
  3. other than fridging the Axolotls, is there anything else I can do?
  4. what are their chances of recovery?
Any advice appreciated.

Cheers, Phil
 

blueberlin

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Poor Phil!

You need to continue the salt baths until the fungus is gone. You will probably need to reckon with at least another couple of days of salt baths and fridging for that. I won't risk a guess at recovery. One of mine had a fungus on her gills. I tried to remove it and the tip of that branch snapped off in my fingers. It was apparently already dead under the fungus. That removed the fungus, though, and I only gave her two more salt baths before finally leaving her in peace. The fungus did not return.

Fungus spreads really quickly. Three of my larvae (1 inch long at that time) caught it on one front leg, and the fungus spread to cover the entire body overnight.

I won't insult you with the usual tips because I know you know them. I do wish you luck and a speedy recovery.

-Eva
 

philbaker76

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Thanks Eva, so would you recommend I try and pick the fungus off in addition to the salt baths?
Some of the fungus has dropped off since yesterday, but it still seems to have a firm hold on all four Axies.

...maybe I'm just being impatient ~ I want it gone now :) and to see them back to their happy selves.
 

blueberlin

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Hi Phil,

If you have steady hands and are bravehearted, you can try to pick it off with tweezers. I would recommend not doing this while they are sitting in the salt bath because in case something does break off (like with mine), the salt water stings.

I completely understand your impatience. Sounds like a nasty fungus got hold of the poor guys.

-Eva
 

philbaker76

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So far so good with the salt baths, fungus is clearing - even the gold male I was worried about seems to be picking up and is looking much better. :D

Tried to pick the fungus off with my stubby-fingers, and I managed to blow some off with a jet of water from the turkey baster. Rest seems to be just dropping off.

I'm going to keep the quarantined for a least a week; although I'm eager to get them all back together in their fresh clean tank.

Gold Albino female, seems happy enough and so does the younger Albino - but the two males are still showing some signs of stress. The Albino and one of the gold male Axies gill filaments are all gone. All have eaten.

I'm going to give them another salt bath tonight (they had one early this morning); any suggestions on how long I should keep salt bathing them for?

http://www.axolotl.org/health.htm suggests three days, but I don't want to stop the treatment too early and risk a re-infection (not sure they'd survive it). :(

Also, in another tank I've noticed that a recently introduced young Albino is looking stressed (no idea why, water etc. is fine and his tank mates are happy) - what do you guys think? should I quarantine him? or give him a few more days to settle? (he's been in there for about a week).
 

blueberlin

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Hi Phil,

I'm so relieved that they are improving! Also, what a clever idea, to spray with the turkey baster - I will remember that and start spreading it around the forum here.

Because salt can also damage the axolotl's gills and skin (and therefore breathing), I would rather err on the side of caution when administering them. Perhaps cut back to one salt bath a day until the fungus is completely gone?

As to prevention of recurrence, after mine was free of visible fungus and I stopped the intensive salt treatments, I turned the aquarium itself into a mild salt treatment. I added 1 teaspoon of salt per 100 L of salt directly to her aquarium. Successive water changes eventually diluted/removed the salt.

As to the newbie, I would suggest that it is never a bad idea to quarantine new animals (it's actually generally considered good practice to quarantine them for 30 days before introducing them to the established tank). Surely his problem is just the new environment, but just in case, a quarantine would give you the ability to monitor his health, behavior, and environment much more closely.

-Eva
 

philbaker76

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Thanks Eva, I've decided against doing anymore salt baths for the time being. All the fungus seems to be gone on a closer inspection.

I'll be away for a couple of days as from Monday, so fingers crossed - all will be well on Wednesday when I get back.

Had the stressed looking Albino Axolotl in quarantine for a months (where he was sort of happy); I 100% agree it's very good practice to quarantine any new pet.

I'll try and catch him tonight, and stick him in quarantine - like you say, better say than sorry.

Thanks again Eva for your friendly advice and support.
 

philbaker76

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Success!

Just an update - I got home today and they're all looking great.

I've put three of the four back into their tank - they were showing signs of stress in the quarantine tubs; but after 20mins or so in their tank - they were back to their happy selves. ...enjoying a slug, worm and woodlice supper!

I've kept one in quarantine, because there was something that "could" be a bit of fungus on his gill. Too small to tell exactly what it is - but I'm hopeful.

Axolotls are happy; I'm happy! :D
 

blueberlin

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Hi Phil,

Excellent news! I was really worried because it sounded like such a nasty fungus. I am so glad for your success!

-Eva
 

philbaker76

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Seems I'm not out of the woods just yet.

Out of the four Axolotls that had the fungus; one the Albino seems 100%. I got in from work the other day to find one of the Gold Axolotls with what I thought was fungus just on his eyes.

I gave them all a salt bath (to be on the safe side) and quarantined him and an other one of the Gold Axolotls (as I wasn't happy with a bit of white she had on her Gills). Anyway, seems all the three Gold Axolotls have this fungus(?) on the eyes - and now the female has a little of it on her gills.

It's not fluffy; only way I can describe it, is a bit like when a snake sheds it's skin (the eyes go milky). I'd take a photo - but my Mum has taken my camera with her on holiday.

I'm sort of hoping it's just new skin growing; maybe from damage from the salt baths. ...and if it is; I don't want to keep salt bathing them. Any thoughts?

From a quick search; I've found a fish problem called "Pop-eye" ...like fungus, caused by bacteria and poor water conditions. So assuming it's that.

Obviously something isn't right with my set-up; - I suspected the sand; but I removed that when I did a full clean and I've been doing partial water changes to keep it clean. ...no real problems when I've done tests, and temp. is fine.

Think I'm going to get some Myzazin; Axolotl.org/health.htm suggests it's relatively safe.
 

philbaker76

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Thanks Becky, I'll do a search for it. Think I'm going to have to treat the water this time; not going to be around long enough to do more than one salt bath every few days.

I put some treatment in with two of them; only a low dose ~ being a little cautious with it, as it's the first time I've used it (and I'm not around to keep an eye on them). I read various posts/web-pages and the Axolotl.org/health.htm page - doesn't state it has any of the toxic chemicals. So fingers crossed.
 
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