Ich? Or something?

[mooflakes]

First things first:

• 8 in wildtype
• 40g tank
• 40g sponge filter + 40g air pump + 10g sponge + 10 air pump
• Good parameters
• No other tankmates

Pictures

So I'm not even sure if something is wrong. I've been stressed over this guy ever since I moved him into the new 40g of mine, Jan 24th was the day I got the tank so about the 27th or so he was put in.

Set up process, blah blah. He didn't eat for awhile and I introduced nightcrawlers into his diet and set up live plants with a new LED. Nice new deco, all that jazz. He didn't eat for a longwhile which made me scared that he might be sick. I noticed white dots on him (see pictures) and I had no idea when they got there if they had always been there because apparently I'm not a very observant axolotl mom.

He's starting to regularly eat, small portions but eating nonetheless. Today when I woke up he was swimming like a madman back and forth on the back wall. The light was off for the night and I turned it on and he carried out his rapid swimming to the front of the tank as well, eventually stopping. Later through the day, I tried to feed him worm bits because he tried to eat the fork I was using to smooth out the sand and like a fussy child he didn't take it until I persisted later. As of now, he's eaten 2/3s of a crawler which is pretty good for his standards. Yesterday he had some too so I can probably call his appetite good for now, I think.

Later today I watched him and noticed that he was flicking his gills a lot. I counted for a couple minutes and the median was probably about every 8 seconds he would flick. This happened for awhile until he went to a flick within a minute or two. I checked just now and it was back to the 8ish second range. His gills are a bit short (see pictures) but I think that's a little fast + irregular but I've been told that it's just a way to get oxygen but

There is great debate on whether axolotls can get ich, so maybe a protozoan infection would be a better descriptor but I think they're kind of the same? Maybe. I don't know.

Maybe the white dots are part of his morph? Maybe they're not? Maybe I'm overreacting and a crazy axolotl mom?

Note in the pictures that he has white dots on his cloaca thing area and tail primarily. There's white on the bridge gill not feather things but that's not dots nor is it fungus. Sorry for the quality and occasional bright light. iPhone light is always on because I dropped it in the ocean a year ago lol.

I just want my little one to be well for his sake and mine. :"D

 

[LSuzuki]

I'm not seeing the white spots ... at least, I'm not seeing anything that looks like the white spots from ich.

Are the white spots you see large (like 1-3 mm) and shiny? If so, you are probably seeing iridophores. They are perfectly normal.

I'm not sure how often mine flick their gills, so I don't know if once every 8 sec is in the normal range or not. It will depend on temperature - the higher the temp, the more flicks I would expect.

 

[rachel1]

I see the spots you are referring to, but there's not enough detail in the pics to tell what's going on. In fish, ich cysts form a tiny, raised white dot, about the size of the head of a pin. It usually breaks out in times of stress. In an Axolotl, it could probably only get established if there were breaks in the slime coat. If the tank had fish in it before you got it, there's a good chance protozoan spores could be present. I have used a submersible UV sterilizer to kill off ich in the past, and it would also kill other free swimming Protozoa. Mine is a Sunsun submersible unit that I got for around $30 on Amazon, and you avoid possibly harmful medications. I would run it continuously for at least a couple weeks in a cold water tank, as the life cycle will be lengthened. If the spots are flat, white to gold colored with irregular shape, and sparkle when you shine a flashlight on them, those are irridiphores and are normal.

 

[Bette]

Those spots seem to be pretty iridiphores. I cannot see anything else that looks like symptoms of an illness. That's a healthy axolotl :happy:

 

[mooflakes]

I probably should have mentioned that the tank is usually around 60ish f. :happy:

If the spots are flat, white to gold colored with irregular shape, and sparkle when you shine a flashlight on them, those are irridiphores and are normal.

I don't know what you mean about the flashlight? The spots are pretty flat in color like in the pictures and flat in dimensions. Some are discolored on the edges etc and they're not really the same shape.

I guess if they're not raised, he's not in jeopardy? Still a little worried about the gill flicking, though.

 

[LSuzuki]

Here is a thread that has some pictures of iridophores to look at, down near the bottom.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...87-white-scaley-looking-stuff-my-axolotl.html

 

[mooflakes]

I've seen pictures of iridophores but none are ever shown on wildtypes. :'D Thank you for the link though.

 

[Bette]

I've seen pictures of iridophores but none are ever shown on wildtypes. :'D Thank you for the link though.

Actually, wild types exhibit iridophores quite frequently. It definitely looks like yours has some. I wouldn't worry too much about the gill flicking. If that is coupled with other signs of stress or illness, then I would worry.