Illness/Sickness: Axolotl gills dying

[ratsips]

One of my breeding female axolotl's (Cupid) gills have recently started dying. It started about a month ago and she ended up losing all of the gills on her right side. I isolated her from her mate and eventually they started growing back. Once they were looking good again I put Cupid back with him but they've started to die again. I've tried to figure out what is causing this but can't find any answers. Another one of my females (Comet) lost most of her gill filaments but her arches didn't die like Cupid's. Hers have mostly grown back but I'm hesitant to put her back with her mate in case they start falling off again.

The first two photos are of Cupid on Friday, the third is of Comet at her worst.

 

[ratsips]

I should also mention since they look pale that they are GFP fluorescent axolotls and appear lighter than wild type leucistics

 

[Wyvell]

Can you post water Parameters? Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites, pH and Temp? any heavy water flow in the tank?
Also, how old is she? Is her partner aggressive toward her? Are there any other tank inhabitants?
I'm mostly drawing at straws here trying to come up with anything that could be wrong, it shouldnt be a fungal infection because it began to clear up when she was removed and the mate doesn't show any signs I assume. It could be stress related or aggression from the mate. Do you have any thoughts on what it might be?

 

[Wyvell]

I will say my first thought is fungal infection though, it sure looks like something growing on those gills. I would Fridge her for a week doing 100% water changes daily with cold water and a salt bath once a day. Keep an eye on the mate too. Almond leaves or black tea in the tank might help as well. Tannins have antibacterial and anti fungal properties but will lower the pH of the water. Keep an eye on tank parameters and make changes slowly so you do not crash your cycle.

 

[Hayleyy]

If it's happening when she's going back into the tank with her mate I would assume he is biting them, especially if a similar thing happened to your other female.
Will wait on your water parameters also to see if there is any issue there. It does look to me as well that something is growing on her gills.
Is she eating normally? And what is she eating?

 

[ratsips]

She's eating normally. That was one of the first things I looked for. We feed them dried pellets, we bought them in bulk and got rid of the original container so I don't have the brand name but they were recommended by our axolotl supplier (Kentucky ambystoma genetic stock center). They also get bloodworms once a week. I'm unsure of their ages but about two years old. The water parameters are conductivity of 1500 μS/cm, pH of 7.05, Ammonia, Nitrates, and Nitrites all at 0. Temperature is 19ºC. The only water flow into the tank is through a small tube which I keep bubbling to assure that enough oxygen gets in to the water.

I hadn't thought about mate aggression as I hadn't seen him be aggressive towards her. Thinking about it now this started to happen after I switched up the breeding pairs. They live two to a tank, one male one female. None of the other axolotls have any sort of white on their gills like she does. Her mate's gills are very healthy and long which makes me think it's not a fungus.

 

[Hayleyy]

It is possible that something is affecting her gills and not his, maybe she is more susceptible to whatever it is. Hopefully someone who knows illnesses better will notice something.
Are your nitrates usually 0? This could mean your cycle did not start/crashed. You want 0 ammonia and nitrites, but some nitrates.
I'd just keep your male separate and see how well the girls heal up.
Good that she is eating normally, have you tried nightcrawlers? I don't know if its just camera distortion but she does look a little skinny. Worms will fatten them right up I feed worms in addition to pellets and sometimes bloodworms.

 

[ratsips]

The readings were from a couple weeks ago when I did maintenance on my system. I checked again today and nitrates were at 20ppm. I'll keep an eye on them to make sure they're stable.

She's probably a bit on the thin side. I'll look in to night crawlers. I had to take a different female away from her male cause he was eating all the food I put in for both of them. I don't doubt that it was happening to Cupid too.

 

[Hayleyy]

Keep us updated on her condition!