Sanshouo
Member
Hey there,
my 5 year old axie suddenly became ill this afternoon. I noticed he was floating at the top of the tank upright a couple hours ago and as far as I can remember, I think he appeared normal. I came back a couple hours later and he was floating sideways. I looked at him and he looks quite swollen- worst around his head but also his tail. He also has these little red dots on the top of his tail and one on his gills. He has been repeatedly gulping air every several seconds before rolling over on his side again. Based on all the swelling around his head and neck I thought there might be something stuck in his mouth but i looked in there and didn't see anything. I just tested my water parameters and my nitrate is pretty bad. Somewhere between 40-80 (honestly can't tell because the colors for 40 and 80 look almost identical on the key). Ammmonia is about .25 and nitrite is 0.
Tank is 20 gallons, sand substrate. I did a light cleaning, 50% water change, and new filter about 2 weeks ago. He's never been sick before and was completely normal and eating worms yesterday.
I've put him in the fridge but now I'm trying to figure out what else to do besides obviously water change and cleaning of his tank. Would the water quality cause this? Or is it some kind of organ failure? Any help is appreciated. I'll attach some pics. There is an exotic vet in my area but they are currently closed. I may go see them tomorrow but I would rather not spend lots of money if my little guy isn't going to make it in the end. Thanks
my 5 year old axie suddenly became ill this afternoon. I noticed he was floating at the top of the tank upright a couple hours ago and as far as I can remember, I think he appeared normal. I came back a couple hours later and he was floating sideways. I looked at him and he looks quite swollen- worst around his head but also his tail. He also has these little red dots on the top of his tail and one on his gills. He has been repeatedly gulping air every several seconds before rolling over on his side again. Based on all the swelling around his head and neck I thought there might be something stuck in his mouth but i looked in there and didn't see anything. I just tested my water parameters and my nitrate is pretty bad. Somewhere between 40-80 (honestly can't tell because the colors for 40 and 80 look almost identical on the key). Ammmonia is about .25 and nitrite is 0.
Tank is 20 gallons, sand substrate. I did a light cleaning, 50% water change, and new filter about 2 weeks ago. He's never been sick before and was completely normal and eating worms yesterday.
I've put him in the fridge but now I'm trying to figure out what else to do besides obviously water change and cleaning of his tank. Would the water quality cause this? Or is it some kind of organ failure? Any help is appreciated. I'll attach some pics. There is an exotic vet in my area but they are currently closed. I may go see them tomorrow but I would rather not spend lots of money if my little guy isn't going to make it in the end. Thanks
