Black patches on a golden

[kc]

Hi,
Just thought I'd ask to see if anyone knows what these are......Ginny has come up with black patches on her. They are hard to see in the pic. They are mainly underneath near her cloaca(couldn't get a clear pic from under neath) She has also come up with a white spot. Is this spot normal for her colour?? Only appeared 2 weeks ago.

Here's some history:

*Had her for 5 months & was very active and a pig!
*Tank has been fine. Levels always perfect (ph, ammonia etc) except for temp. which has been approx 20c. Tried so hard to get it down everyday!
*She hasn't eaten for 2 weeks. Tried a variety of foods.
*She was floating and not as active for a couple of weeks. Last week was floating on her side with mouth open...thought she was dead!
*Gills (or frills) shrinking and not as red or full
*Had a black thing like a pea in her container last week....think it was poo????
*She was on gravel but if she goes back into her tank she will be on sand

Can anyone help me with any of this stuff? Been giving salt baths. Should I still do this?? Very worried! Shes been in the fridge for a week now......don't know what to do..

Thanx
Kc

 

[kapo]

Stop the saltbaths. She does look skinny/ill. Do you know how old she is? Does the white spot look anything like pigmentation further down her fin/tail or does it stick up slightly from her skin? Not sure about the black marks - you may have to search the forum and see if you come across anything similar.

Regarding temp 20C - you're doing really well if you've managed to keep it even down at that level from reading some of the aussie posts about tank temperatures recently.

Keep her in the fridge for a bit longer. Did the black pea thing appear a day or days after being in fridge? Chances are it may be a poo/gravel (what colour did you have in tank) - what did she last eat, if you can remember? If your axies have been on gravel at all in past, they will over several months poo it out at various stages, and will be more noticeable on sand.

While in the fridge, keep the water lowered so she doesn't float. Her gills won't be as red while in the fridge or inactive. When did the gills start shrinking, while in the tank - before you moved her to fridge?

Also, are there any other tank companions apart from axies, or have you added/introduced anything over the past month to the tank?

(Message edited by kapo on March 12, 2007)

 

[kc]

Thank you so much for your reply Kapo. Much appreciated.

Not sure how old she is....but the tips of her fingers are dark. Does this mean she is older??

The white spot does look the the rest of the pigmentation on her skin. Is this normal for a golden??

The black pea thing appeared 2 days after she was in the fridge. We had white and biege coloured gravel.

She was eating pieces of prawn every couple of days before she got sick. The last thing she had was a tiny piece of beef about 2 weeks ago.

Her gills started shrinking when she was in the tank. We only added another little air stone in the tank and a moss rock a few days before we put her in the fridge. Could these have done something????????

There are no companions in the tank. We did have another axie but it died last Dec. I think that one was sick when we bought it. Had gills missing and stuff...

Any help much appreciated!
thnx
kc

 

[kc]

Here is a pic I just took. There is a green thing in the water now. Mucus??? Anyone come across stuff like this??

Her mouth is opening a tiny bit every few seconds then closing.

The fin on her tail is also going flat.


Very worried
kc

 

[kapo]

Can't remember why I asked about how old = must be tired! dark toe tips on white or albinoes generally mean they are maturing or sexually mature (our juvies at 12cm started getting them!)

Goldens do get white pigmentation/spots - a few people have mistakenly thought it was and have treated their goldens for "white spot". Was just checking in case it was fungal (you can sometimes see little hairs if it was but have to look at various angles to spot them if it was).

Black pea thing may very well be poo then (probably from the beef. My sisters do black ones, from mozzy larvae they eat.

Sometimes if there is enough oxygen in the tanks the gills shrink. on the other hand this can also happen if the water quality is poor and they loook like they're actually damaged/disappearing rather than just short and your tank may be high in ammonia, nitrites and/or nitrates? When was your tankwater last tested and do you have the results still?

Your previous axie, that died, did you quarantine it before introducing it into the tank? Or was it the first axie you bought prior to buying this one? I can vaguely remember a few posts from you but it's been a while and I was away just after Christmas for a month.

As for the moss rock it sounds like she may have been ill before these were introduced.

 

[kapo]

Is her body reddish or is this just the way the photo came out?

Do you use dechlorinated water to change her? And how high is the water above her fin/tail? If the water is low /just above it it will sort of flatten out. Or do you mean it looks like it's shrinking/getting thinner/close to back?

(Message edited by kapo on March 12, 2007)

 

[kc]

Thanx for the quick reply!

ammonia, nitrates were being tested every few days because we were so worried and each time they came up perfect. 0

The other axie, Spotty, was bought after this one and we didn't didnt quarantine her ...wish I saw this site before that! and she was fine for the first couple of days. But then she started floating and not eating and blood was coming from her gills. Plus she already had gills missing when we bought her. The aqaurium we got them from wasn't a very good one we have since found out...

 

[kc]

Just saw your other reply...
Thats just how the photo came out. She still looks orange.
We use dechlorinated water to change her.....our fridge is just about full of spare water and her container!
The water is just above her tail. The fin looks like its shrinking or shrivelling up..

 

[kapo]

do you mean nitrites? Did you get your nitrates tested?

 

[kc]

If ammonia is 0 how does this affect nitrite/nitrate levels. Can nitrate still be present if there is no ammonia. Going to get a new test kit tomorrow...

 

[kapo]

some people get nitrite and nitrate confused. so I'm assuming you mean nitrite being 0 and you didn't test for nitrate.

When cycling ammonia rises then another bacteria develops, nitrite. the ammonia gradually drops back to 0 and nitrite will rise. It will peak then the next bacteria nitrAte will develop. NitrIte in turn will drop gradually drop back to 0 and the nitrAte will rise. This is known as cycling or the nitrogen cycle. Nitrate is the good bacteria that aids in cleaning ammonia/nitrite from your tank - hence ammonia/nitrIte would be 0 in a cycled tank. NitrAte would be between 5-40 (possibly higher depending on how long your tank has been established)

If all 3 levels including nitrAte were 0, then your tank would not be cycled.

Do you have individual test kits for your tank or a master test kit that tests for a multitude of things (ammonia, nitrite, pH, gh, kh etc...)?

 

[kc]

Hi Kapo
this is kc's husband. Kc is stressing too much over this so i have taken over for a bit. The test kit we have says it tests for ammonia and nitrate. it also says that nitrite is not measured and we have to get another test for the nitrite levels. I will pick up a kit tomorrow. Could this be the cause of the axie's drama's?

 

[kapo]

yes it may very well be. If you find your nitrite levels are above 0 then your tank may be cycling.

I didn't mean to add to her stress, I know how worried you probably both are about her condition. Sorry, I tend to ask a lot of questions to try and rule out possible things and glean as much info as possible.

As well as buying the nitrite test kit. Take a sample of tankwater into the petshop, ask them to test it and give you the results - don't let them tempt you to buy anything else though to "fix it" . I'm curious to see what the results are.

 

[kc]

kewl we will let u know results asap. Thanks for all your help tonight. BTW dont think Kc is stressed coz of you. You have helped heaps, she very much appreciates your feedback.

(Message edited by Kc1 on March 12, 2007)

 

[kapo]

you're welcome. keep us posted, am off to bed now, but will pop in tomorrow and check in.

 

[kc]

Hi Kapo,
We have tested for NitrIte and it is 0. We have an ammonia test kit which is always coming up as 0. Do we need to get a NitrAte test kit?

Ginny is moving a bit more but won't eat (is this coz she is still in the fridge?)

Should we put her back in her tank if we find out the nitrAte level is ok??

Do we need to wash any of the plants and stuff in the tank? We have done a 30% water change.

We will take water into an aquarium this weekend to get tested.....just hard to find a good place. Had alot of probs with getting a nitrite kit! Alot don't seem to know about Axolotls.

Thanks for all your help. We really appreciate it! And believe me you arent stressing me you are helping!

I just really get worried about her and have become so attached to her (like all axie owners do I guess!)

Kc & Wayne

 

[kapo]

Hi KC/Wayne - was wondering how things were going.

Might invest in one if you can get one, if you can't get one at the shop, just see if they'll test it for the 3 anyway. I'm assuming by sounds of things your tank is cycled and nitrate should have a reading.

You could put her back in tank if Nitrate is ok.

Other idea if you didn't have problems trying to maintain a water temp of 20C/lower is to remove her from fridge, but keep in her container and continue with daily waterchanges until she is able to feed and eat regularly.

I did this with two of my sick ones early on last year. Daily changes and offering of food daily, until they finally started eating properly. One took 7 weeks before she was eating normally, other 5 weeks - they were skinny looking like Ginny. then I returned them to their tank.

As far as I'm aware, you don't need to wash stuff/plants that are already in the tank.

Just be wary about what the petshop people suggest adding to your tank to fix it or medicine for your axolotl.

If in doubt about what the petshop people may suggest, come to the forum and one of the moderators or more experienced posters should be able to help.

I understand completely about your concerns, I still stress when our axies get sick> I worried about everything in our first few months of owning them !