Illness/Sickness: Don't know whats wrong help

[Christie]

Hi Everyone,

I have had my Axolotl (Axle) for roughly 3 months.

He is in a 70 L tank and has a couple guppy friends few he had on occasion.

Firstly his gills started shrinking on one side then it eventually went a weird colour and went completely. After that his skin started shedding and he would not eat at all. If he did decide to eat it would only be a tiny bit and would later spit it back out.

His skin has now gone a sort of darker colour. I did two - three water changes a week and tested the water regularly and most of the time it was fine. It got high in ammonia a few times but I was able to manage that.

on the 8 December I put him in the fridge, he did a poo on the 9th. then on the 23rd he had this weird white thing in his tank. He has not eaten at all since before he was in the fridge.

I have tried him on frozen heart and prawn, and pellets. I have just recently put in some black worms.

I took him to the vet two days ago, he had an xray no sign of rocks or anything. I was given metrogyl for the water which i have now started.

I have attached pictures with him healthy and bad.

Is there anything else I can do???? I don't want him to die

 

[auntiejude]

That red colour on him looks like chemical burn. Ammonia is the most likelt culprit - is your tank cycled? Whats your cleaning regime like?
If you are adding metrogyl to your tank it is likely to kill all the good bacteria in your filter and crash your cycle and you'll have to start all over again anyway.
It could also be a reaction to temperature - what temp do you have in your tank?

Did the vet take any samples for culturing? It could also be an infection.

Guppies are not 'friends', they will either get eaten or will try and nibble on an axie's gills.

Get rid of that gravel. Even if the vet said there is no gravel inside him now there is a chance he could eat some, it could become impacted and kill him

Stop feeding heart and prawns, get some earthworms.

 

[Christie]

Thanks for your reply.

His tank was around 20*c then summer started and it went up to about 26*c. I was ice blocking and had the fan/air con on it but made no difference.

I no longer have those rocks, he is now in a tank on his own.

The vet didn't take any samples just felt around him then looked in his mouth.

I live in Perth Western Australia and found it very hard to find someone that would even look at him.

I'm also having a hard time finding worms but will keep trying. What do you think of the black worms?

At the moment with the metrogyl I am changing 30% of the water everyday.

In his big tank I would change every couple of days and add a stress syme and stress coat. Then when I cleaned the filter it was in the tanks water that I took out.

 

[layna]

Hey
Okay so from what i can tell its a pretty simple case, 26C is far far too hot for an axie and it looks like in this case the temp is most likely the culprit
Do you have a mini fridge or a fridge you can put him in whilst you source a chiller?
He needs a chiller, whether you make one or buy one

By the sounds of it your tank wasnt cycled, so thats something you will need to look into, maybe do a fishless cycle whilst he is in the fridge.
The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community

Blackworms are okay for fattening an axie up, but not as a staple diet.
Bloodworms are also okay for the time being but earthworms are the best.
Stop feeding the heart and prawn as these are not good for axies

The reason his gills will be falling off is because of the heat/stress and also when they are ill and stressed, it opens them up to secondary infections such as fungus, which also harms their gills.


You need to get your axie in cool clean water asap, then cycle the tank for when its cool enough for him to go back in.

 

[NexSocius]

It definitely looks like heat is a factor. An acquaintance's axolotl looked very similar before it died - it was hot and the water quality wasn't ever checked.

I got my chiller from these guys in Queensland - https://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/chillers.php
the Resun CL-85.

 

[Jen10s]

Yes, a chiller is absolutely the best investment, I got mine online from Guppy's Aquariums in QLD and haven't looked back. perhaps you can save towards one as they are expensive to buy or maybe find a 2nd Hand one on eBay or Gumtree ?

If you're still looking for worms, try Bunnings, they sell boxes of 500 or 1,000 for worm farms (which is another good investment for axie lovers - a worm farm that is).

I wouldn't worry about the Stress Zyme, it doesn't seem to do much but the Stress Coat is good, just make sure you add the right amount and try to "age water overnight" before your water changes.

Good luck with your little one, hope he improves soon for you :happy:

 

[Christie]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the replies.

Axle has been out of the fridge for a week now in a tank on his own with a normal fan above the water. It's keeping the temperature down which is good.

It has also been a week on the antibiotics the vet gave me.

I am happy to report that he ate a few small bits yesterday and today about three times, and his colour is looking better.

I hope he keeps getting better now.