First time fungal infection

[tb8592]

Sadly I am dealing with a fungal infection for the first time. I have had my axolotl for about six months and I moved him into a larger tank over a month ago. I did cycle the tank for a month prior to putting him in there. Regrettably, I used test strips to test the water. I now understand those are not sufficient and I will be buying a full water test kit that can test for ammonia. The parameters, per the test strip, for the tank were all good at all times before he got sick. However, the test strip does not test for ammonia so I do not know that measurement.

This is what he looks like when healthy.

I noticed early this week he had some kind of growth on his gills. I thought it would go away and ignored it for a day or two. However, when I noticed it looked like the photo below I began to take precautions.

Since then, he has been in a 10 gallon tank with daily water changes with added aqua safe plus to neutralize the chlorine from the tap water. I have done a lot more research since he has gotten sick. I have since given him one black tea bath, and yesterday and this morning he has been given a 10 minute salt bath in a 3 liter container with 5 teaspoons of aquarium salt dissolved. I am waiting for indian almond leaves to arrive in the mail tomorrow and I will put that in his 10 gallon quarantine tank daily. I plan to give him another salt bath tonight as well. I am going to also try to feed him this after noon. The past 2 days he has ate a small portion of a nightcrawler. But both times he has thrown it up. I have some salmon pellets which he ordinarily does not eat but he will eat them if offered, but I will try to feed him one or two of those this afternoon and hopefully he will hold them down before his evening water change/salt bath. So far he has probably been in the quarantine tank for 3-4 days. I have no other axolotls besides him by the way. This is what he currently looks like:

Of note, the gill infection started on the side shown in the first picture. I am hopeful that side might be making a recovery. Unfortunately, the right side where the infection spread does not look great today but I believe I first noted that infection only yesterday morning. I am going to continue the salt baths over the weekend. I think if he does not get better than I will try to get him to a vet. I might also start making a record of what happens per day, as my memory of the days is not clear with everything going on.

There is also the issue with his primary tank that he is no longer in. I have reduced the water to 20% and plan on cleaning it up, testing that water, and then adding new water and starting the cycle again. The log and rocks and hide are all soaking right now in the hottest water I could get. The log is too big for a boiling. I want to deal with my sick pet first, but if anyone has any advice on getting this tank back up and running that would be helpful too. I plan on keeping my axolotl in the quarantine tank with daily water changes until he is better which I am hoping won't take longer than two weeks.

Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

He isn't as bad as I've seen other axies but it looks like he could gain a bit more weight. I'd reckon he probably just has a weaker immune system which would probably be strengthened by a better diet than it is poor water parameters.

 

[tb8592]

He isn't as bad as I've seen other axies but it looks like he could gain a bit more weight. I'd reckon he probably just has a weaker immune system which would probably be strengthened by a better diet than it is poor water parameters.

I am glad to hear he doesn't look as bad as others. I feed him only nightcrawlers once every 2 days when he is healthy. What would you recommend a better diet consists of?

Also an update, today I noticed a bit of fungus looking stuff on the floor of the quarantine aquarium which I think is a good sign. He also seemed generally more lively. He also ate a one inch piece of worm and has not thrown it up which makes me really happy.

 

[wolfen]

whilst he is in the iso tank add 3g salt per litre to the water, this will help clear the fungus, also add a air stone.
cleaning the tank will not get rid of fungus issues, fungus is something that some axolotls are prone to, please read about using holtfreters or modified solution in the tank water.
information here Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity.
make sure that the water in the iso tank is changed daily to prevent ammonia build up.
unless the filter bacteria has been damaged then cycling the tank will be a simple process of building the bacteria colony back up.

 

[tb8592]

whilst he is in the iso tank add 3g salt per litre to the water, this will help clear the fungus, also add a air stone.
cleaning the tank will not get rid of fungus issues, fungus is something that some axolotls are prone to, please read about using holtfreters or modified solution in the tank water.
information here Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity.
make sure that the water in the iso tank is changed daily to prevent ammonia build up.
unless the filter bacteria has been damaged then cycling the tank will be a simple process of building the bacteria colony back up.

Thank you for the suggestions.

Here is an update on what he looks like this morning before his salt bath. I have no idea what the healing process looks like but it looks worse to me today. He is also getting some of these marks on his face and the bottom of his tail. They look like little white pimples. I will try to feed him more this afternoon when he is in between salt baths. He did show some life last night and was swimming around the tank peacefully. That seemed promising but now today I am back to feeling pessimistic.

 

[wolfen]

Thank you for the suggestions.

Here is an update on what he looks like this morning before his salt bath. I have no idea what the healing process looks like but it looks worse to me today. He is also getting some of these marks on his face and the bottom of his tail. They look like little white pimples. I will try to feed him more this afternoon when he is in between salt baths. He did show some life last night and was swimming around the tank peacefully. That seemed promising but now today I am back to feeling pessimistic.

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it might be an idea to start using holtfreters in the iso tank to try to get the blisters to heal without growth or rupturing, if they do grow or rupture then they may need antibiotics.
if he throws the worms back up chop them into smaller pieces as the wriggling can cause stomach discomfort.
if salt or holtfreters is being used in the iso tank then salt baths aren't required.
always make sure the water is fully oxygenated and changed daily whilst there is no filtration in place.
be aware there has been some concern noted about aqua safe plus as to whether or not it contains iodine and is therefore not suitable for axolotls.
I will include a article that mentions blisters and the subsequent treatment it also contains other information regarding axolotls as well.

 

[tb8592]

Here is todays update... things seem worse. I am unable to say the salt baths are helping or not. I am going to try methylene blue today. Also, the indian almond leaves I bought have been in the tank for 12 hours and the water seems to still be entirely clear which indicates to me they are not doing anything. I guess I will buy some new ones today and hope for a different result. I found a vet that handles axolotls but they do not have appointments until July. Things aren't looking good.

 

[wolfen]

View attachment 92692View attachment 92693

Here is todays update... things seem worse. I am unable to say the salt baths are helping or not. I am going to try methylene blue today. Also, the indian almond leaves I bought have been in the tank for 12 hours and the water seems to still be entirely clear which indicates to me they are not doing anything. I guess I will buy some new ones today and hope for a different result. I found a vet that handles axolotls but they do not have appointments until July. Things aren't looking good.

it takes a while for almond leaves to sink and start releasing tannins.
in a tank I would recommend just using a dechlorinator and allowing the filter to deal with the ammonia etc.. but because your axolotl is in a tub/tank without filtration you need to use a dechlorinator that will bind/detox ammonia (seachem prime is the popular choice).
your axolotl has chemical burns, this can be caused by high salt concentrations or ammonia.
do not do any more salt baths and get a ammonia test, also reduce the water temperature, lower the air stone so it is at the bottom of the tank.
please look into holtfreters solution to allow for recovery.
once your axolotl is healthy again do not put him back into the tank unless it has been cycled properly.

 

[tb8592]

My axolotl seems to be doing a lot better after the advice of some people here and also some stronger remedies.

I stopped giving him salt baths and I used 3 teaspoons of aquarium salt for his 5 gallon hospital tank on Saturday and Sunday. I didn't have the other chemicals so I could not use the complete holtfreters solution. I was also desperate and purchased pimafix and read online it was safe. I put maybe 1/8th of a teaspoon in his 5 gallon tank on Sunday because I could not find methylene blue at any nearby pet store and he looked very ill Saturday/Sunday. That combined with the indian almond leaves and a daily tea bath had him looking a little better. The blisters on his body began to stop and his skin began to look a lot healthier and less dehydrated for lack of a better word.

Then Monday night the methylene blue came in the mail. I had a 1750 ml Tupperware and put between 1/8th and 1/4th of a teaspoon of methylene blue in with dechlorinated water. I had a hard time finding a consistent recipe online so I put him in for 30 minutes and took him out. Although this treatment came after much prior treatment, it was like a miracle. The gross necrotic and scabby looking crust on his gills disappeared and fell completely off. It is now Tuesday and in the last 24 hours he has seemingly turned the corner. His gill area is far less red and but his gill nubs looked like they had some small amounts of white on them, but after the second methylene blue bath today that is gone again. I am hoping to give him one more bath tomorrow and hopefully it will all be gone. I've also stopped the pimafix since receiving the meth blue.

I will continue to keep him in the hospital tank with daily water changes and dechlorinated water with his almond leaves and the air stone. He also ate today for the first time since Thursday which made me feel so much better. It has been a few hours and he hasn't thrown up his 1/3rd of a worm dinner. Even after taking him out of the tank and giving him a meth bath.

I don't want to get too excited because he is far from back to normal, but this recent bit of good news has given me the motivation to even begin getting his old tank cycled and back together. He won't go in there until the parameters are tested properly and are good to go. But for now, these small steps on the hopeful road to recovery have been a huge relief.

Below is a picture of him between his first and second math bath. The gill nubs are really small but I hope they will grow back now. If anyone knows how long this process takes that would be really helpful.