Illness/Sickness: Floating first, now fungus?

[milahoh]

Hello all. I have three axies in one 40 gallon tank, and I have been watching my oldest female (mother of the other two actually) floating a bit lately.Just her back end. I gave her some time to work it out, but no improvement. I put her in the fridge, and she pooped. The floating returned a couple days later. This time, when I pulled her out, she seems to have fungus all over her. No one else in the tank is ill. I have ordered the catalpa leaves to put in the tank, but they will take a week or more to arrive. I have not tried salt baths because of the irritation, but is it time? I am afraid she is ill in general and the fungus is taking advantage. The others, like I said, look normal. Right now she is getting daily water changes in the fridge, but has not pooped this time at all. We have well water, which is unchlorinated. Can I use melafix or anything else in the meantime? I am worried about her. Its all over her gills and she has spots all over her feet and body.

 

[allied123]

a picture would really help, I've never heard of catalpa leaves though, what are they? and how's the temperature? and if you're really worried about the irritation from a salt bath you could try it in a lower dose

 

[milahoh]

Here are some pictures. I think she looks terrible, all of a sudden. Like I said, not a bit of it on the other two so far. And Catalpa leaves are the Indian Tea Tree leaves.

 

[auntiejude]

I would go with the salt baths - it's not worth waiting for the leaves to arrive. The benefits outweigh the irritation.

 

[milahoh]

I will do one right now. I saw the tutorial sticky and will be following those directions. She is also not eating, even fresh worm pieces. Maybe thats the cold, but could be the illness too.

 

[milahoh]

I did a salt bath yesterday, and just pulled her out of the fridge and put her in another. She actually looks like she has less fungus on her today; can it help that fast? I will keep doing them, but it concerns me that she has not eaten still. In addition, the reason I took her out was that she was floating again, and she still hasnt pooped, even after several days in the fridge. Is there anything I can do to help her that way? And could she be impacted? Would that lower her immune system enough for this to happen?

 

[layna]

The fungus should come off in a few days of starting the salt baths, when you cant see anymore fungus on her i would continue it for a day or two after just to be sure.

As for the eating, her metabolism will be really slow if she is in the fridge so i wouldnt be too worried about her not eating unless she becomes really thin.

You can still offer her food to see if she wants to take it. Out of interest, what are you feeding her? As it may be the food that is causing her to have floaty bum syndrome. I know pellets can have air bubbles that can cause it or sometimes axies just swallow air and it moves along before they can burp it out.

 

[milahoh]

Okay, thats great. Every time I change the water (2x day), there are little floating pieces in there that look like fungus, so it is shedding. And good to know that she might not eat now and that it is okay. As for what she is fed, I feed pellets from Flymeat.com as a staple and fresh cut-up worms to supplement. She does not appear to be thinner than the others, and she is the older female of the three; she has been on these pellets the longest (her previous owner used the same pellets, actually). The ladies dorm has just the three in a 40 gallon breeder tank, with bottom surface area of 36X18. It has unglazed ceramic tile bottom. I also tested the water parameters yesterday to see if perhaps the water quality was part of the problem, but ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites all came back at 0ppm. I am stumped as to why she got so sick so fast.

 

[milahoh]

Okay, I have another question. In the attached picture, (one of the original pics, I admit, my camera batteries are dead), one can see the joints looking all knobby. The fungus has decreased all over thanks to the salt baths, but the joints are still huge and are hard to the touch. She is my most mellow axie, so I have felt it gently and it is not spongy like the obvious fungus tufts were. An ideas???

 

[layna]

If your nitrAte is reading at 0ppm this makes me think your tank isnt cycled and this could be causing the problem and the fungus is a result of that.

Have you ever cycled the tank, or is it possible that the cycle has crashed?

Keep up with the salt baths until there is no more fungus left

 

[milahoh]

I thought it was cycled, but I will both retest and do some research on that front. Her fungus is still slowly getting better, but I am taking her to the vet on Thursday to have her deformed toe joints checked out. If she has an inflammatory condition that has caused arthritic changes suddenly, it could have compromised her immune system, contributing to the fungal issues as well. I also had some temperature issues this summer, but installed an air conditioner in the axolotl room to keep the temperature down a couple months ago and she was fine at that time and for a good long time after that. No one is new, and I do not feed feeder fish. I am just brainstorming at this point, but if there are other factors you guys can think of please let me know. Finally, I got the Indian almond leaves in the mail today, and added some to each of the tanks. I also added a small piece to her bowl in the fridge. Again, let me know if there is anything else I may have overlooked.

 

[milahoh]

I took Lilith to the vet today. It appears that she has a bacterial infection, possibly caused by an injury to those toes that are slightly deformed (also from the infection, apparently). We are no longer doing salt baths, but we are to keep her in a cool tank and force feed her every day, with her antibiotics in the food. She only weighs 98 grams, so she has deteriorated significantly in the 4 weeks since she last ate. Fingers crossed the antibiotics work.

 

[milahoh]

Just in case anyone is still reading this, I spoke to the vet again. Lil's prognosis is considered guarded. I am tube-feeding her according to the vet's recommendation, only 2 mL or less per feeding. She is getting a bit feistier, and is fighting a bit now when I feed her. I am hoping this is a god sign. She has now had 3 doses of antibiotic, and even without salt baths, the fluffy growth has not returned. She looks pretty much the same, but I think it may be too soon to see much external change. She is still in the fridge, but I have warmed it a bit to boost digestion. She is getting a slurry of beef heart and bloodworms, alternated with mysis and brine shrimp. Also, the experts my vets consulted regarding the care of these guys recommend NEVER using Indian almond leaves or any other additive to the tank (except as tea baths perhaps). They say fresh water is key, and temperature control.