Foot fungus and red spots

[frogenjoyer]

Hi everyone,

My beloved Tatiana is about 1.5 years old and has been very healthy since I got her. This past weekend I noticed she was sucking in air at the surface and spending a lot of time floating near the surface when she's normally very active at the bottom of the tank. She will burp and sink to the bottom after some time though. I took measurements of the water parameters today and they were normal except for nitrates:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: ~40
KH: ~160
GH: ~80-100
Temp: 62F

Tank details:
29 gallon
sole inhabitant
1 fern and some java moss
60 gallon fine filter sponge filter

I noticed she had fungus and red spots on her feet and very promptly removed Tatiana from the tank and put her in a hospital tub with dechlorinated water and 2g/L NaCl. It was then that I was able to see that her skin and tail also had many red spots (see attached photo). I have 2 hospital tubs set up for her now.

Please advise on what else I can / should do to help her rehabilitation process. I work in biological research so I have access to many of the chemicals necessary for the various solutions people typically use but @wolfen most often suggests the 2g/L NaCl so I went with that to start. I'm open to any suggestions. Also, should I treat her normal tank while she's in the hospital tub too?

I rarely see her in bright light but seeing her condition under the light of the attached photo has me feeling less than optimistic. Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Matt

 

[wolfen]

because of the redness give daily methyline blue baths, use 100% holtfreters + 0.2g/l magnesium sulphate in the water until fully recovered then reduce to 50%, this will also improve the gh which is low.
2g/l salt is preventative level and to ensure that the water is adequate for axolotls, 100% holtfreters salt levels are medicative at 3.5g/l for mild/severe conditions, ARS is medicative at 6g/l for severe and erroneous conditions.
because the issue is with the feet if tubbing do so in something which is glass/pyrex etc.. as bacteria has been known to grow on the surface of some plastics which has rotted the limbs.

 

[frogenjoyer]

because of the redness give daily methyline blue baths, use 100% holtfreters + 0.2g/l magnesium sulphate in the water until fully recovered then reduce to 50%, this will also improve the gh which is low.
2g/l salt is preventative level and to ensure that the water is adequate for axolotls, 100% holtfreters salt levels are medicative at 3.5g/l for mild/severe conditions, ARS is medicative at 6g/l for severe and erroneous conditions.
because the issue is with the feet if tubbing do so in something which is glass/pyrex etc.. as bacteria has been known to grow on the surface of some plastics which has rotted the limbs.

Thank you @wolfen. So just so I'm understanding correctly, you recommend turning their tank environment into a 100% holtfreter's + 0.2g/L MgSO4 environment and separately giving them methylene blue baths in a tub daily? If I add these minerals to the tank once, theoretically it will remain at those levels until a water change. When it's time to step down from 3.5g/L to 2g/L NaCL, do I simply do a ~43% water change? How many times does the salt combinations get added? Let me know and thank you for your assistance.

 

[wolfen]

using the solution in the tank is the easiest way to do it plus it improves the environment for your axolotl.
the concentration in the tank can be reduced quickly or slowly, quick is doing a water change but not adding any of the solution, slowly is to add 50% solution at water change.
over the week the concentration in the tank will change, natural evaporation will cause a slight increase where as absorption by your axolotl and plants will cause a decrease, the biological breakdown process of waste also causes acidity which will reduce the kh rather than ph.
due to the benefits of using salts/minerals whilst keeping axolotls it is always better to keep the solution concentration at 50% or higher.

 

[frogenjoyer]

using the solution in the tank is the easiest way to do it plus it improves the environment for your axolotl.
the concentration in the tank can be reduced quickly or slowly, quick is doing a water change but not adding any of the solution, slowly is to add 50% solution at water change.
over the week the concentration in the tank will change, natural evaporation will cause a slight increase where as absorption by your axolotl and plants will cause a decrease, the biological breakdown process of waste also causes acidity which will reduce the kh rather than ph.
due to the benefits of using salts/minerals whilst keeping axolotls it is always better to keep the solution concentration at 50% or higher.

Ok, I will do exactly that. I think the cause of this was me removing 75% of the plants in the tank. My local water is naturally high in nitrates, so I'm going to replace them once I get things under control. Thank you so much for your help and your effort in directing panicking axolotl owners like myself.

 

[frogenjoyer]

using the solution in the tank is the easiest way to do it plus it improves the environment for your axolotl.
the concentration in the tank can be reduced quickly or slowly, quick is doing a water change but not adding any of the solution, slowly is to add 50% solution at water change.
over the week the concentration in the tank will change, natural evaporation will cause a slight increase where as absorption by your axolotl and plants will cause a decrease, the biological breakdown process of waste also causes acidity which will reduce the kh rather than ph.
due to the benefits of using salts/minerals whilst keeping axolotls it is always better to keep the solution concentration at 50% or higher.

Hi @wolfen , I have Kordon methylene blue now and plan on halving the dose like i've read to do. How long should the axolotl be in the bath? I've read 12 hours and I've read 10 minutes. I attached the directions on the label to this message.

 

[wolfen]

10 min bath per day should suffice.

 

[frogenjoyer]

10 min bath per day should suffice.

That's what I did based on prior advice you gave. Thank you very much. The product says to use X amount of drops but supplies no dropper. The math I did said I would need ~17 drops but after 6 drops from my plastic pipette dropper the water was much more blue than others have said it should be so I stopped there. I need to find a way to dispose of the blue water without dyeing everything in my house.

 

[frogenjoyer]

10 min bath per day should suffice.

Hello @wolfen , I have done the 100% Holfreter's solution in the tank and am doing daily methylene blue baths like you directed. I am going to make a concentrated stock solution of Holfreter's to continually maintain the tank at 50% Holfreter's. Is Morton's non-iodized salt okay to use? I saw someone say that was fine to use, but I trust you more. Let me know.

-Matt

 

[wolfen]

the anti-caking ingredient is calcium silicate which is fine for axolotls.

 

[frogenjoyer]

the anti-caking ingredient is calcium silicate which is fine for axolotls.

Thank you!