Fungus - Methylene Blue and salt baths

[kerry]

My golden albino, Pancho, seems to have fungus on the end of his gills (a kind of greyish white fluffy blob). I have a bottle of meth blue ready for emergencies and have treated the tank according to the instructions on the bottle. However, now I'm worried that might be too much for axolotls. Also, I've left his tankmate, Emilio, in with him. Will he be fine or would it be best for me to move him?

I've also just given Pancho a salt bath, (2-3 teaspoons per litre) but he seemed very stressed so I put him back after 5 minutes, and then he darted around the tank for a few minutes. Are there any ways I could make this less stressful for him? I've also considered putting him in the fridge, but am worried all the moving might stress him out more.

Otherwise, he seems happy enough, and still has a huge appetite.

 

[kapo]

I think when using meth blue you do half the dose,am sure someone will correct me if wrong, but not sure as I've only used twice daily saltbaths for fungus successfully.

With the saltbaths they do seem a bit stressed; I used to do the saltbaths in a container with lid, leave them in for 10 mins (set the timer) and then put them back in other container or tank. We didn't handle them, used a net and container to herd him into the net gently (and cradled the net as it was lifted, placing the whole net into the saltbath so he could move out. Ours had twice daily saltbaths for fungus for 3 weeks, by the 2nd week, as long as the lid was put on the saltbath they seemed to settle into the bath routine and being put back into the tank no trouble.

(Message edited by kapo on October 27, 2006)

 

[kerry]

Thank you! I think I'll do another water change to reduce the concentration of meth blue, and I'll follow your advice with the salt baths.

 

[amber]

When I treated a severly poorly lotl with meth, I used a half dose over a period of two weeks, with great success.
Don't forget to remove live plants though.

 

[joanne]

Hi, One of my axies has fungus on the side of her body. Started using salt baths yesterday and bought some of the blue stuff today. However i have used the dosing that it states on the packaging and the tank is dark blue...and my hands!! Is this normal. It also says turn the filter off but i am worried about the the oxygen concentration if i turn it off. Also i have left my other axie in the tank with the blue stuff is this ok?