Gill Problems!! Possible Parasite?

[Jafftab]

Hi. My axolotl Chicha has a gill problem. Possible a parasite or fungal infection I think, but there isn't noticeable fluff on them, it just looks like they are wasting away.

She used to have big fluffy gills but all of a sudden she has lost nearly all her feathery bits and spends all her time with her head near the surface so she can gulp for air frequently.

I recently added some new sand and thought it might have caused the water to cycle and therefore be caused by ammonia but the parameters seem ok. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and low nitrate readings. Ph is 7.5.

There is no other tank mates apart from river shrimp for food.

She is about 4 years old and never had any health issues before. I tried to move a pipette towards her gills to gently move them to get a better look but she is very twitchy and aggressive whenever the gills are disturbed. She is normally very docile so something is clearly troubling her.

I have attached some pictures and a picture from about a year ago showing how her gills used to look. Hopefully you guys can give me some advice on what's wrong and what to do?

 

[Alkylhalide]

What do you use to test the water? I am not convinced of the readings just because your lotl looks like she is suffering from water quality issues,not only her gills but whole body.

How often do you do water changes? How much?
Where do you get the shrimp? Do you feed her anything else?
Do you breed the shrimp or buy them or capture them?

What is the temp of the tank?

Its either water quality issue or maybe a parasite from the food. I am not sure of the cause yet but if we could get somemore information that would be great.

In the meantime i would highly suggest you remove her from the tank and put her in a tuperware container full of dechlorinated water and do 100% water change daily. I would also avoid feeding her for a few days until you can get a better idea of what is going on.

Whatever it is at least you can have a clear head knowing your lotl is always in fresh dechlorinated water at all times while you figure it out.

 

[auntiejude]

I agree, your axie looks like she's suffering from possible chemical burn. Ammonia can cause gill shrinkage, red veins, cloudy eyes, irritability and general 'she's not right'. If it's not ammonia it could be something in the sand - what sand did you use? And are you confident your water tests are reliable? I would get a 2nd opinion - either a different test or get you LFS to check for you.

Whatever it is the first thing to do is a large water change, followed by several daily water changes.

But that red thing in her gills is a vein and completely normal.

 

[Jafftab]

Thanks for your replies. I am confident in my readings. I use Nutrafin Mini Master testing kit (which uses droplets in to test tubes and then check the colour, rather than strip tests).

The temp is a steady 21 degrees, I realise that is a little on the high side but has never been an issue in the years I've had her.

I normally do 25-30% water changes once a week but have been doing them every 2 days since I noticed the problem. It may be the case that high ammonia caused the problem but I hadnt noticed the gill damage until after I had got the ammonia back down with a water change and so when I checked the water the ammonia didnt seem like the problem.

I get the shrimp from my LFS, she is also fed on frozen bloodworms and pellets.

I'm not worried about the vein, that has been like that a while. Will the feathers grow back once the problem goes? She looks a lot better with feathers.

I'll put her in to a small tank tonight and do daily changes for now. I guess ammonia is looking like the most likely cause at the moment due to her being more veiny than usual aswell, if so will it start to clear up with this technique alone?

 

[Jafftab]

Forgot to mention about the sand. It was bought from my LFS but I cant remember what type it was. Could it make a difference?

 

[auntiejude]

An axie that size should be on earthworms rather than bloodworms.

If you have solved the suspected problem already then the gills should recover in time, just keep an eye out for fungus - her slime coat may have been affected if it has been a water quality thing.

The sand could have been a problen - do you know whether it was silica, coral or something else? Most people use play sand as it has smooth round small particles.

 

[Jafftab]

No unfortunately I didn't pay any attention to what kind of sand it was. I'll bear that in mind to get play sand next time though thanks.

I've found earthworms to be a real pain to keep in the past, they either die or try to make an escape in the middle of the night and find them all over the house the next day. I'll look into buying some kind of worm keeper if that diet isn't sufficient.

Thanks for your help. Hopefully its under control.

 

[Petersgirl]

This by far is the cheapest and easiest worm keeper I have ever come across:

Cheap and Easy Worm Bin!

Hope this helps

 

[Jafftab]

Thanks, I'll look in to that when I have time. I've changed my mind about ammonia being the cause as it's now starting to look like the white fluffyness of a fungus is a appearing on the gills and also a tiny spot of it on her tail that wasnt there before.

I've put her in to a smaller container for now and will do daily water changes. Will this be enough to kill the fungus off? Or will I have to do salt baths, I would like to avoid it if possible.

Also what should I do with the existing tank to rid it of whatever caused the fungus?

 

[auntiejude]

Salt baths are the best way to deal with fungus. But you don't need to use the fridge, it's fine at room temp.

There is no point trying to 'clean' your tank of fungus, the fungal spores will be in the air and in any fresh water you use. But a general clean and wipe down would be a good idea, and you'll need re-start the cycle in your tank.

 

[Jafftab]

Sorry I might be being dumb but what do you mean re-start the cycle? My water parameters are all ok. How would I do that?

 

[layna]

If you have readings of;
ammonia - 0
nitRite - 0
nitrAte - <40
then your tank is cycled and you should be doing weekly water changes of 20-30%
but its best to test every week before a water change to make sure there is no ammonia or nitrite, if there is, then your cycle has crashed

 

[auntiejude]

If you think you had an ammonia problem then your cycle may have crashed at some point. But if your readings are OK now it's obviously corrected. If you have your axie in a tub to treat her fungus you'll nedd to add her poop to the tank to maintain the cycle, or the bacteria will starve and your cycle will crash anyway.

Check your water quality daily.