Help w/ gill issue, pic attached

[Martin21114]

I just got a look at my shy girl Tuco and she seems to have some funk on her gills
I'm assuming this is a fungus and salt baths are in order? Should I also pull her out of her tank and Isolate her from the others? She has 2 tank mates who have no visible signs on any problems. Any advice would be most appreciated, this is my first time with a sick axie and I want to take good care of my baby.

Thanks for helping!

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

I would isolate her, just so she can be comfortable, on her own and it will probably be easier for you in the long run. Follow the salt bath guide on the forum - it's a very simple tutorial :happy: I don't think fridging is necessary, just put her container somewhere cool and where she won't be disturbed, change water daily. The next question is what's caused it. These spheres don't look overly large, are they secured in the tank so they're not edible? Is there anything else in the tank she could have swallowed? What are the peremeters and temp like? Is there any heavy water current?

 

[Olivia97]

That looks almost definitely a tank mate injury. The reason you see fungus is when an animal is hurt then their immune system is compromised and fungal infections set in. ( That's why dinky has asked what the parameters etc are) Also what's the temperature, higher temps almost always lead to fungus on an injury.

 

[CJ1981]

Go with Dinky's advice - she's usually right

If you get your water levels right and keep her somewhere cool and dark for a bit for a little break then she should bounce back.

I too am curious about the green thingies, are they giant peas, alien eggs?

 

[Wild TONY appeared!]

It's a metroid tank! Haha Those are secured to the bottom. I saw your thread about making it.

~Anthony

 

[Martin21114]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The green things are glow in the dark plastic pebbles with are silconed to the ground. I got them at walmart around $3 for 25 or so. Tuco is now in a shoebox by herself and got a salt bath last night. When I get home from work I'm doing a 100% water change with her and around a 75% change in her old tank where the other 2 still are.

Do you really think it was an injury? She spends most of her time in a pipe alone, which is why I called her my shy girl. I one of her tank mates is harassing her I'll be so mad at the little horny bastards. Could it be a guppy nip? There's guppies in the tank as feeders, but I never see them nip the axies. They are usually up top in the riccia trying not to get eaten.

 

[Martin21114]

oh yeah, there is minimal current. I have 2 small sponge filters, the only current is caused by the rising air bubbles and is relatively minor, especially because I have such tall nerdy brain-tube things for risers.


One other thing, She still seems ok today and there is less white fluff on her gills, but her color looks different. I'll post a pic later, but she looks much lighter. I was looking at her in a different room under different lights so that may be it.

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

The guppies could be the cause of the nips, especially as the affected area is her gills - how long are they usually in the tank before they get eaten? The change in color could just the different light making it seem that way, for example mine look different in white light than they do in yellow light.

 

[Martin21114]

The guppies could be the cause of the nips, especially as the affected area is her gills - how long are they usually in the tank before they get eaten? The change in color could just the different light making it seem that way, for example mine look different in white light than they do in yellow light.

The guppies have become a permanent fixture. I added some once and they have bred and established themselves, so there are some in the tank constantly. The axolotls usually ignore the fry and eat the big ones, then the fry grow, breed, and get eaten and on and on it goes. Excess gups are netted out and put with Bowser my little snapping turtle. I also have ghost shrimp in the tank on occasion as feeder/cleaners. They seem to go pretty quick.

I need to strip down the metroid tank and redo it anyway. It's going to be my nursery tank for Tuco's babies one day (soon I hope!). Tuco and her buddies have a new 75 gallon home waiting for them I need to get set up and cycled. That's how the current tank got started with guppies, they were my seed fish to start the cycling.

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

The shrimp won't cause any problems, as you said they're usually gone pretty quickly and are a good food source if you have them. I'm still not 100% with the guppies, especially if their numbers boom radically in short spaces of time. If you're able to house the fish separately if may be worth doing. This way you can still keep them in good supply but be sure they're not causing problems within the axolotl tank. It can't be said for sure if it was the guppies nipping, it could have been another axolotl - these things happen! I don't recommend mixing species but at the end of the day its up to you. You're the one that can witness first hand if problems are occuring when the two species are housed together.

 

[Martin21114]

Here's what I mean about her color. The first pic was yesterday, the second today. identical spot & lighting conditions. After 2 salt baths the fungus looks much better

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

Glad the fungus is looking better. The color change may be due to the fact she can't move around very much in her container, causing less blood flow. Although drained color is much more noticeable in luecistics and albinos, I doubt it's uncommon in those with darker coloring.