Horrible trouble! Please help!

[debutante8]

We got Bubba a much larger tank yesterday. Bought it used. It was really dirty, so my husband bleached the heck out of it. We filled it with half new water and half of the water from his tank. He was very stressed out and not looking good this morning. I smelled the water and it smelled like BLEACH!! He went back into his old tank, thank Goodness we still had half the water, but he is not looking good. I can't imagine that there was much bleach left---my husband sprayed and wiped it out very well. I know axo's are very sensitive and I will pray for healing.

Bubba didn't move most of today. All but 1 gill was completely shrunk around his head. Curled tail. He has moved a bit now and his gills are extended and somewhat dark, although lighter than the purple they were earlier. He looks somewhat better, but now his skin looks like it's peeling in tiny bits. And his gills look somewhat shredded.

I don't know whether to put him in the fridge---my one experience with it was not good. Or if he has been through too much trauma and stress in the last few days and I should just leave him be and try to lower the tank temp some.

Ideas? Thanks in advance.

Deb

 

[niajetze]

I would definatly put him in the fridge it will help him heal quicker and he has probably burnt his skin off(including those delicate feathery gills). I would not recommend bleach for cleaning anything....ever especially with animals (it is an extreme irritant and cleaners around here are not supposed to use it anymore as it is against health and safety it can cause asthma attacks or starters). You can get good aquarium cleaners from your local pet shop that should not hurt your pets (still wash it out extra careful just in case). Put it in the fridge when you are certain there are no more chemicals left on your axies skin consider adding some stress coat with aloe vera - CONSIDER TAKING HIM TO YOUR NEAREST VET. dont mess with bleach it is evil. and i dont think i would be using that aquarium again as the bleach has probably gone into the silicone of the tank if not then certainly anything else you had in there. Hope he gets better and dont worry too much sometimes these things happen.

 

[kapo]

Bleaching a tank to clean it is nothing new. A few fishbreeders I know use this method to clean very dirty 2nd hand tanks they've purchased. Was the bleach solution, full strength or mild/partial bleach combined with water solution? With bleaching you have to rinse it several times, depending on the quantity of bleach used.

Another method of cleaning is using baking soda (bicarbonate soda) and water paste, I use this method for all tanks and foodsafe containers (for possible axolotl "hospital" containers); I never use bleach in my household.

I also think you should try the fridge method, especially if you currently have warm temperatures. This will enable your axolotl to calm and slow it's metabolism down enough to give it a chance to heal.

 

[michael]

When you bleach a tank to clean it fill the tank with fresh water and a little more dechlorinator than recommended for the tank. Let it stand for about a half hour and empty. Fill the tank with fresh water and add recommended amount of dechlorinator. You should be good to go. The old sniff test is always a good idea.

I see nothing wrong with filling up the new tank and properly dechlorinating it. Put a decent low flow biological filter on the tank and plop the axolotl in. Their should be more water to dissapate the bioload. If the axolotl is ill treat it with the shotgun approach. Remove any carbon or charcoal from the filter and treat with Furan 2. This should take care of the disease you have caused your animal to have by putting it in chlorinated water. Your axolotl might be to far gone to cure.

 

[debutante8]

Thank you

Thank you so much to all those who responded. Bubba is looking quite a bit better today, so I will hope for the best. His gills look much more normal, although they are damaged. My main concern is his skin---it looks like he has tiny goosebumps---I am sure it is a chemical burn. I have been keeping the tank relatively cool and into the fridge he will go if things start looking any different. I will give the Furan 2 a shot. I hope I can find it in Portland.

Thanks again,

Deb