Is this fungus?

[Chris. C]

I recently moved my axine into a 30 gallon tank. For the first couple days he was doing fine. I used the filter I had on the old tank witch still has the old cycled media. I also added a Sponge Filter and added more filter media into his old filter. I change his sand and added some new decorations thats were cleaned. Some ceramics and some drift wood. There are also two live Java Ferns which he's had for a while that have never caused any issues. His water tempreture is about 68 degrees which is admittedly kind of high but I do have two fans attached to the tank to cool the water down more. I do believe that my Nitrogen cycle may have crashed because the Nitrate reading is zero. Nitrite is also zero, Ph 6.0, Carbonate Hardness 0, General Hardness also 0. I recently moved and there's a different water company here so the water is much softer here than it is at my old home. He was behaving completely normal. He was eating fine and swimming around exploring his new home being pretty active as usual. I noticed that there was some white clumps on his skin but at first I just though it was just sand getting stuck to him because I changed his sand from a corse grade of black sand to a very fine white/pink sand and the water wasn't 100 percent clear when he went in his tank, it was still kind a sand. Well today the water is completely clear and I saw that he still had these white clumps on his skin. I've never had a fungus issue and I've had him for about 2 years now. So went to get a closer look to see exactly what the white clumps were on his skin and it doesn't look like sand at all. They aren't fuzzy or cotton looking like the usual gill fungus I've seen. The clumps look more chunky and slimy. His gill filaments have all just completely disappeared. I tried feeding him and usually he eats 2 earthworms. He ate one. So being concerned I took him out of the tank and while just earlier today he was still being his regular self but when I went to scoop him out of the tank usually he puts up a fight and is super slippery to catch but he kinda just floated into the bucket. For the most part he is still crawling around in his bucket but he is cover in this white chunky stuff and I'm not sure if its a fungus or if its just slime coat peeling. This is my first time having any kind of major health problems with him and I'm really scared because I don't wanna lose my buddy but I don't know what to do. Can someone please tell me what these white clumps are on his skin. They aren't really on his gills more so on the skin.

 

[Murk]

Do you know your ammonia levels? Those would be most indicative of a crashed cycle, and likely responsible for any fungus.
Do you use a dechlorinator? If so, which one?
The decorations you added, how did you clean them?

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

I recently moved my axine into a 30 gallon tank. For the first couple days he was doing fine. I used the filter I had on the old tank witch still has the old cycled media. I also added a Sponge Filter and added more filter media into his old filter. I change his sand and added some new decorations thats were cleaned. Some ceramics and some drift wood. There are also two live Java Ferns which he's had for a while that have never caused any issues. His water tempreture is about 68 degrees which is admittedly kind of high but I do have two fans attached to the tank to cool the water down more. I do believe that my Nitrogen cycle may have crashed because the Nitrate reading is zero. Nitrite is also zero, Ph 6.0, Carbonate Hardness 0, General Hardness also 0. I recently moved and there's a different water company here so the water is much softer here than it is at my old home. He was behaving completely normal. He was eating fine and swimming around exploring his new home being pretty active as usual. I noticed that there was some white clumps on his skin but at first I just though it was just sand getting stuck to him because I changed his sand from a corse grade of black sand to a very fine white/pink sand and the water wasn't 100 percent clear when he went in his tank, it was still kind a sand. Well today the water is completely clear and I saw that he still had these white clumps on his skin. I've never had a fungus issue and I've had him for about 2 years now. So went to get a closer look to see exactly what the white clumps were on his skin and it doesn't look like sand at all. They aren't fuzzy or cotton looking like the usual gill fungus I've seen. The clumps look more chunky and slimy. His gill filaments have all just completely disappeared. I tried feeding him and usually he eats 2 earthworms. He ate one. So being concerned I took him out of the tank and while just earlier today he was still being his regular self but when I went to scoop him out of the tank usually he puts up a fight and is super slippery to catch but he kinda just floated into the bucket. For the most part he is still crawling around in his bucket but he is cover in this white chunky stuff and I'm not sure if its a fungus or if its just slime coat peeling. This is my first time having any kind of major health problems with him and I'm really scared because I don't wanna lose my buddy but I don't know what to do. Can someone please tell me what these white clumps are on his skin. They aren't really on his gills more so on the skin.View attachment 87247View attachment 87248

I second all of Murk's questions. Have you tested your ammonia? What kind of dechlorinator are you using to treat your water?

 

[Chris. C]

No the test kit I have unfortunately doesn't test Ammonia but I will get an ammonia test. The dechlorinator I use is API which I've always used and has never been an issue before.

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

No the test kit I have unfortunately doesn't test Ammonia but I will get an ammonia test. The dechlorinator I use is API which I've always used and has never been an issue before.

ammonia is the most important chemical to measure as it is the most toxic. I suspect that is part of your problem right now. Those look suspiciously like ammonia burns/blisters. I would remove him from the tank immediately if you have not already. Place him in a tub with cool, fresh water. Change the water in the tub 100% every day. Get an ammonia test kit and test his tank.

Which API conditioner are you using? Even if you've been using it his whole life, that doesn't mean its not toxic to him. Many of APIs conditioners contain aloe which is toxic to axolotls. The gold standard for water conditioners in Prime by Seachem. As a secondary benefit of Prime, it also binds to ammonia and converts it to ammonium which can be beneficial in an uncycled tank.

 

[Chris. C]

Do you know your ammonia levels? Those would be most indicative of a crashed cycle, and likely responsible for any fungus.
Do you use a dechlorinator? If so, which one?
The decorations you added, how did you clean them?

I cleaned all the tank decorations by running them under hot water and wiping them down with a paper towel again like I've always done and it was never an issue before. The driftwood already pre-sterilized and there doesn't seem to be any kind if growth or fungus on the wood or any of the decorations. He has only been in this take for about 3 days

ammonia is the most important chemical to measure as it is the most toxic. I suspect that is part of your problem right now. Those look suspiciously like ammonia burns/blisters. I would remove him from the tank immediately if you have not already. Place him in a tub with cool, fresh water. Change the water in the tub 100% every day. Get an ammonia test kit and test his tank.

Which API conditioner are you using? Even if you've been using it his whole life, that doesn't mean its not toxic to him. Many of APIs conditioners contain aloe which is toxic to axolotls. The gold standard for water conditioners in Prime by Seachem. As a secondary benefit of Prime, it also binds to ammonia and converts it to ammonium which can be beneficial in an uncycled tank.

Oh okay I was using the super strength API due to the water quality that I had at my old residence. But I'll switch to Prime. He's looking alot better now that I put him in the bucket so it looks like he was shedding. I've never seen him do that but I believe because the water quality is so different here at my new residence it may have shocked him and may not work with the chemicals I was using before. Because I also have a betta that was having fun issues and I tried everything to get his fins to heal properly but omafter only a couple days over hear his fins look better than they ever have. I also believe the water here is very soft is there anything that you recommend that can safely harden the water in his tank.

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

I cleaned all the tank decorations by running them under hot water and wiping them down with a paper towel again like I've always done and it was never an issue before. The driftwood already pre-sterilized and there doesn't seem to be any kind if growth or fungus on the wood or any of the decorations. He has only been in this take for about 3 days

Oh okay I was using the super strength API due to the water quality that I had at my old residence. But I'll switch to Prime. He's looking alot better now that I put him in the bucket so it looks like he was shedding. I've never seen him do that but I believe because the water quality is so different here at my new residence it may have shocked him and may not work with the chemicals I was using before. Because I also have a betta that was having fun issues and I tried everything to get his fins to heal properly but omafter only a couple days over hear his fins look better than they ever have. I also believe the water here is very soft is there anything that you recommend that can safely harden the water in his tank.

The shedding you're seeing is most likely caused by poor water quality (high ammonia, ect). The ph you mentioned is also very low. axolotls prefer more like 7.5-7.8 ph. You can get pH buffers by seachem to help stabilize that. I would switch your water conditioner to Prime as well since it is the safest to use with axolotls. You should be able to look up online with your city/county to see what the water hardness rating it in your area for the city water. If you also then have a water softener at your residence, that will further remove those minerals. Replacing those can be a little more complicated. I am less concerned about that right now than I am about your water quality from waste production. Weekly partial water changes are an absolute requirement to keep your ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates stable and within safe levels.

 

[Chris. C]

ammonia is the most important chemical to measure as it is the most toxic. I suspect that is part of your problem right now. Those look suspiciously like ammonia burns/blisters. I would remove him from the tank immediately if you have not already. Place him in a tub with cool, fresh water. Change the water in the tub 100% every day. Get an ammonia test kit and test his tank.

Which API conditioner are you using? Even if you've been using it his whole life, that doesn't mean its not toxic to him. Many of APIs conditioners contain aloe which is toxic to axolotls. The gold standard for water conditioners in Prime by Seachem. As a secondary benefit of Prime, it also binds to ammonia and converts it to ammonium which can be beneficial in an uncycled tank.

And I have been doing daily water changes as well

The shedding you're seeing is most likely caused by poor water quality (high ammonia, ect). The ph you mentioned is also very low. axolotls prefer more like 7.5-7.8 ph. You can get pH buffers by seachem to help stabilize that. I would switch your water conditioner to Prime as well since it is the safest to use with axolotls. You should be able to look up online with your city/county to see what the water hardness rating it in your area for the city water. If you also then have a water softener at your residence, that will further remove those minerals. Replacing those can be a little more complicated. I am less concerned about that right now than I am about your water quality from waste production. Weekly partial water changes are an absolute requirement to keep your ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates stable and within safe levels.

yea I do water changes every Friday. I did get an ammonia test kit and yea my ammonia level was pretty high. I took him out of his tank and put him in a container and he is doing so much better the shedding is gone and I changed his water conditioner. He looks to have completely shedded but I'm gonna keep him in the been until I establish the water correctly. He's back to his active self. I also think the tempreture in his aquarium was too high so I bought a 3rd bigger portable fan. I can afford a chiller right now or at least not a decent chiller. The thermometer i have is showing that the tempreture is just about 20°C which roughly translate to about 68° which I'm trying to get lower. He already had 2 aquarium fans which did the trick for these past 2 years but now I'm not sure so I got a new bigger fan with a higher output to see if that helps lower the tempreture a little more

 

[EasternRomioi3]

@Chris. C

You are continuing to see improvement in your axolotl's health, yes?

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

And I have been doing daily water changes as well

yea I do water changes every Friday. I did get an ammonia test kit and yea my ammonia level was pretty high. I took him out of his tank and put him in a container and he is doing so much better the shedding is gone and I changed his water conditioner. He looks to have completely shedded but I'm gonna keep him in the been until I establish the water correctly. He's back to his active self. I also think the tempreture in his aquarium was too high so I bought a 3rd bigger portable fan. I can afford a chiller right now or at least not a decent chiller. The thermometer i have is showing that the tempreture is just about 20°C which roughly translate to about 68° which I'm trying to get lower. He already had 2 aquarium fans which did the trick for these past 2 years but now I'm not sure so I got a new bigger fan with a higher output to see if that helps lower the tempreture a little more

That temp is ok. It's a little warm but not out of the safe zone. You just have to be more mindful of bacteria and fungal infections since they are a little more susceptible at warmer temps. Im glad he seems to be doing better now that he is tubbed. Most issues with axolotls are water quality related, like too high ammonia. keep us posted on how he's doing and feel free to reach out directly any time, I'm always happy to help.