Melting gills

R

rodney

Guest
Hi
Ive have three axolotyls and keep them in a three foot tank. I've had the longest for about 6 months. I have been feeding them mainly pellets and live gambusies. Every thing has been going fine until 2 days ago, when I decided to try some new food. So I went down to the shop and bought some raw beef liver, chopped it up and offered it to one of my little guys. She chomped it down, but then he spat it out again. She did this a couple more times. The next day it seemed like her gills were melting away. The main storks are still ok. She was still eating yesterday, but today she has lost her appetite. I have also noticed that the gills on a second guy have also melted a bit as well- not as bad though. I did a water check, and ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are fine. What can I do to help my little guys, and prevent the situation getting worse?
 
Rodney,

What do you mean by 'melting' do you mean that there are less 'feathers' on the axies gill stalks. If you do then this is normal, if you have enough Oxygen in the water they dont need as many 'feathers'.

If you can post a picture would be great.

Beef liver should be only fed as a treat, not very often. Axies are believed to not be able to digest the protiens in them as well as other foods. you should also be careful when feeding this as it can cloud the water.

Other things to consider feeding are bloodworms (but feed in a holding tank as they are very messy)and Earthworms.... all axies love worms, they will never turn one down!

Godd luck with them.
 
Yeah I mean that there is actually less feathers on the axie gill stalk. But they seemed to have just disappeared overnight, and she has been flicking them constantly. I'll see if I can figure out how to put a photo up. Cheers
 
Is there a new source of aeration in the tank? an airstone? new filter? With more aeration, they need less gill feathers.

Axies usually dont need to eat every day. This may be why she's lost her appetite. I feed mine twice a week. Beefheart/liver is really a bad staple diet. Earthworms are much healthier and more easily digested.
 
It might be an idea to remove that "mammal heart-and-liver" diet proposal off the main site given the number of people that disapprove feeding their axies with that kinda food.
 
Well the situation has stabilised, I think. There has been no new airation lately and normally she never refuses food. But today she ate again
happy.gif

It says in peter scotts book that "they thrive off beef liver", thats why I thought I'll give it a shot. I might have to go digging for a few earthworms then. Attached is a pic of the gills I took this morning. The length of the feathers at the top of the stalks is the length that the feathers were along the whole stalk, and as you can see they have shrunk. Thanks.
25348.jpg


(Message edited by funkyskip on October 29, 2004)
 
there doesn't appear to anything very wrong but gill fronds look a little short. If it's recent then it's probalby down to aeration.
Cold water/loads of oxygen = less feathery gills
Warm water/less oxygen = superfeathery but also raises risk of fungus and infection
 
When i first got my axies they hardly had any gills, and werent even very red.

They do look a little sort but as long as they look heathly other than that i wouldnt worry too much about them.
 
The main concern was that it happened all of a sudden, like overnight. It wasn't a very gradual shrink. My water temperature is also quite warm, sitting at about 20c. Today she's looking ok, and I'm keeping a close eye on her. Thanks
 
If an axie has to flick its gills rapidly and they're that short at that temperature than I would say there could be something. Does she surface often
 
Ben, flicking is just a way of moving water past their gills and if the water is warm, there is probably just not a whole lot of dissolved oxygen. it doesnt necessarily mean anything's wrong.

Rodney, do you have an airstone? or a filter? or any source of aeration? Trying to keep the water cooler is a good idea too. Try frozen water bottles, a screen lid (instead of solid), or a fan blowing over the water.

(Message edited by kaysie on October 30, 2004)
 
I haven't checked her this morning yet, I think she is fast asleep and don't want to wake her up.

She isn't surfacing any more than usual. I have an under-gravel filter, and an air-stone aerating the water. That's some good ideas about keeping the water cool, because summer is round the corner and the water is gona get a lot warmer than 20c
 
Hi rodney, my axos are having the same problem as yours are, my tank is at the same temp as yours and i have a well aiated tank. My biggest concern was that(just like yours)it seemed to happen overnight, it was really startling, im still really scared.
sad.gif
25581.jpg
That is his before pictures, nice and heallthy, now here is the after pictures, quite a difference, thats why i was so scared...
25582.jpg
sorry the pictures are so big.
 
The second pic's a bit blurry and I can't really see much a difference it doesn't look like they were ever really feathery either.
 
Hi Heather, how many of your axys were affected? One of my guys was affected pretty bad, a second had one stork affected, and my third guy wasn't affected at all. It's hard to get a close up photo to show the affected areas without a macro lens, but does the feathers seemed to have curled up, and kinda fused together in some areas?
I don't know if it was nescessary,but I put all three of my guys in a weak mercurochrome solution for a couple of hours, and also did 10- 15% water change every couple of days just to be on the safe side. My guys are still going o.k, and hopefully their gills will grow back to full size again, but it is kinda scary at first.
Heres a pic I took this morning. She looks like shes had a crew cut.
25637.jpg
 
!!thats exactly what it looks like over here!!
two of my axos have it now, they both live in the same tank, my other tank's inhabitant hasnt been affected so its only in my big tank. let me know how mercurochrome solution works, maybe i can get a hold of some, might be hard for me. I am getting some antibiotics at the aquarium store tomorrow, not sure if it will help. Hope youre axies get better soon.
-Heather
 
Mercurochrome is an antiseptic, and people put it on their wounds undiluted to prevent infections. But I also read you can use it on axies in extremely diluted solutions (10ppm), to treat fungus, sores etc. I don't know if it will help, but I gave it a shot, because my axys looked sick and I didn't want any further complications, and it didn't do them any harm. Another treatment I could have given them was a salt bath.
What I did was get a container big enough for my axys and filled it up with tank water. I then dipped the end of a cotton bud in the mercurochrome solution and dipped it in the container water, then stirred it round till the water was a light pink colour. Then I put the axys in there for a couple of hours (They swam a few laps really fast at first before settling down). After a couple of hours I put then back. In Australia mercurochrome can be bought at the chemist/pharmacy. Today it is one week and two days since the feathers disappeared. She isn't looking as sick as she was, but I'm keeping a sharp eye on her, in case it gets worse.
Good luck with your little guys
 
my mom is getting the meds today, not sure whats she is going to get cuz i had to be in school today. hopefully she will get something of use....
 
okie dokie- my mom went to the aquarium store and bought some medication called "Furan_2"
Pet shop people said that it was the same stuff as "Nitrofura" wich is on the safe list ((caudata.org's axolotl health section))
it comes in these small red capsules that you break open in the tank. one capsule has 60mg nitrofurazone, 25mg furazolidone, and 2 mg of methylene blue tryhydraate.

*has anyone used this before?
*did it work?
*is it safe?
 
I have used that stuff on a really bad fungal infection for my goldfish. It is really strong stuff and I had to do water changes everyday and could only use it for seven days, however it worked a treat. It was called furan in orange capsules. Don't know how it would go with axolotls is it safe for them?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Back
    Top