Please help!!! Adult black toes? Illness?? Metamorphasizing?

Great to hear that the new sand is so soft. I'm sure that Stelly will love it.
Keep us posted. :happy:
 
Interesting. I siphon the sand once a week and do 50% water changes too. Could bad bacteria still form?

I also contacted Big Als (where I got the sand) and they said their black sand is crushed obsidian which is extremely abrasive and I should switch over to the natural sand they have. Just using my hand to feel the difference was incredible!!! The new sand feels like touching flour when baking, whereas the black was quite sharp. I could also see each individual grain of the black as well, but with the new white/pale sand, it's almost a powder it's so fine.

I really hope that the change to a soft sand, temps between 15 and 17 and the weekly 50% water changes will heal the toes. I have a friend in the US who is sending me some Almond Leaves, so I can add those in a week or so.

He hasn't moved from his log since putting him back in the tank. I hope he's not too stressed!! I put about 60% of his old water back in, as well as the plants, 3 hides and some rocks, plus the good bacteria in the filter. I did a slightly bigger dose of Prime to help with any ammonia from removing the old sand (there is good bacteria in the substrate) and added a bit of "Seed" which is a highly concentrated bottled form of bacteria for starting and maintaining a tank, just to give it a boost. I really hope he's going to be ok! One front foot looks like there is a Web forming between two toes.
 
Is there anything I can do to stop fungus? I changed the substrate and the water is 15 degrees. He has good params but the AL one leaves will take a week to arrive.

I don't know if it's a fungus starting on his toes or if it's skin slouching off and photobucket is down and won't let me add pictures.
 
I don't think we can answer that question without an image to base it on. :-(

However, I added tea to my tank a month ago to help soothe my babies, one of them had some irritation on her skin that was causing the slime coat to thicken drastically. It really helped, and I just added it directly to the tank, and then let it cycle itself out during water changes over the following two weeks. The black tea will do the same as the almond leaves, releasing some tannins into the water.

If it was me, I would do either a tea bath, or add it directly to the tank in a diluted fashion. Black tea has some anti-fungual and anti-bacterial properties, which is why it is useful for minor problems, and a LOT less stressful than a salt bath.
 
Always be careful with black sand / gravel, It can also be broken glass.
See the gravel under a microscope possibly it may have sharp edges .
Some black gravel is dyed. This staining can sometimes dissolve in the stomach and poison your animal.
If you want black, buy certified and fish friendly gravel max 3mm.
Also clean the gravel with a gravel cleaner to reduce bacteria growth in the bottom (this is very important)
 
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Black Tea in the tank?

I need to use black tea in Stellys tank unail his IALindsay arrives. I read the caffeine is fine and then I read it's toxic...

Is regular caffenated black tea ok? (English breakfast/Earl Grey, lol.) And 1 cup for 20 gallons?
 
Re: Black Tea in the tank?

As long as the only ingredient is "Black tea" then it will be fine.

I believe the one I used was English Breakfast style, but the ONLY ingredient was black tea.

You could even use 1/2 cup, and I will tell you, she may freak a little bit, and so will you because it will look so dark. You may even want to add it a little bit at a time to help her adjust to it too.
 
Re: Black Tea in the tank?

Wysper said:
As long as the only ingredient is "Black tea" then it will be fine.

I believe the one I used was English Breakfast style, but the ONLY ingredient was black tea.

You could even use 1/2 cup, and I will tell you, she may freak a little bit, and so will you because it will look so dark. You may even want to add it a little bit at a time to help her adjust to it too.
Click to expand...

The ingredients are: Black Tea, Natural Flavors. (Is that OK? It smelled good!)

I used one of those plastic "teenage party beer cups" you see in movies full of water and one tea bags steeped for 10-15 mins). But it doesn't look very dark in the tank. Did I use enough? (The lights are off too, so maybe it will be darker in the morning.)
 
Re: Black Tea in the tank?

Just curious... but what is wrong with Stelly?
 
Re: Black Tea in the tank?

I wouldn't use it if "black tea" is not the only ingredient. You don't know what kind of reaction could happen with the natural flavors or even know what they are.

Stelly has worn her toes down to exposed bone on the black substrate Holly was using. She wants to prevent any infection or fungus while healing.
 
Re: Black Tea in the tank?

The tea I used, I just found out, has "light citrus flavours, as the natural flavouring.

I'm wondering, since he hasn't really changed in behaviour.... should I just leave it, or should I do a 75% water change and then brew 1 cup (250ml) of Irish Breakfast Tea (100% pure black tea,) and add that.

He is hiding a little more, but the temp was 14 all day and just reached 15 now. I'm keeping it low to speed healing. So, I think the temp has slowed him down a bit.
 
Re: Black Tea in the tank?

I did it. I was freaking out too much. I changed about 70% to 75% of his water and put in water that was sitting in the room for 3 hours with a little extra Prime in it. I have PLAIN black tea brewing, (1 cup) and will add that when it's cold.

The water change dropped the tank from 15 degrees to 13.2 degrees, so I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't shock him - though I know colder is better for healing.

I really hope I didn't screw this up.
 
Re: Black Tea in the tank?

Don't panic, I'm sure that it will be fine.
If you are worried about the tea then you could just to small, frequent water changes to make sure that the water is perfect until the leaves arrive.
 
Red feet ??? Infection from toes?

For those who have been helping with Stellys toes:

I can't upload to photobucket. I log in and it logs me right back out.

Today, I noticed the veins on Stellys feet and leading to his toes are pretty red. Does this mean they are beginning to heal or should I fridge him for an infection?
 
Thank you!! He's hiding in the back right now and the pic I have isn't great because of Shadows and the tea in the tank. I will try to get a better one tonight or tomorrow. In this pic, they don't look that red, but there are very noticeable veins across his hands and down to the toes that weren't there before.

Please, if someone could check back a couple times to see? I have no one but this forum for help. I don't want to fridge him if I don't need to.
 

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I know these aren't great, but there's tea in the tank so it darkens the pics.
Also, I found hydra....will they sting him?
And, won't walking on top of his cave ruin new skin trying to grow?
 

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I'm sure walking on top of his cave won't hurt him at all. It looks smoother than the obsidian was!

And I can already tell that the skin over his toes is starting to grow back, it's not as obviously pulled back from the bone anymore.

You are doing a very good job of helping him to heal. :)
 
Wysper said:
I'm sure walking on top of his cave won't hurt him at all. It looks smoother than the obsidian was!

And I can already tell that the skin over his toes is starting to grow back, it's not as obviously pulled back from the bone anymore.

You are doing a very good job of helping him to heal. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks! I've been so worried. Some of the skin looks black. I don't know...I'm trying to just go with it, but I worry.
 
Hey Holly,

i know this post might not directly relate to Stellys toe issues but might help a bit.

My little guy had a similar thing happen to just one of his fingers about a year ago. I'm still not sure if the skin rolled back somehow or he somehow lost the tip and it grew back smaller.

I have never used any sand or rocks in my tank as i was concerned about it causing a digestive issue and i've had him for 3 years now so i don't think its really worth adding it now.

I've noticed over the years that his tentacles are sometimes not as red and fluffy as they usually are and a week ago they seemed really bad, covered in white fungus and he was also spitting out his food which was unusual. I started to panic as i knew something was wrong so i went to Big Al's and had the water tested and everything was fine.

The girl in the store says she has an Axie so i explained what was happening and she recommended a general fungus kit used for fish tanks as there is nothing specific for axies on the market. I was a bit unsure but she said she had used the same kit with her axie and it worked great so i gave it a try, done a 75% water change and added these packets of power to the fresh stuff.

It turned the water bright green! it looked like the tank was filled with Mountain Dew! Limbo just sat there staring at me for 2 days so i emptied 75% and added the next round of packets and i was noticing the fungus was not clearing up and his tail was staring to bend a lot which i had read was a sign of stress.

After 4 days i had seen no improvement and Limbo was clearly not happy so i done a 100% water change, cleaned absolutely everything and this time i added aquarium salt to the new water along with some dechlorinator and added a healthy does of Big Al's Bio Support to it as well.

Limbo looks much better now, his tail straightened out and the fungus has gone. He still hasnt eaten anything for a week but i figure he will get his appetite back soon.

Aquarium salt apparently reduces stress and can help with healing and Bio Support helps with healing as well so next time you are at the store it might be worth picking some up.

Not sure where abouts in ON you are but the Big Al's in London has plenty in stock
 
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