Please help my axie has gone pale as a ghost

[chathuranga]

Sir axolot's gills have gone almost white and see through. The red colour has faded into a icecream sort of colour.
Here in australia , the summer just started and it has been constantly 28C. With my best efforts I control it to 22C with Air con and Icewater bottles -80% of the time. However sometimes I cant control the temp at night.

He has only eaten once in the last week, I have given him all different food. He refuses to eat which is very abnormal since he used to eat at least 3 times a day just 1 week before.

For the whole of last week he has been hiding in his cave 24hours a day. I noticed this because I work at home and I can see the tank all the time.

I am scared his gills are not getting a blood flow and thats why its gone no colour. Clearly he is very sick because his whole skin has gone pale and he is looking like a ghost now. ( he is be leusistic )Sir Axolot does not have usual signs of stress. ( frantic swimming or smaller tail etc)

Apart from sir Axolots troubles the whole tank has like literally 500 snails in it- Oneday I saw one snail in the tank brought home by a waterplant and now it has babies. Please help....

 

[matthew]

Firstly, you say he's "white as a ghost" yet he's leucistic...So he's meant to be white.

Secondly, discolouration in gills is due to inactivity. If they don't move, or sleep/rest, the blood flow to the gill feathers is reduced. This may also be caused by anemia as a result of water hardness, or rather, the lack thereof. If your water is soft (acidic) then your axolotl can suffer from anemia.

Definitely remove the snails. They're adding ammonia to the water. You might want to do a test on the water by the way. That means ammonia, ph, nitrates and nitrites.

The temperature is definately an issue. 28 Degrees is life threatening if prolonged for an amount of time. You must either find a way to rotate ice bottles more efficiently, or invest in a chiller. If you have a 2ft tank you can get one off ebay for about $300.

(Message edited by gaara on December 02, 2006)

 

[chathuranga]

Thanks for the advice. I took out more than half of the snails for now (cant catch the rest)and I have to test the water. I already did a 35% water change just to be sure.

Just clearing things up.. yes he was white but never A4 paper white..(which colour he is now) Thats what was troubling me.

 

[matthew]

Haha ok that makes more sense. I was slightly puzzled before.

Keep up the snail culling. Have you got a water testing kit? You need to keep checking the ammonia, ph, nitrate and nitrite levels of your tank. This will help you gauge how often to do water changes (as far as Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite goes).

Also, how goes the tank temperature? Have you managed to figure out a means of keeping it down over extended periods?

 

[kapo]

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Quoting Chathuranga De Alwis on Saturday 02 December 2006 - 13:45 (#POST113294):</font>

Clearly he is very sick because his whole skin has gone pale and he is looking like a ghost now. ( he is be leusistic )Sir Axolot does not have usual signs of stress. ( frantic swimming or smaller tail etc)
<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

hi chathuranga

We have been in the same situation as yourself, having two of our leucistics go a ghostly white, including gills, and general inactivity. This happened way back in January and we had no idea what the problem was. The other two tankmates didn't seem to have a problem, but as they're wildtypes maybe it just didn't show like it did with the leucs. We're assuming it was some type of anaemia which lasted weeks. Our water readings weren't acidic (our pH was about 7.6); and tank had been cycled too. Noticed it with our first one, Fifi then a week later our other leuc, Brodie (the one that is pictured under my name); both were round 10cm in size/approx 4.5months in age. And it also occurred during Summer months.


If you can't keep his temperature down, try fans blowing across surface of water. If you are able to move the tank to the coolest place of the house, away from direct light, may also help. Otherwise, try bottles of frozen dechlorinated water in your tank rotated/replaced just before they melt to keep the temp constant, otherwise the fluctuating temp will cause more stress.



<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Quoting Chathuranga De Alwis on Saturday 02 December 2006 - 13:45 (#POST113294):</font>

He has only eaten once in the last week, I have given him all different food. He refuses to eat which is very abnormal since he used to eat at least 3 times a day just 1 week before. <!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

Ours also had loss of appetite. Just wondering how old/big your axie is for him to be fed 3 times a day. Is he under 10cm is larger than 10cm; or do you know his approx. age?

We treated ours by removing them from tanks and placing them in the fridge doing twice daily saltbaths for approx 2 weeks. The saltbaths were done, as Fifi started chasing her tail in a circle prior to being removed from tank and we weren't sure what was wrong; if it was parasites or something else which contributed to their whiteness. After removal from fridge, we kept them separate from their tank, in individual containers, changing their water 100% daily and continuing with saltbaths and trying to get them to eat. Brodie was first to recover her colour (5 weeks on) and her appetite as well. Fifi took another two weeks (total of 7 weeks) before regaining her colour and appetite. By the time they were returned to their tank, their tankmates were a full 2inches longer than them (they are all same age).

 

[chathuranga]

Thanks for all the help.
Now my tank is 100% free of the snails. I had to take out all the sand out just to get rid of them.
The tank will be free of sand for a little while.
The colour in gills and skin has come back a bit. he's been eating at least once a day.
I have moved the tank close to the air con so the water temperature is 18- 20 c all day.

Sir axolot is approximately 15cm long head to tail. When I say i feed him three times a day its probably because I dont ever feed him like 5 pieces of meat at once in 5 minute intervals. ( I have read in the forums thats how some people do it)He usually goes for 2 meat pieces in probably 10 mins and doesnt seem to be interested in eating after that. Then he asks for food at least two more times a day.

Sorry i could not update any earlier since my pc got broken. I have to come to my bro's place to check my email these days.

 

[jason]

hi just to add to the post i have two leucistic with share their home with a lazy apple snail and from time to time their gills go pal and like you say ghostly they dont move alot during this time and they dont eat to i just give it a few days and they are back to normal i wouldnt worry about it too much