please help very sick axie!!!!

[SamAndHarry]

Hi
My baby Harry is sick.
hes has been really listless for 3 days now and then this morning he was floating and gulping for air.
ive taken him out of the tank and put him in a dechlorinated environment hes not floating any more but he keeps trying to get his gills above the water. hes an albino and i noticed that hes very red and veiny, and his gills are rather red. this hasnt happened before, and i only changed his water last week. he was fine then. i have introduced a snail to the tank, could this be the problem?
please help i dont want my baby to be sick anymore and i dont want to loose him.
should i salt bath and how do i do this?
thanks
Sam

 

[Jennewt]

I'd say put him in the refrigerator. The "red and veiny" suggests a bacterial type of infection, but it could be caused by the animal being stressed (by whatever the problem is).

 

[SamAndHarry]

Hey so ive fridged him and im watching him every 30mins or so. what should i do if he doesnt improve and how long should that take, ive just done a water change (40%) and am going to get my levels tested. if it is a bacterial infection what can i do?

 

[MRIGUY]

How long after you changed his water did this start? How long has the tank been established?

 

[SamAndHarry]

Ive had him about 3 months and i changed the water 2 weeks ago. i only ever do a 30 - 40% water change.. hes been in the fridge for almost 24 hours, he seems more calm but is still trying to keep his head out of the water, and the main section of his gills are black in sections.

 

[kapo]

Try and avoid looking at him every few hours, while in the fridge. Lower the water in his container and make sure you do complete daily waterchanges on the fridge container with chilled dechlorinated water.

As for his tank, test the tankwater for ammonia/nitrites and nitrates and what is the tank temperature? How large is the tank (length x width rather than gallons/litres pls)? What sort of substrate do you have?