Possible gill fungus?

[lewis]

Hi everyone,

We've had our axolotl Rasta for around a year now, hes always been happy and very active with a strong appetite. He doesn't share his tank with anyone, only a few live plants. We recently moved house in the last couple of weeks and so had to move Rasta fpr the first time, this seemed to go pretty smoothly and we had him set up in his new home, he sulked for a day and then was back to his usual self.

Then in the last couple of days we noticed he'd begun to sulk again and wasn't swimming around as much as usual, then last night we noticed he had a sort of white fluffy thing on one of his gills, when we checked him this morning, it had fallen off but there was now one in the other side. Hes still moving around abit just not as much as we're used too. I've attached a photo where you can see the small area of 'fluff'.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated,
Lewis

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

Have you checked your water quality? After moving I wouldn't be surprised if your cycle had crashed unfortunately, this can play havoc with axolotls. If you're able to get a test kit it would really useful, this way you can check for any ammonia and nitrite spikes. When you say sulking has he been less active or shying away from you...? I don't know about your end but it's blooming freezing up here so it could have caused a temperature drop in the tank, they tend to be a little less active in colder water. An effective way of treating fungus is with salt baths. A very simple tutorial to follow: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...axolotl/72698-salt-bath-picture-tutorial.html. I don't think fridging is necessary for treating fungus, especially this time of the year. Place him in a container, somewhere cool, dimly lit and calm so he can rest up for a while. Change container water daily with dechlorinated water, preferably the same temperature, or very similar, as the water he's already in.

 

[lewis]

Hes not shying away just less active yeah, will try and give him a salt bath and see if that helps!

Do you think the fluff on his gills looks like fungus?

 

[Kaysie]

Yes, it's definitely fungus. Salt baths should be continued until the fungus is gone.

You will also have to re-cycle your tank, as it's likely that all your beneficial bacteria have died off during the move.