Reoccuring fungus

[Kymmy442]

Hi all,
My Axolotl, Super Cooper, is just over a year old. He had such amazing, long, floofy gills all the way up to around 6 months ago. Fu gus is just eating away at the top two on both sides. He is in a 60 gallon tank. I have a chiller, and the temp is always 63 degrees. No ammonia. No nitItes, and never over 20 ppm nitrAtes. Hes on a bare bottom tank with a hide at each end, along with plants. I have 4 large sponge filters and two AquaClear 70s, that are baffled with no flow at all in the whole bottom half of the tank. You cant have too much filtration. Lol. But his parameters are immaculate. He also has a bubbler. He refuses to eat worms of any kind, prepared in any way. He will only eat pellets. Im very picky about cleaning any leftovers, along with any poop. Ive tried everything under the sun, to keep this fungus away. Once it falls off, hes good for around 2-3 weeks. Then its back. Hes never shown signs of stress. He eats well. Hes healthy all over. PH is stable at 8. The only light he has is from the room hes in. Im so very frustrated. Everything that is said to cause fungus, i have checked and remedied if needed. Ive done tea baths, IAL, holtfreters solution, and Kanaplex. Ive taken out and cleaned all ornaments and hides. Lowered the water level, raised the water level, and cleaned the tank itself. I have 6 other tanks and i breed Cory, Red Chested Endlers, and Cherry Shrimp. All my other tanks are thriving. This is my second Axolotl. My first died of old age (15), two years before i acquired Super Cooper. Any suggestions would be amazing. Im at a total loss here. Every 3 weeks and his beautiful floofs disappearing on top, has me just heartbroken. In the pic, you can see the top gill on the one side, right after fungus fell off. As you can see, its really doing a number on his gills. Thanks ahead of time guys!

 

[axolotl nerd]

Hi all,
My Axolotl, Super Cooper, is just over a year old. He had such amazing, long, floofy gills all the way up to around 6 months ago. Fu gus is just eating away at the top two on both sides. He is in a 60 gallon tank. I have a chiller, and the temp is always 63 degrees. No ammonia. No nitItes, and never over 20 ppm nitrAtes. Hes on a bare bottom tank with a hide at each end, along with plants. I have 4 large sponge filters and two AquaClear 70s, that are baffled with no flow at all in the whole bottom half of the tank. You cant have too much filtration. Lol. But his parameters are immaculate. He also has a bubbler. He refuses to eat worms of any kind, prepared in any way. He will only eat pellets. Im very picky about cleaning any leftovers, along with any poop. Ive tried everything under the sun, to keep this fungus away. Once it falls off, hes good for around 2-3 weeks. Then its back. Hes never shown signs of stress. He eats well. Hes healthy all over. PH is stable at 8. The only light he has is from the room hes in. Im so very frustrated. Everything that is said to cause fungus, i have checked and remedied if needed. Ive done tea baths, IAL, holtfreters solution, and Kanaplex. Ive taken out and cleaned all ornaments and hides. Lowered the water level, raised the water level, and cleaned the tank itself. I have 6 other tanks and i breed Cory, Red Chested Endlers, and Cherry Shrimp. All my other tanks are thriving. This is my second Axolotl. My first died of old age (15), two years before i acquired Super Cooper. Any suggestions would be amazing. Im at a total loss here. Every 3 weeks and his beautiful floofs disappearing on top, has me just heartbroken. In the pic, you can see the top gill on the one side, right after fungus fell off. As you can see, its really doing a number on his gills. Thanks ahead of time guys!

hi!
a few things,
1. would you mind posting a picture of the whole tank? i don’t think it has to do with husbandry but i want to rule it out entirely
2. how long have you been keeping him in the tea baths? at this point id add IAL or another source of tannins to the water as a preventative, as he seems to be very prone to illness
3. i’ve read in a thread that daily 10% water changes can help to make gills fluffier. not sure of how true this is, but thought id throw it out there as i intend to try it myself
4. it sounds cruel, but i suggest “starving“ him off of the pellets. i don’t believe them to have enough nutrients for a growing lotl, and feed exclusively earthworms and bloodworm treats. essentially, make him hungry enough to eat something new. im not a vet by any means (though i hope to work as one eventually)
5. pictures of his entire body would be helpful, just to rule things out
6. if this has been a persistent issue for the past six months, id honestly see a vet- it seems to indicate an underlying health issue, perhaps a lowered/compromised immune system (i have one too, it makes me very vulnerable to illnesses and lowers my ability to fight them off- similar to what cooper seems to be dealing with)

hope this was a little helpful,
- ren

 

[Kymmy442]

Thank you so much, for your response! I appreciate it greatly. I am so very attached to Super Cooper the Aquatic Floof Noodle. Ive only done tea baths twice. 15 minutes max. It gets rid of the fungus, but it would reappear later. I always have IAL in his tank. I do in all my tanks. I have tried getting him off pellets, but it ended up causing more stress. When i realized trying to force him to worms, caused too much stress, i honestly let that boat sail. The pellets i use are a good nutritional pellet, and his overall health and weight has been good. I actually also stopped doing small water changes every day, thinking maybe that was stressing him out as well. Just eliminating any possibility. Just deducing. I attached a pic of his tank. Im currently trying the lowered water level. Again, trying anything i can. He doesnt like to swim. It seemed he was having difficulty going all the way up when he wanted to. His activity is normal. Appetite is normal. He interacts well with his surroundings. No curled gills, even when fungus is present. No curled tail. The actually length of his gils has remained the same. But the filaments havent. I wont do salt baths. I quarantined him in a modified holtfreters solution for awhile. The fungus fell off and three weeks later...Lol. I never had this issue with my first Lotl. Had him from a tiny baby, for 15 years. He did get a fungus when his water temp got a bit warm. But once it was gone, it was gone. I noticed that the fungus falls off on its own, with or without intervention. Just keeping water cool and clean, itll fall off just as fast as it will with a tea bath. Im a Wildlife Specialist. But my expertise is in mountain lions. Lol. I absolutely understand about having a lowered immune system. I am a 4 time cancer survivor, (all found within 9 months of eachother and 3 surgeries in that time), in my last few weeks of treatment. Very complicated when theres a pandemic. Lol. My daughter in law works at a vet clinic in a way more populated area, i can ask her if they would see Cooper. But i live in a place where its 200 miles to the nearest larger town. Nobody here, will handle aquatic floof noodles. But i will ask her this evening if someone there might be able to.

 

[axolotl nerd]

Thank you so much, for your response! I appreciate it greatly. I am so very attached to Super Cooper the Aquatic Floof Noodle. Ive only done tea baths twice. 15 minutes max. It gets rid of the fungus, but it would reappear later. I always have IAL in his tank. I do in all my tanks. I have tried getting him off pellets, but it ended up causing more stress. When i realized trying to force him to worms, caused too much stress, i honestly let that boat sail. The pellets i use are a good nutritional pellet, and his overall health and weight has been good. I actually also stopped doing small water changes every day, thinking maybe that was stressing him out as well. Just eliminating any possibility. Just deducing. I attached a pic of his tank. Im currently trying the lowered water level. Again, trying anything i can. He doesnt like to swim. It seemed he was having difficulty going all the way up when he wanted to. His activity is normal. Appetite is normal. He interacts well with his surroundings. No curled gills, even when fungus is present. No curled tail. The actually length of his gils has remained the same. But the filaments havent. I wont do salt baths. I quarantined him in a modified holtfreters solution for awhile. The fungus fell off and three weeks later...Lol. I never had this issue with my first Lotl. Had him from a tiny baby, for 15 years. He did get a fungus when his water temp got a bit warm. But once it was gone, it was gone. I noticed that the fungus falls off on its own, with or without intervention. Just keeping water cool and clean, itll fall off just as fast as it will with a tea bath. Im a Wildlife Specialist. But my expertise is in mountain lions. Lol. I absolutely understand about having a lowered immune system. I am a 4 time cancer survivor, (all found within 9 months of eachother and 3 surgeries in that time), in my last few weeks of treatment. Very complicated when theres a pandemic. Lol. My daughter in law works at a vet clinic in a way more populated area, i can ask her if they would see Cooper. But i live in a place where its 200 miles to the nearest larger town. Nobody here, will handle aquatic floof noodles. But i will ask her this evening if someone there might be able to.

this is a rather challenging and interesting situation. i’m honestly stumped, but id try adding more water with daily 10% water changes at this point. he looks healthy and your husbandry is good, the only thing i can think of that could be causing stress would be the lack of substrate. i’ve read a bit about axolotls not being able to get good grip on glass bottom tanks, but i doubt this would cause such a fungus in cooper. just a thought, really trying to eliminate possibilities
i had to do chemotherapy last year, though not for cancer (it’s a difficult explanation, but if you’d like me to PM you the details, i will) and empathize with you greatly concerning your treatment//recovery. super proud of you for kicking cancer’s ass, four times too!!
id consult your daughter, and consider calling a vet. other than that, i have no idea how to help.

 

[Kymmy442]

I appreciate it so much. I really do. Its just boggled my mind. The substrate may actually be something. I had him on sand for the first couple months. I removed it when i couldnt get it clean enough. I then had slate tiles, which was ok, but that was in his 20 long. He outgrew it so fast. That hide in his tank, is 13 inches long. Looks small compared to the tank. But its quite large. Hes short of the length of that hide, by less than half an inch. Shocking how fast he grew. Ive never added sand back into a tank before. What would be the best way to do that? I will be blown away if thats whats causing it. I wonder if i shouldnt wait to raise the water level until i have substrate. I think he really struggles to get good grip to swim up when he needs to. Im definitely thinking i will try that. Thank you for the supportive responses. The whole thing was extremely traumatic. My husband of 13 yrs left me after the last surgery, for a younger girl. Lol. I had my "sit in a corner and cry" month or so. Then i got up, swept off, and finished my Wildlife Biology degree. So in many ways...im better for what i learned about myself. Not the way i wanted to, but you do what you have to. Youre welcome to DM me if youd like.

 

[axolotl nerd]

I appreciate it so much. I really do. Its just boggled my mind. The substrate may actually be something. I had him on sand for the first couple months. I removed it when i couldnt get it clean enough. I then had slate tiles, which was ok, but that was in his 20 long. He outgrew it so fast. That hide in his tank, is 13 inches long. Looks small compared to the tank. But its quite large. Hes short of the length of that hide, by less than half an inch. Shocking how fast he grew. Ive never added sand back into a tank before. What would be the best way to do that? I will be blown away if thats whats causing it. I wonder if i shouldnt wait to raise the water level until i have substrate. I think he really struggles to get good grip to swim up when he needs to. Im definitely thinking i will try that. Thank you for the supportive responses. The whole thing was extremely traumatic. My husband of 13 yrs left me after the last surgery, for a younger girl. Lol. I had my "sit in a corner and cry" month or so. Then i got up, swept off, and finished my Wildlife Biology degree. So in many ways...im better for what i learned about myself. Not the way i wanted to, but you do what you have to. Youre welcome to DM me if youd like.

the substrate was just the only thing i could think of that might be throwing him off, idk what else it could be. ive always had substrate in my tanks, so idk how to go about adding some to an established tank, i’ll let someone else chime in for that one.
(some) men are trash, especially your ex husband. id give him an earful if i could. glad you’re recovering and have finished school!! i too have had a great deal of trauma in my life, and have definitely grown as a person because of it. not the best way to achieve character development, but certainly an effective one. i might pm you and ask for pictures of cooper, as i’m an artist and would quite like to paint him
- ren

 

[Kymmy442]

That would be amazing! I paint as well. Unfortunately im not great with painting living things. Drawing them...yes. Lol. Super Cooper is, (because im biased lol), one of the more unusual colored Lotls ive seen. He is a light copper melanoid gfp. Most of the ones i see, have a darker base color and darker gills. I have quite a few good pics of him. Luckily, hes the most comfortably awkward animal ive ever had. I catch him in the strangest positions. Lol. I know he steps on his gills occasionally. Ive wondered about that causing issues too. I just noticed a spot lower on his gills than normal, where theres more fungus. When that stuff sprouts, it is rapid. I really hope i can get him all regulated and fungus free soon. Thank you again. For everything!

 

[axolotl nerd]

That would be amazing! I paint as well. Unfortunately im not great with painting living things. Drawing them...yes. Lol. Super Cooper is, (because im biased lol), one of the more unusual colored Lotls ive seen. He is a light copper melanoid gfp. Most of the ones i see, have a darker base color and darker gills. I have quite a few good pics of him. Luckily, hes the most comfortably awkward animal ive ever had. I catch him in the strangest positions. Lol. I know he steps on his gills occasionally. Ive wondered about that causing issues too. I just noticed a spot lower on his gills than normal, where theres more fungus. When that stuff sprouts, it is rapid. I really hope i can get him all regulated and fungus free soon. Thank you again. For everything!

about to pm you!