Sick axolotl?? Fuzzies on toes?

[mackinie766]

Hi, im a new axolotl owner, ive had mine for about a week. Shes in a ten gallon, that had been cycled for a few weeks before i put her in. All seemed fine untill now. Ive never seen her swim this much, shell swim into the tank walls, then float for a bit, then swim kinda frantically again. shes moving so much more than she was and i dont know if thats a good or bad thing. her fins are not curved forward and her tail isnt constantly curved. sometimes its rounded but i think it might just be the way shes laying. other times it straight. shes got some fuzzies of sorts on her toes and i cant tell what it is. theres a bit of black dots forming where her bottom lip would be.my water parameters are nitrate; 0 nitrite; 0 chlorine; 0 alkalinity; 180 pH; 7.8. i dont know if i should be stressed or not. shes only a few months old and still quite small.

 

[Dolphinlover55]

She may have a fungus on her toes. To treat that, you should give her a salt bath what are your water temperatures? If your temps are higher than usual, that could be the reason for her swimming. The water should be around 60 - 65 Fahrenheit (16 - 18 Celsius). If it's higher then that you can rotate frozen water bottles to keep the water cool or use a fan on the surface of the water. It doesn't sound like she is stressed. Does she have trouble swimming to the bottom of the tank or is she floating a lot? That could mean she is constipated. In that case you should fridge her. Do you think you could possibly attach some pictures? It would help a lot I can give you instructions for salt baths or fridging if you need them.

 

[mackinie766]

i live in florida so its hard to keep water temps down, it stays at 64-66 for the most part, at night it gets to 62-64 but during the day it sometimes gets to 68, never above 70 though. i keep three fans above her tank running all day and night. i have pictures but no idea how to attach them as i am new to this website

 

[Dolphinlover55]

To attach photos click 'manage attachments' which is further down on your screen. It will take you to a separate page where you can select your pictures either from a file if you are using a computer or from your photo library if you are using a phone upload your pictures and then close the window. Hopefully that was helpful and not confusing. I can attach some screenshots for you too if you want

 

[mackinie766]

Got it! thank you very much! if you zoom in on her toes you can see the small fuzzies, they’re looking a lot better now with not a lot her but i would still like to make sure everything’s okay. and the black dots in that picture have gone away too. i feed her live black worms twice a day as was recommended for her size if that helps anything.

 

[Dolphinlover55]

I would watch the fuzzies and if they get any worse you should give her a salt bath. Other than that she seems to be doing fine. Your water temperatures are good. Does she float often?

 

[mackinie766]

she’ll float a bit in the water, not near the surface or anything then swim around a bit and then rest. there’s no pattern of what she’s doing or anything. and can you give me instructions for a salt bath? i have aquarium salt but not marine salt i don’t know which one i should use

 

[NidiaNz]

What is your ammonia at.

You have 0 nitrates, so it doesn't look like your tank is cycled, you might want to tub the lotl until your tank is cycled ?

 

[Dolphinlover55]

Here is a link on how to give her a salt bath - http://exoticpetquarters.com/axolot...ess-injury-treatment/axolotl-salt-bath-guide/ I would recommend fridging beforehand, it may help with the swimming

 

[mackinie766]

i had a betta fish and a few community fish in the tank for around 7 or 8 weeks, and thank you for the salt bath info! and everything else, it really helps and makes me a feel a lot better

 

[Dolphinlover55]

Your welcome I'm glad I could help!