Sick? whitish stubby gills

[james]

ive have my axie for a week now, 3.5 " albino. cycled tank aborund 50 F. he was eating earthworm bits almost every day sometimes twice and maybe a few ghost shrimp that were already in the tank. but 3 days ago i put in a baby crayfish after i pulled off the pincers. but now my axie has stubby gills that are whitish at the tips and one red speck spot. also he isnt interested in eat at all but maybe he is just been eating shrimps or baby shrimps or other little water bugs like backstrokers i put in there. heres so pics of his gills any advice? he is still swimming around and moving and i saw some pooops.

 

[joão]

Sorry can tell anything try and get better pictures

 

[james]

 

[joleen]

The pics are still abit blurry, but from what i can see.. its looks like your axie's gills are bleeding

Does the white look like fungus? Could be a combination of ammonia burns and nibbled gills.
What are all your levels at (meaning ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and ph)?
Id say, start salt bathing your axie ASAP and get him/her in the fridge, till you test your tank.

Salt bath twice a day using 2-3 teaspoons of salt per liter of water, keeping you axie in the water for 10 mins each bath. Make sure you use new salt and water each bath.

Someone else maybe able to help further

Joan or Sharn maybe?



(Message edited by jojo_is_here on March 30, 2006)

 

[sharn]

that third pic doesnt look good at all

sadly i have no experience on axies with bleeding gills and havent read much about them, it looks like a blood blister we get. however the gill filaments do look white which would most likely be a fungus, salt baths for that and make sure you moniter him constantly for the time hes in there, if he tries to get out (jump out of water etc) take him back into his salt free bowl. as joleen said, the fridge will be a great move for now. thats all i can think of right now, i dont think meds are needed right now, just see how he goes. also, as joleen said (man am i a parrot today or what lol) get your readings if you can, ammonia can reak havoc on the gills.

p.s. while you axie is in the fridge make sure he has daily water changes, mix your salt ratio up and dissolve it in a bit of water then pour it away from your axie so it mixes well then once the 10-15 mins is up remove him to the fresh, salt free water, bit easier than moving him twice.

good luck and keep us posted.

 

[james]

okay so last nite i gave her a salt bath and then put in a fresh bowl in the fridge. it looked like a piece of blood clot or something came off one side of her gills last night and u can see just regular small gills but no filaments on them, the other side still has a little reddish and white stuff. this morning im giving her another salt bath and change the water. it must be ammonia bc i only had the tank running for 2 weeks with ghost shrimp before she arrived so it must not have been fully cycled yet even tho i was changing the water almost 50% every other day. anyways how long do i give the salt baths and fridge for? i have a 10 ga betta tank thats been going for over a year with plants and stuff so i think the bettas can just go in bowl and put Ms. Pink in that tank. sound oaky? thanks alot ** i am using Doc's freshwater aquarium salts ( is this right or do i need sea salts?)

(Message edited by idontknow on March 30, 2006)

 

[emily]

Hi James, this may not be the same thing, but the axie that i just bought about 5 days ago has a simular problem to yours (it seems). When i bought my axis he had half a gill stalk missing, i thought it would grow back, but it started getting a white flakey looking stuff coming off it. It turns out he had a gill bacteria that eats away at the gills. My little one had half a stump on one side, then it was eaten away by this bacteria in just under 5 days. The other gills are starting to get this bacteria and they are shrinking too. Mine kinda looks like he is bleeding too. When i did salt baths, the last one i did he started to bleed from the gills. We took him to the petstore and got some meds for him. If this is what you might have (not saying it is) monitor him very closely. Compare photos (or memory of him) before he had this and check to see how much his gills have shrunk, this could be a good indication that it *may* be the same thing.

Good luck, let us know how he goes

 

[joleen]

James that salt should be fine.
Any non iodized salt should be sweet.
RE how long to salt bath and keep her fridged - you gotta play it by ear. Keep monitoring her, look for improvement, changes in the gills, changes in her movements.
Salt works wonders though, it will at least get rid of the fungus. Hopefully, doing this, will minimize the irritation of the gills

Gook luck buddy!

And sharn - Your not a parot

You can stick to jojo if its easier

 

[james]

well the bloody looking clot things are all pretty much gone just short stubby gills. it took a poop also it was just a small brown pellet so i guess its insides are working. im going to try to feed him some pieces of worm tmw should i set him out of the fridge for a few minutes to warm up a bit first?

 

[joleen]

YAY! Thats a good sign

I dont think you should let the water warm up. If hes hungry, hell take the offered food.
If the temp is fluctuating it could cause more stress.

By fluctuating i mean
* low temp while in fridge
* letting warm up then feeding (which means that the water will be warmer for some time)
* then low temp again when putting him back in the fridge.
Therefore the temp is low, higher, then low again - abit up and down. And with what hes been through already less stress with be good for the little fella, Id say try and feed straight away.

Dont worry if he doesnt eat either, its normal for him not to have an appetite, given hes been in the fridge.

I think everyone may have different opinions on whether to let it warm up, this is just mine

 

[james]

gave him his morning salt bath and is looking alot better on the right side there are no more nasty looking things or pieces of gill just hanging on. the gill stalks are short and have just the slightest white tissue at the tips ,assuming this is new growth? i also got an ammonia tester and the reading was .5ppm the tank was set up 2 weeks ago so maybe another week or so to cycle bc i used some sand from another tank and several of the large rocks to get some good bacterias. will his tail straighten out again? it is slightly curled at the tips since he got ill

 

[joleen]

A curled tail is a sign of stress. Once he's healed and back in his tank, given all conditions are fine, he should be stress free.

I hope

 

[james]

okay so i am switching my bettas into some gallon jars and letting whitey go into their tank its been running for 4 months no signs of ammonia or nitrite, very little nitrate and its planted with a red water lily (walmart bulbs) with coral sand substrate and there will be no there animals except maybe the odd ghost shrimp bc he definately was enjoying them. so how much long till i can take em out the fridge?