Skin peeling

[Sam77]

Hi, I'm really worried about my axies, I have 3 in a 200l tank, test the water every week or so, and water change 20% every week, also pippeting out poop when I see it. At the weekend I cleaned the filter media and pipes, and placed some extra media in the filter, some sort of gauze that my friend gave me (unused) as my canister filter has been struggling to cope with the bio load and the pipes need cleaning almost monthly. Yesterday 2 of my axies looked unhappy, their tails were curled, gills not forward, but I was worried and tested the water, all parameters were fine, amm and nitrite zero, nitrate low, temp 18C, so I left it. I have just come home, and the 2 that were unhappy now have peeling skin, they look awful. I will try to post a picture later, but I just wanted some help as I have no idea what to do. The other axie is unaffected. They are still eating and acting normal, tails no longer curled. The only thing I can think of is the gauze in the filter, but I have no idea why it would cause this. I am going to do a large water change and take the gauze out of the tank. Please, any ideas would be most welcome.

 

[Bellabelloo]

I would remove your axolotl from the tank and place them in clean, dechlorinated water and place their container/s somewhere cool. The article below explains how to fridge an axolotl, you can use the fridge, but equally any cool place will do. Something is clearly wrong with their environment. Do you use a de-chlorinator?
Would you be able to post a picture to this thread so we can see?

 

[mikeg]

is there any salt in the tank?mine did that when there was too much salt i was adding it when i did water changes. take them out any out them in a smaller tank and put in a skin/slime conditioner and treat them for about a month

 

[Sam77]

Hi, thanks for your replies. I did a large water change and removed the gauze just incase there was anything chemical in it, and now both of them look completely normal, I wouldn't know anything had happened to them had I not seen them a few hours ago. It was very bizarre. Do axies shed skin normally? I have never seen them do this before.