Skin peeling

E

emily

Guest
Hey guys, I bought 2 baby axies about 2 months ago. They would be approx 10cm long, one white and one black. I noticed last week that the black one started to 'peel', it wasnt like its skin was falling off and there was redness, more like a slime coat flaking off. Well if the little guy swam it would fall off that easily. I thought it would go away, but it didnt. I think the white one is having the same problem but not as bad. I gave them both a salt bath on monday and all the flaky skin came off in the water and they looked great, but it seems to have come back in the last day or so. Im not sure if it is a fungus or a skin problem. Ammonia=0, nitrite=0 nitrate=approx 10 and pH=7.6. Is there anything I should do, should i continue with the salt baths and hope it gets better? I do have a fair amount of algae in the water for some baby mystery snails that i hatched, so i dont know if that would make any difference. The skin peeling isnt in any certain areas, just all over the body in general. If anybody had any ideas, it would be much appreciated, cheers
Emily
 
Could it be the snails, are they big enuf to be a nuisance to your axies (sorry I have no concept on size of snails having never kept any) like attaching to their slimecoat/skin?

Or do you have any other companions in/or have added to your tank within the past 2 weeks that might have aff/effected your axies?

Has their eating habits changed or anything else, apart from the skin peeling?

Is it sort of furry looking?



I know that axies can peel/shed their skin, but have never yet spotted it with our axies.

Other than that, not sure. Maybe continue with salt baths, if it looks furry, or if there is any visible sign of infection.

Apols for all ?s just trying to get an idea!
 
The snails are tiny and they r hiding in my rocks at the moment cos they r so small. There are no companions in the tank other than the 2 axies, i guess they are companions to each other, i have never seen them fight. They still eat like pigs and their gills look great, nothing has changed in their tank since i got them. I gave them another salt bath because it started to look worse. After the salt bath they looked great, skin was perfect again, the bowl was left with a white/grey looking skin or something like that in the water. I did notice a little tiny worm/wriggler thing in the salt bath with them, it was only one and I couldn't see anymore in the tank, it was orange/red in colour and about 3-4mm in size. Not sure if it could harm them, i didnt notice any on them in the salt bath. Hmmm weird, I worry so much about my babies, my folks wonder what i'll be like when i have kids
happy.gif
 
are you sure your ammonia kit is accurate?. im thinking maybe you should get the water tested at the local pet store. i doubt the snails would cause all there skin to flake of, they would probably just make little sores on the skin. i think a high/alkaline ph can cause skin to peel/flake of aswell.
 
I'm pretty sure my ammonia test kit is ok because i used it not that long ago when i was cycling my tank and it showed readings higher than 0 during the cycling process (obviously i waiting for the tank to finish cycling before I put the axies in there). the pH isnt high, its only 7.6-7.8. I'll continue doing salt baths and hopefully it will go away.
 
i would give them a salt bath then put one of them in a container with fresh dechlorinated water and see if his skin still peel. if the one in the tank keeps peeling and the one in the container doesnt then you can be sure its something to do with the water in your tank.
 
cud the red wormy thing be a parasite?
 
I thought it might have been a parasite, but there was only one in the water. i have done a salt bath since and have not noticed any in the water with them. I have had a plastic pipe made for them to act as a spray bar, its just made out of plastic. Could this have effected them? I cant remember if they started to peel before r after this pipe was put in.
 
did you wash the pipe thouroughly?. what was the pipe used for before you put it in the tank?. maybe the pipe contained some chemicals??.
 
I have got some pictures now. These were taken a few days ago so its not as bad as it is in the photos. The pipe was brand new and i washed it before i used it.
66278.jpg
66279.jpg
66280.jpg
 
sorry the photos dont look great. They are still eating fine. I couldnt get a good photo of the white one, its not as bad and its hard to see the skin because the axie is white
 
I'm still having this problem. I have left them both in the tank together and have been doing 1-2 salt baths a day for the last 4-5 days. the problem seems to be not as bad as before but they are still peeling. Is it worth taking them out of the tank and putting them in fresh water and cleaning the tank completely and starting again?? or do i leave them in there and continue with the salt baths? I have been doing 1L to 1 teaspoon of salt for 10 minutes, is this enough or should I be doing something else? How many days is it ok to give them salt baths in a row, i dont want to over do it.
Any help is much appreciated
Thanks
Emily
 
pepper has the same problem but my dad goes to work with a woman who to breed them and she said it's fine pep did it for a while but it stopped lately

(Message approved by jennewt)
 
I had the probem to once in sumer. The ground was realy dry so no worms and the pet shop was late ordering its crikets in. His skin strted to peel. I think its because of lack of food.
 
i also have a black axie and he has been peeling for the last 3 months and like emily i did salt baths thinking that there might be something wrong with him even though all my water readings were great, i wouldn't put it down to being under fed cause mine are never under fed so i put it down to growing, he has no visible signs of fungi and he is very active, i keep an eye on him everyday but he is growing so fast too, maybe you should continue checking your water readings and as long as he's okay just see what happens, my tank temperature is on 16 degrees so i don't think heat is making him peel either, he also looks the same as in your pictures emily
66750.jpg
 
axies do shed the skin. According to the guy i ask for advise, its takes a while like at least 2-3 months. it usualy happens in the colder months. All of his stock is shedding aswell and my 2. But keep an eye on the ammonia levels.

(Message edited by DVSGAL on June 22, 2006)
 
I just did salt baths with my axie and some skin started coming off. Maybe thats it.
 
It seems i am not the only person then having these troubles. I had those worm things looked at by the people at the pet store. In one tank I have flat looking snail like things that are everywhere. When they are squashed against the glass they are very crunchy like a snail. Apparently the worm things in my other tank with the peeling babies comes from the tank with these flat things. They are only very small, ranging from tiny to about 3 or 4 mm. Does anybody else have these? The ppl at the pet shop said they had only seen these things once before not that long ago and salt was the only thing that killed them. They move, but only very slowly. My babies are still peeling but they are eating heaps and move around a lot. But if things dont change then i'm going to cycle the tank again after i completely cover it in salt to get rid of these bug things.
 
OMG yes!!!! i noticed those tiny white wormy things on my glass too. my water was infested. I put my spray bar under water and in a few days they coloniesed on the top. I tryed to skim the top of the water to remove them all and i change 50% of the water every few days. As u can see there is no ammonia in my tanka dn my axie's skin is peeling. The only thing that is different are these little worms. I upped the stress coat to double as it says on the pack to help heal the skin. I am very worried!!!
I believe it is the little worms that are doing the damage.....i stress too much. It also has some thinning and whiteness on its gills.....i h8 those worms......
 
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