Someone help please!!!

[sarah]

When I was in a pet shop a couple of months ago my mam fell in love with an axolotl, it was her birthday at the end of last month so me and my sister bought her one (we got her a 18"x32" tank with an under gravel filter, large pebbles, plastic plants and a cave) every thing was ok for the first 2 weeks i told her to do water changes everyday as it was a new set up and to remove his food if he didn't eat it which she had been doing. The problem started last week, the water went a yellowish cloudy colour and he got some white fungus on one of his gills, i told her to get an ammonia test and give him salt water baths 2 times a day for 10 mins a time, and take more water out, it seemed to work fine after 3 days it had gone but the ammonia level in the water was sky high, we managed to get it down a bit but all of a sudden it went back up to somewhere around 2.4 & 4.9 on the scale, we couldnt tell the colour that well on the chart (the pH was some where around 8) we can't get it down and now he has fungus on nearly all of his gills, I told my mam to put him in the fridge and do the salt water baths again, some of the fungus has come off but his gills are loosing the 'feathers' where its been, hes off his food too, hes been feed a mix of earth worms, and salmon pellets, we tried him on freeze dried blood worm and daphina but he wouldnt eat them.
What do we do? How do we get the ammonia down, and will he and his gills be ok, i don't want anything to happen to him and i don't know how long they can go with out food? Can some one please help!}}}

 

[anna]

Im not entirely sure about how to get the ammonia down aside from regular water changes but in the meantime just keep him in a separate container and change the water every day or every second day depending on the size of the container. They go off thier food when they get sick but keeping him in the fridge will slow down his metabolism so that he can go without food for longer. Just offer him food when you change his water. Definately keep doing the salt baths till the fungus is gone. Im not entirely sure about how long they can go without food but at a rough guess id say a few weeks to a month.

 

[kapo]

Sounds like it could have been an ammonia or nitrite spike in your mam's tank. There cud be some uneaten food or poo that's not been cleaned out (turkey basters work great for spot cleaning if you can get one) - that may be hidden/slipped between the pebbles and/or plants/caves other decos within the tank. Ours love doing it in their hidey holes but also occasionally slips between the sand and base of some decos (or stuck in plants). Keep the salt baths up (and yes the frilly part of the gills have prob been damaged from ammonia burns/or fungus which is why they flaked off - but they will grow back) Best to just do the waterchanges to try and bring the ammonia down. Does your mother also test for nitrites and nitrate levels?

 

[sharn]

i agree, leave it in the fridge for the time being and leave the tank alone bar a water change each week to let it settle down, no need to do lots if the axie isnt going to be in there. seems she might have slipped a bit on the water changes but not to worry, it should all settle down soon enough, he should heal just fine in the fridge too.

and well done, you seem to have done your homework and shes feeding him some good stuff! big pat on the back to you, you should be real proud!

 

[sarah]

Thank you all for your help and advice. She hadn't bought a nitrate and nitrite test, thats the one thing she hasn't got! I went to her house today and me and my sister decided to check the filter, and it mustn't have been working properly, it was horrible under it, so we took everything out cleaned it all (pebbles, plants cave etc), we removed the water completely and re filled it with de-ironised water (we put some stuff in to help the development of the bacteria stuff that gets rid of ammonia and things, but i cant remember the name of it!) and were not putting him back in the tank till all the fungus has gone, she is going to leave him in the fridge - although he has gone in a really bad mood, and turns his back on us as soon as he sees us! I managed to get a turkey baster today as well and told her to get rid of any food if he dosen't eat it and of course his poo when he does one, but now the ends of his toes are turning black and i was wondering if it was because he's been in the fridge and maybe it was too cold? or is this another thing wrong with him, a different type of fungus maybe?

 

[kapo]

the black toes will be because he's in the fridge (low temp), but they will return to normal once he is out of fridge; but if ur worried about the how cold it is. just put a thermometer in to test it. (As long as it is 5deg cel and above shud be ok.) As for doing a complete water change on your tank - you probably didn't need to do that - now your tank will be cycling again. But as long as you leave the decos/filter and substrate in shud kick in ok. When cleaning your filter it can be cleaned in tank water.

(Message edited by kapo on April 26, 2006)

 

[ian]

When you're doing water changes make sure you use dechlorinated water, you can do this by leaving the water to stand for 48 hours. You need to build bacteria up in your gravel, which will brake down the ammonia into nitrite. Nitrite is just as lethal as ammonia, so you also need bacteria to build up in the gravel, which then brakes nitrite down into nitrate which is relatively harmless. If you use water straight from the tap, the chlorine in the water kills off the good bacteria then you're starting your tank from scratch again. Feed your axolotl only sparingly for 4-6 weeks, so your not getting a lot of waste products. This won't do them any harm at all. Once you've got your water right do about a third water change once a week with the dechlorinated water. Hope this will be some help, Ian.

 

[sharn]

how long has it been in? most people only do it for up to a month as the axie university suggests.

and i think your tank will go back thru the cycle again if you cleaned it all or put water in without dechlorinator, doesnt matter if the axie wont be in it for a month or so, if you have to take him out of the fridge just leave him in something in the mean time, a bucket or container etc.

not sure what the stuff you added for bacteria was, those cycle products dont often work (bio-spira does though im told, they have it in the US, do they have it in england?). im not sure if they come off the line with bacteria but they would soon starve, overcrowd or pollute themselves to death, thats why bio-spira is refridgerated, so the bacteria lie dormant (this is all what ive been told, i havent used it) and dont breed, feed or produce waste. at most it would have just given the new bacteria some goodies to eat and dechlorinated the water maybe.

i hope he gets better real quick!

 

[sarah]

Swips has only been in the fridge for around 4 or 5 days now (it was either monday or tuesday when he was taken out of his tank). I phoned my sister today to see what he was like and she said he is still not eating, she changed the water in the container that he's in and tried him with a worm then but he wasn't interested. The fungus is coming off slowly, there was a couple of big chunks that were floating in the water. He was out of the fridge last night to give his toes a bit of a break, and mams leaving him in the container for a good few weeks so it'll give the tank time to sort it's self out.
Ive never heard of bio-spira, and the pet shop people are about as good as a glass eye! The only thing they said to us before i bought Swips was just stick it in cold water and that's it, (i found out most of the information i needed on the web), so I wouldn't put it past them to think i was just making the name up if they haven't heard of it! but i will have a look out for it.
Fingers crossed he gets better soon, he's such a friendly little axie and it's horrible to see him like this!

 

[sharn]

if you can get it where you are itd be real cool, we cant get it here sadly, seems its only in the US with sprinklings of it in other countries

well you seem to be doing all the right things so i have no suggestions other than keeping up with the clean water and offering tasty foods, ive found when axies wont eat bloodworms will get em going, its quite smelly so tempts them, might be worth a shot