White fungus

[adler0]

Hi, about how long should I keep my axolotl in the fridge for? I've been doing exactly what this guide says now for over a week and I still don't see any change in the white infected area on his gills. I went away for vacation for 5 days and left a fan blowing on the tank to cool it which I usually use ice. I guess he got stressed from the heat and got some while cotton looking stuff on one of his gills. I've followed this guide and hes been in the fridge for just over a week now. He hasn't eaten in about two weeks too. I should note that the pictures make him look much pinker than he really is. I've read about ammonia burning them and I don't think that's the case. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[JamieOleBoy]

What are your water parameters?

 

[adler0]

doing the water tests now.

 

[JamieOleBoy]

doing the water tests now.

I am just a novice and still learning, however, I believe this is kinda the go to thing when you see problems as such. Water quality, from what I've learned, seems to be a major issue.

Also, I figured this would be the first question you get asked so at least you can get a head start when some of the more experienced steps in.

 

[sde]

Its fungus.

Do salt baths http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...axolotl/72698-salt-bath-picture-tutorial.html

Yes, you are right JamieOleBoy, water perimeters are a big issue, they have to be right in order to have a happy healthy axolotl ( and aquarium ).

Is your tank cycled? Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling Cycling is very important with this species.

When you get your results on the perimeters let us know :happy:

EDIT: I would fridge him until he gets better. Also depending on what your water perimeters are in your tank and weather its cycled I wouldn't put him back in. If your tank is cycled and your perimeters are fine than go ahead and put him back in the tank when the fungus is gone.

 

[adler0]

15 gallon tank kept at 60-65 degrees. Usually cooled with ice bottles when needed.
ph is 7.5
high range ph is either 7.4 or 7.8
ammonia is 0.25ppm
nitrite is 0ppm
nitrate is 20ppm or 40ppm they both look really close.

 

[adler0]

I think my tank is cycled. I've had it set up for about three months now doing weekly 25% water changes.

 

[sde]

OK. So.

Ph, and high range Ph are the same thing except high range Ph is when your Ph is higher than the readings on the regular Ph test kind of.

Your ammonia should be 0 if your tank is cycled. Nitrate sounds fine. Yah I know, it is really hard to tell the two apart.

He is probably stressed and with that ammonia as well that is probably why he got fungus. Do salt baths and keep fridging until it goes away. -Seth

EDIT: So you don't actually know if your tank is cycled? OK, so than you didn't try to cycle it? If that's the case than its probably not cycled, i am not positive of this but that's just my thoughts. Its great that you are doing water changes, though 10-15 % is the recommended amount. If you do too much than it can stress your axolotls and also crash the cycle.

 

[adler0]

Also, I was just reading about the fridge temps and the highest mine goes is 39 degrees. I live in a small apartment with only a small fridge. I have it set on 1. I hope 39 isn't too low for him.

 

[sde]

That's fine. Most amphibians can cope with low temperatures fine, some people actually keep axolotls in outside ponds.

 

[JamieOleBoy]

OK. So.

Ph, and high range Ph are the same thing except high range Ph is when your Ph is higher than the readings on the regular Ph test kind of.

Your ammonia should be 0 if your tank is cycled. Nitrate sounds fine. Yah I know, it is really hard to tell the two apart.

He is probably stressed and with that ammonia as well that is probably why he got fungus. Do salt baths and keep fridging until it goes away. -Seth

EDIT: So you don't actually know if your tank is cycled? OK, so than you didn't try to cycle it? If that's the case than its probably not cycled, i am not positive of this but that's just my thoughts. Its great that you are doing water changes, though 10-15 % is the recommended amount. If you do too much than it can stress your axolotls and also crash the cycle.

I'm sorry to high jack the thread - But if the ammonia is just slightly high and the nitrate reading is below 40ppm with 0 nitrites - Does this mean that the ammonia presence is new? I thought that the nitrites would have kicked in and nitrates would take of it from there. I don't know if what I'm saying makes sense but how come he has no nitrites but has nitrate (at a considerably normal level) and small dose of ammonia?

Thanks

 

[Kaini]

Okay - with the nitrite reading and no nitrite I'm going to say the tank is cycled, it just had an ammonia spike which happens sometimes if something decays and the volume of bacteria can't quite handle the volume of ammonia. The bacteria will quickly catch up so I don't think that's the issue here and I wouldnt worry about their cycle. Focus on the fungus the axie has.

Keep doing the salt baths as directed.

 

[auntiejude]

The tank should be cycled by now.

What else have you been doing other than keeping him in the fridge? Indian almond leaves or salt baths are indicated for fungus, not fridging. Read this.
Have you been changing the water daily in his fridge tub?

 

[JamieOleBoy]

Okay - with the nitrite reading and no nitrite I'm going to say the tank is cycled, it just had an ammonia spike which happens sometimes if something decays and the volume of bacteria can't quite handle the volume of ammonia. The bacteria will quickly catch up so I don't think that's the issue here and I wouldnt worry about their cycle. Focus on the fungus the axie has.

Keep doing the salt baths as directed.

I guess that answers my question ha - Thanks

 

[adler0]

The tank should be cycled by now.

What else have you been doing other than keeping him in the fridge? Indian almond leaves or salt baths are indicated for fungus, not fridging. Read this.
Have you been changing the water daily in his fridge tub?

Yes, along with putting him in the fridge I've been doing salt baths twice a day and changing both the clean and salt water each time.

 

[Kaini]

Its great that you are doing water changes, though 10-15 % is the recommended amount. If you do too much than it can stress your axolotls and also crash the cycle.

Seth, this is incorrect and I had someone asking me about it so I'd like to clear this up. Doing water changes will NOT crash your cycle. That is a myth. There are little to no beneficial bacteria in the water column, they live in the filter media and on porous surfaces in your tank. Water changes even huge ones will not affect your cycle. Also in a freshwater tank water changes of 20% or more weekly are recommended to keep nitrate down. I personally do more like a 40% change weekly - if done right its not going to stress your axie and can only do good, please don't advise against water changes. I do those changes weekly and my cycle is perfectly intact, again that is a myth.

 

[sde]

Sorry, it was my understanding that if your take out too much water it can crash the cycle, but I think you would know better than me

I have heard ( from a reliable source ) that 10-15 % is fine. Source: "Usually 10 to 15% water changes each week are sufficient to keep the levels down." This was taken off of CC. However I guess it wouldn't hurt to do more than that if it doesn't crash the cycle.

I am not advising against water changes, I was just mistaken because of the myth you said, thanks for clearing that up

 

[adler0]

Update: As you can see, the large white piece of his gill fell off today. There is still a white spot though. Should I keep him in the fridge still until the remaining white goes away?

 

[auntiejude]

The white bit left on the gill is just healing skin now - take him out of the fridge, give him a few hours to warm up and reintroduce him back into his tank.

 

[bugdozer]

Sorry, it was my understanding that if your take out too much water it can crash the cycle, but I think you would know better than me

I have heard ( from a reliable source ) that 10-15 % is fine. Source: "Usually 10 to 15% water changes each week are sufficient to keep the levels down." This was taken off of CC. However I guess it wouldn't hurt to do more than that if it doesn't crash the cycle.

I am not advising against water changes, I was just mistaken because of the myth you said, thanks for clearing that up

It should be noted that while it is claimed that even a 100% water change won't crash the bacteria in the filter, it is also claimed that if the filter bacteria are left without a source of ammonia for even half an hour they will start dying off in droves.
These two viewpoints are incompatible with each other. Unless your axolotl has a diarrhoea problem, once you've changed the water to almost all fresh, there theoretically won't be enough ammonia to feed the bacteria for a couple of hours. Or, conversely, the bacteria will be fine with it - in which case the idea that they die off without significant ammonia is untrue.
I don't know what to believe.