Illness/Sickness: White gill stem, not eating well.

[Azsinderkitty]

hello, im trying to make my sick axolotl better, but the people on reddit will no longer help me because they think I am a bad owner, I am inexperienced, since I haven't even had an axolotl for a year and iv ran into a few problems, iv currently got 4, iv had a fungal infection that attacked their gills, only 2 were badly affected, one lost one stem, the other had a white stem and fluffy points. I gave all my axolotl salt baths, twice, but I hate that method because they were sooo unhappy. it almost makes me cry every time I had to do it. one seems ok, but my largest, (also my first) still has white gill stems, no fluffy stuff, his skin on his gill stem is just white, iv put him in his own 10 gallon tank, which was gutted and sterilized and is now being kept very cool to try to help heal, and has a antifungal solution in his water.

finaly to my real issue, he isn't eating well anymore, he will take one worm and eat it, but any others he takes after a lot of persuasion, but then spits it back out. im very worried for him, and I think it has something to do with his infection, he had it about a week or more ago. any idea what I can do, or what it is?

imgur: the simple image sharer

 

[Skudo09]

Firstly what anti fungal treatment is in the water? Many fish treatments are toxic to axolotls.

I can't see from the photo too well from my phone but I am not convinced the white part is fungus. What are the water parameters - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, PH and temperature? If the tank was sterilised I am concerned it is not cycled. You could offer them a tea bath or some Indian almond leaves to help soothe their skin.

 

[Azsinderkitty]

yes I gutted my tanks, but kept the filter from before to help the cycle, I thought I was rid of the fungus, and was told to sterilize the tank when it was gone, im using pimafix, it seems to have helped my other axolotl, I try to stick with only half the dose, that is what I found online, the pet store also helped. yes, the tank is almost back to square one again. I also had a snail problem, so I thought that it would be better to kill both problems at once.

 

[HayleyK]

I would stop using the primafix and switch to salt bathing in future to treat fungus. Like ejido said, fish remedies are harsh and can be fatal to axolotls since they do not babe a protective layer of scales. The slime coat absorbs much of those chemicals fish usually don't. For now - just use Indian almond leaves.

Fungal spores are always in the take but good parameters I.e pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and temperatures. If these things are not in check it can stress out an axolotl and even damage it's coat. This leaves a weakened axolotl which is susceptible to fungal problems.

If you kept your old filter running, or atleast kept on wet in tank water you shouldn't have too many problems with your parameters although it's good to keep an eye on them. If you let it dry out it's most likely you'll need to cycle the tank again.

 

[Azsinderkitty]

well, I checked everything, only one bad, and I immediately did a water change, seems to be better, the white spot seems to be fadeing, ph is normal. ill try the leaves. but every thing seems to be going back to normal.