White tissue that dies & white skin threafs

[Pamalotl]

Hi, pinkie is my 4-ish year old 10” leucistic male axolotl. He is in a 40 gallon tank solo. Recently he has gotten something that first and mostly attacked his right gills. The tissue is white and eventually breaks off. Sometimes the white tissue has white cloudy threads coming off it. His snout area had the white cloudy thread but no obvious white tissue but seems ok now.
I need to put his new tank mate in with him but need to solve this first. Any ideas?

 

[AMurry24537]

Hi, pinkie is my 4-ish year old 10” leucistic male axolotl. He is in a 40 gallon tank solo. Recently he has gotten something that first and mostly attacked his right gills. The tissue is white and eventually breaks off. Sometimes the white tissue has white cloudy threads coming off it. His snout area had the white cloudy thread but no obvious white tissue but seems ok now.
I need to put his new tank mate in with him but need to solve this first. Any ideas?

From the description, it sounds like fungus. Do you have any pictures? Also, what are the tank parameters (temperature, ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate)?

 

[Pamalotl]

I will check and post parameters tomorrow. I also thought it sounded like a fungus

 

[CrazyForLotls]

I will check and post parameters tomorrow. I also thought it sounded like a fungus

It's a bit hard to tell from the pictures. Maybe a side view or picture from behind would be better? I'm no expert though, so maybe someone else can tell. However, I definitely know that the gravel in the tank is a definite no. Barebottom, LARGE rocks, or sand are all good substrate options. Gravel should never be used because it can be ingested and cause impaction. If your axolotl accidentally eats some gravel it will probably have trouble pooping it out. I would advise removing the gravel asap and going bare-bottom for now. Large rocks (bigger than your axolotl's head) and sand can be washed and added later if you want a substrate.

 

[EllieWind]

It sounds and looks like fungus to me. You can treat him with tea baths or salt baths to get rid of it, though I'd suggest trying tea baths first since salt baths can be really rough on his gills. Here's a great thread about tea baths How do I do a black tea bath?. And here's instructions on how to do a salt bath How to give a salt bath to an axolotl with fungus

I also agree with what CrazyForLotls said, and you should remove the gravel ASAP.