Axolotl gills turned white.

[raptorfarian]

So for the past two days my axolotl leo's pink gills have turned white. He has been performing allot more gill pulsing then usual. However his apatite is fine and the ammonia levels are well bellow 0.6. Any advice.

 

[HayleyK]

Gills usually turn pale when they are inactive/sleeping since the redness it mostly circulation. Although your axolotl looks anemic as it's pale all over.. And for two days is odd. Do they brighten up a little during feeding? What is your water hardness? It seems axolotls that live in soft water can suffer anemia. Axolotls prefer hard water.

I'm guessing you're still cycling. I hope you also test nitrites and nitrates also, and perform water changes daily.

 

[raptorfarian]

I've had him for almost two years now, he has always had pale pink gills accept for in breeding season when they flush bright red. I do weekly water changes and I do test for nitrates and nitrites. the female wild type in the tank with him is still as active as ever. But she has always been much more playful and active. I'm testing the nitrates at this very moment. The ammonia was done first due to reading a different forum post related to this.

P.s. just saw him do something very odd. he has been thrashing his head allot more then usual and he just tried to scrathch his gills with his hind limbs in a similar fashion to dogs scratching their ears.

 

[HayleyK]

Something has upset your cycle as you have a readings of ammonia. A fully cycled tank should read 0 ammonia and nitrites, with a reading of but less than 40ppm nitrates. So you need to do daily water changes to ensure ammonia and nitrites don't climb up to toxic, harmful levels. Scratching at the gills is a sign of irritation, most likely cause by water quality issues. Thrashing around also shows something is annoying/upsetting him in his environment.

 

[raptorfarian]

My ammonia test kit is qualitative. Which means it's deterrmined by colour. The ammonia reading was well below o.6 which is the lowest level of ammonia on my kit, with the water being completely colorless indicating what is likely to be zero, the nitrate test has come out below 5 mg/l

 

[HayleyK]

Just stating the facts, and offering my advice but something in your water is irritating your axolotl if it's thrashing and scratching.

 

[raptorfarian]

I agree with you something has clearly gone wrong it's just puzzling, because my other axolotl has been unaffected by it. No changes have taken place in the past couple of weeks. Or the fact that I just cleaned my tank before doing the tests changed the results. All that I want is my axolotl to recover. As I have enough stress dealing with exams. I'm also thankful for your attentive comments I wasn't expecting help so soon.

 

[HayleyK]

Maybe for the time being, separate the affected axolotl into it's own tub if water with 100% daily water changes. It will be easier to monitor and see if the thrashing and scratching stops.

 

[raptorfarian]

Will try to, problem being is my other tub is currently occupied by a juvenile axolotl, which i am donating to my school.

 

[raptorfarian]

Okay managed to get a make shift tank together. I have added some rock salts to the tank to improve water hardness. Will put my sick axolotl in the makeshift recovery tank if he has not recovered by Tuesday.

 

[raptorfarian]

Still white this morning but acting allot better.

 

[raptorfarian]

Getting really worried about my axie, i have now isolated him, he has stopped eating he can't breath through his gills. he looks constipated and remains floating as he now only breaths air.

 

[raptorfarian]

Please any suggestions.

 

[HayleyK]

Axolotls breathe through their gills and gulp at air. Some prefer one method over the other. Try lowering the water to just above her so she can't float. When was the last poop?

 

[Elise]

Would you mind taking some more pictures?

When you added the salt did you do it impulsively or as a response to knowing your water was soft?

 

[raptorfarian]

Already did that his water level allows him to be able to sit when gulping air, there is an aerator is the tub to try to encourage gill use and he seems to be desperately trying to use his gills, pulsing them about every 10 to 20 seconds. The last time I saw him poop was on Friday the day before he went white. His tank mate is still acting fine thankfully.

 

[raptorfarian]

Axolotls breathe through their gills and gulp at air. Some prefer one method over the other. Try lowering the water to just above her so she can't float. When was the last poop?

I will admit It was rather impulsive however I use a mixture of chlorinated water and Icelandic mineral water. The local water is hard the bottled water is soft. The salt levels I added where minimal and have had no adverse effects so far. I would have posted photos sooner but my camera got bugged onto video mode. IMy apologies in advanced for the poor photo quality. Leo has always been a particularly slender axolotl relative to his mate who has always been quite plump. To see him this fat is rare unusual.

 

[HayleyK]

Like I said in my first post, he looks anemic...

 

[raptorfarian]

I agree with you he is likely anemic, it's the length of time that's worrying, all articles I have read state Anemia normally only lasts a couple of hours. The fact that it's gone on this long really concerns me. Especially as my local water is hard because I live on chalk land.

 

[Elise]

I agree that it looks like anemia with the appearance of bloat. I strongly suspect organ failure and a vet should be consulted at this point.