Axolotl with "velvet" white appearance?

[blushed]

My axolotl Slender has finally made leaps and bounds with his appetite and his growth, but he's still half the size of the now even larger Hellven...

But now, a new issue.

A "velvet" looking white substance covering his sides. His tank is bare bottom, I turkey Baster out any messes he makes incl left over pellets, & his nitrAtes are definitely under ~20.

It's definitely not "peeling" it's just there...

No tail curling, fairly active, not over-active (mostly rushes over to the front of the tank when he sees us to beg for food).
His gills are frilly and gorgeous, no signs of fungus at all...

So my question is, any idea what it is?

Is it a type of fungus?

I don't really feel keen to the idea of salt baths (I've read over the sticky), since he's had so many issues in the past with shrinking frills, barely eating, etc, anything to compromise his health again really isn't on the agenda... And it's already on both of his sides, hasn't spread at all or gotten any different, I swear it seems to have appeared over a couple days and stayed since.

Beyond salt baths is there anything I can do besides frequent water changes to keep his tank extremely cool and clean? Any medicines?

Thanks in advance!

 

[auntiejude]

Can you post a picture? It sounds very much like a thickened sime coat, which can happen for any number of reasons - too much aloe, water quality being off, temperature etc.

Nothing to worry about really, but check your water parameters and change water if needed. If you're using a dechlorinator with aloe (stress coat) change to a simpler one without.

 

[blushed]

Can you post a picture? It sounds very much like a thickened sime coat, which can happen for any number of reasons - too much aloe, water quality being off, temperature etc.

Nothing to worry about really, but check your water parameters and change water if needed. If you're using a dechlorinator with aloe (stress coat) change to a simpler one without.

Yep I'll run and get one really quick!

I use Prime for water conditioner...

I'll up the water changes for a few days (small each day for a few days) to see if it lessens or stays the same.

Is it going to turn into a health issue? Or just leave him alone basically? (Assuming that is the issue at hand)

Edit:
Here's a pic of him currently

You can see how it's more white looking than brown. Pictures really don't show the issue as well as in person either...

 

[auntiejude]

The slime coat can thicken to protect them from irritants, thats all.

 

[michael]

The picture looks like a normal color pattern.

 

[blushed]

The picture looks like a normal color pattern.

Here's another pic you can see a bit more clearly of the white velvet appearance.

It's lessened a lot with a nice water change. So I'll just do a few more every other day and hope he gets back to normal

 

[LSuzuki]

That looks similar to one of my melanoids. It looks sort-of like velvet, but I think it is just an opaqueness overlaying the dark color, like a thicker slime coat. I had been using a water conditioner that contains aloe vera, and I am just switching to a simpler dechlorinator to see if that changes things. It seems to be where are natural indentations like on the groves on his side.

I had concluded that it did not seem to be a problems, and I hope I'm right, for both our axies sakes. :happy:

 

[blushed]

That looks similar to one of my melanoids. It looks sort-of like velvet, but I think it is just an opaqueness overlaying the dark color, like a thicker slime coat. I had been using a water conditioner that contains aloe vera, and I am just switching to a simpler dechlorinator to see if that changes things. It seems to be where are natural indentations like on the groves on his side.



I had concluded that it did not seem to be a problems, and I hope I'm right, for both our axies sakes. :happy:

I hope so too! I use Prime, so I don't quite think it was that, but it really has lessened up some fairly quickly after 2 water changes.

 

[LSuzuki]

Well, I change, like, 40% of the water a week, so I don't think it is that for me. But if the excess slime is due to an irritation, it could have a different cause for both of our axies. So, we'll see what happens when I eliminate the aloe vera. Another possibility for me is the high pH down at this end of the state. (You probably have water from the lake and a sane pH, right?)

 

[blushed]

Well, I change, like, 40% of the water a week, so I don't think it is that for me. But if the excess slime is due to an irritation, it could have a different cause for both of our axies. So, we'll see what happens when I eliminate the aloe vera. Another possibility for me is the high pH down at this end of the state. (You probably have water from the lake and a sane pH, right?)

Mine is a steady 7.6 max it's ever fluxed is 7.8 and that was during my cycle in my 75gal.

 

[LSuzuki]

Wow, so low! Mine is rock-solid at 8.2 :happy:

 

[GeorgeAquatics]

I hope so too! I use Prime, so I don't quite think it was that, but it really has lessened up some fairly quickly after 2 water changes.

I know that this is an old thread, but just FYI, Prime does have slime coat stimulants, which could explain the excess slime coat, if that's what you're using. You can see for yourself, if you read the side of the bottle.

If you want something that is similar to Prime, but doesn't have the slime coat additives, you could try something like Kordon Amquel.

Sorry if this is a post hijack, but I think this may also be sort of relevant:

I use Prime myself, for all my tanks, currently, but I may be switching to one of the other ones. My tap water actually doesn't have chlorine in it here, though, so does anyone know of one that only binds heavy metals, but doesn't have any slime coat stimulants, and also doesn't remove chlorine, chloramine, or ammonia?
---

Here is some more info on options for different water conditioners, based on your needs:

"Most information taken from Tropicaltank.co.uk

If you are looking for :

Removal of Chlorine ONLY:

API Tap Water Conditioner
Kent Chlorinex
Seachem ChlorGuard
Wardley Chlor Out

Removal of chlorine, heavy metals and slime coat protector:

API Stress Coat
Hagen/Nutrafin Aquaplus
Kent Pro Tech Coat FW
Kordon Novaqua
Waterlife Haloex

Complete removal of chlorine, chloramine and ammonia only:

API Ammo-Lock
Kent Ammonia Detox
Kordon Amquel
Marineland BIO-Safe
Seachem AmGuard

Complete removal of chlorine, chloramine and ammonia, heavy metals and slime coat protector:

AquaScience Ultimate
Seachem Prime
Tetra AquaSafe

Protection against Ammonia in a cycling tank (with fish of course.)

API Ammo-Lock
AquaScience Ultimate
Kent Ammonia Detox
Kordon Amquel
Seachem Prime or AmGuard

Slime coat protection only:

Marineland BIO-Coat
Seachem StressGuard..."

Choosing the right water conditioner for your tank. [Archive] - Aquarium Forum

 

[blushed]

I know that this is an old thread, but just FYI, Prime does have slime coat stimulants, which could explain the excess slime coat, if that's what you're using. You can see for yourself, if you read the side of the bottle.



If you want something that is similar to Prime, but doesn't have the slime coat additives, you could try something like Kordon Amquel.



Sorry if this is a post hijack, but I think this may also be sort of relevant:



Some info on the different types of water conditioner available. I use Prime myself, for all my tanks, currently, but I may be switching to one of the other ones. My tap water actually doesn't have chlorine in it here, though, so does anyone know of one that binds heavy metals, but doesn't have any slime coat additives?



Here is some more info on options for different water conditioners, based on your needs:



"Most information taken from Tropicaltank.co.uk



If you are looking for :



Removal of Chlorine ONLY:



API Tap Water Conditioner

Kent Chlorinex

Seachem ChlorGuard

Wardley Chlor Out



Removal of chlorine, heavy metals and slime coat protector:



API Stress Coat

Hagen/Nutrafin Aquaplus

Kent Pro Tech Coat FW

Kordon Novaqua

Waterlife Haloex



Complete removal of chlorine, chloramine and ammonia only:



API Ammo-Lock

Kent Ammonia Detox

Kordon Amquel

Marineland BIO-Safe

Seachem AmGuard



Complete removal of chlorine, chloramine and ammonia, heavy metals and slime coat protector:



AquaScience Ultimate

Seachem Prime

Tetra AquaSafe



Protection against Ammonia in a cycling tank (with fish of course.)



API Ammo-Lock

AquaScience Ultimate

Kent Ammonia Detox

Kordon Amquel

Seachem Prime or AmGuard



Slime coat protection only:



Marineland BIO-Coat

Seachem StressGuard..."



Choosing the right water conditioner for your tank. [Archive] - Aquarium Forum

Thank you for the extra information. I appreciate it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Holly12]

I use Prime and my guy is totally fine. I do 50% water changes weekly though.

 

[Wysper]

This sounds remarkably like what one of my little ones went through recently. She is a lighter wild type, so already kind of greyish in color, and then she started to develop a kind of velvety topcoat. It didn't peel off or rub off (tried lightly rubbing it with a cotton swab, but nothing came off). It had me completely worried since it was even present over her eyes, but she didn't seem to mind it, no activity changes or lethargy at all.

I actually used a tea bath in the whole tank and gradually took it out with every other day partial water changes. It helped her tremendously.

If the thickened slime coat is due to a skin irritant, then I would suggest a tea bath. It soothes their skin and helps the pores clean themselves out and restrict.

 

[tipnatee]

That also looks exactly like some of my dark wild, however my vet actually said that because my wild were breed between leucistic melanoid and albino melanoid so the light looking like white fog color overlay can be the reason of the genetic mutation between breeding. Unlike coated with mucus from the heat problem or chemical irritation which can be sometime bumpy and look more thickening coated slime. The gill health can actually tell if the axolotl actually suffer from the environment or not. If your axolotl gills looks relaxed full and healthy with no fungus spotted near by and your water or temperature check out fine .. that would probably be my guess. I could be wrong cause after all I only looked at your pictures.

 

[GeorgeAquatics]

This sounds remarkably like what one of my little ones went through recently. She is a lighter wild type, so already kind of greyish in color, and then she started to develop a kind of velvety topcoat. It didn't peel off or rub off (tried lightly rubbing it with a cotton swab, but nothing came off). It had me completely worried since it was even present over her eyes, but she didn't seem to mind it, no activity changes or lethargy at all.

I actually used a tea bath in the whole tank and gradually took it out with every other day partial water changes. It helped her tremendously.

If the thickened slime coat is due to a skin irritant, then I would suggest a tea bath. It soothes their skin and helps the pores clean themselves out and restrict.

That's interesting, I thought maybe I had read somewhere that people were able to reduce excess slime by doing tea baths. I might try that with the one that I've noticed the slight whitish film on. She is one of the ones that I've had the longest, and I've been using Prime for years now, so it may be that the effect is gradual, if it's really the slime coat stimulant in the Prime which is causing excess slime.

She is the only non-leucistic of my original four also, so it may be that they all have it, but it's only apparent on her.

One thing I think is worth mentioning, to those considering tea baths, is that a lot of commercially available teas have been found to contain surprising amounts of pesticides. Apparently Red Rose is one of the only ones that didn't test positive, in a recent study

---

"CBC tested black and green teas including Canada’s most popular brands: Lipton, Red Rose, Tetley and Twinings. Other popular brands tested included No Name, Uncle Lee’s Legends of China, King Cole and Signal. Full test results can be found here.

Using an accredited lab, CBC used the testing method employed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to test pesticide residues in dry tea leaves.

Marketplace investigation

Watch Marketplace's episode, Strange Brew, at cbc.ca/marketplace.

Half of the teas tested contained pesticide residues above the allowable limits in Canada. And eight of the 10 brands tested contained multiple chemicals, with one brand containing residues of 22 different pesticides.

Some of the pesticides found — including endosulfan and monocrotophos — are in the process of being banned from use in some countries because of dangers to the environment and to workers.

Of the 10 brands tested, only Red Rose came back free of pesticide residues.

"This is very worrisome from a number of perspectives," environmental lawyer David Boyd, told Marketplace in an interview.

"The presence of so many pesticides on a single product and so many products that exceed the maximum residue limits for pesticides, suggests that we're seeing very poor agricultural practices in countries, which poses risk to the environment where these products are being grown; which pose risk to the farm workers who are growing these crops, and ultimately pose risk to the Canadians who are consuming these products."


---
Pesticide traces in some tea exceed allowable limits - Canada - CBC News