Illness/Sickness: Axolotl worrying me

[Draven]

Hi all, i've had my axolotl (milkie) for almost 2 years now and never had any problems until saturday night when i came home from work and noticed that her gill stems had turned completely white, after panicing and doing a home water test then getting it checked at the local fist store found that the ph and ammonia were high (not sure how this happened as i do regular water changes and my filter has never been a issue before), the guy at the store said that it was most likely that the high ammonia had damaged her gills, and said just to do a 50% ish water change and keep an eye on the ammonia levels.

have just checked her this evening and the gills that were white have now fallen off completely (although she has little red nubs that look like they might be starting to regrow), other than the gills she seems completely normal she's active and still eating normally

any advice would be really welcome
dom

 

[Draven]

 

[sydneysvoboda]

Have you changed your filter recently? You have to be careful when doing large amounts of water changes because there is healthy bacteria in your tank that helps control ammonia levels. Maybe try and re-cycle your tank. Try and get this bacteria levels up a little more so that the ammonia levels will lower.

 

[Creepella]

I hope your axolotl is doing ok!

Re water quality testing - what kind of kit are you using? The paper strips aren't very accurate. The good ones are usually liquid drops that you add to test tubes with some tank water. They test for pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate etc. I use the API master test. It includes an instruction booklet with tips on how to deal with high levels.

There are products that help with things like ammonia and pH. I use API Ammo Lock for ammonia spikes, it doesn't remove the ammonia but it "locks" it to reduce harm to your pets. Aquarium salt (1 tsp. per 10 gallons) helps with high nitrates by buffering the effects on the animals in the tank. But the quickest way to remove or reduce harmful substances is water changes. Changing the water doesn't harm the bacteria in the tank, because they cling to surfaces like plants, substrate and filter media. However, changing the filter media can be a problem. There are filter inserts that remove ammonia or nitrates, but they also kill the good bacteria.

I have a partially cycled 10 gal tank with a baby axie in it. (Noob - breeder told me cycling wasn't needed). I'm doing the mother hen thing right now and testing the water every day, and doing partial water changes. You may want to do more frequent tests/changes for a while until your levels are more stable.

If you water quality is fine, perhaps something else changed about the environment recently. Did you change food or feeding schedule? Did you introduce something new to the tank? If you use a substrate like fine sand, sometimes it can collect harmful anaerobic bacteria. It's a good idea to stir up this type of substrate every so often to expose it to clean water and kill the bad "bugs".

Hopefully some of this novel will help! Good luck with your axie.

 

[the1vociewithin]

try using reptisafe to make your water safe for her. it not only helps make the water safe but it helps with healing them. I would put her in a tub and do 2-3x wc a day with double the dosage of reptisafe. I had the same issue with ammonia burn. i wouldn't put her back till you have the ammonia under control.

 

[sully]

couldnt this be something more simple? dont axies shed? i was told after something similar happened to my friend that axies shed in small portions. her wild types gills shed on one side , i asked if i was water quality and she tests her water every other day and everything was at the perfect level. if its growing back right away it could jut be your axie shedding. i could be wrong but its what it seems like to me.

 

[Elise]

couldnt this be something more simple? dont axies shed? i was told after something similar happened to my friend that axies shed in small portions. her wild types gills shed on one side , i asked if i was water quality and she tests her water every other day and everything was at the perfect level. if its growing back right away it could jut be your axie shedding. i could be wrong but its what it seems like to me.

Axoltols have a slime coat that can sometimes "shed", however the gill filiments are a permanant fixture that won't deterorate under ideal conditions. A loss of gill filiments, such as those illustrated above are often a symptom of a water quality issue.