Help - axolotl skin proble

[axolitic]

Dear all, my axolotl recently had an outbreak of skin patches. It always had small patches but it became worse lately. He seemed a little restless too.

The patches are puffy, generally over the body. Eating seems normal. Is he under stress? Help!

 

[axolitic]

Here is another picture

 

[axolitic]

Here's another. It's along the left side of its body. In front of left hind leg

 

[auntiejude]

Skin problems are often a sign of water quality issues - what are your readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and temperature? And what type of dechlorinator do you use?

 

[axolitic]

Hi auntiejude, thank you for your reply

pH = 7-7.2
Ammonia = 0.25
Nitrate = 5
For chlorine, I use seachem prime

Is there an issue with the water? I understand that while it may not be perfect, it is not far off (correct me if I'm wrong). I have another one, a wild type, it's looking totally normal so far.

I do not have filtration for them (they are in my room), but I do regular water change every alternate day. The water I use is from a 3 ft tank which has an internal power pump and an external canister filter running all the time. There are no fishes in it - therefore it acts as a mechanical/biological filtration tank.

I feed them Hikari carnivore sinking pellets. No live food as I'm afraid of disease contamination.

Thank you!

 

[axolitic]

Hi all can anybody help? The shedding problem has gotten worse. I use seachem prime dechlorinator - is that a problem? I read in another thread that a similar problem started when there's a switch of dechlorinator to prime. Come to think of it the problem kinda started when I switched to prime too. Anyone has any problem with prime? I measure the volume accurately with a syringe.

 

[HayleyK]

I'm pretty sure I use prime (if it's white and red label, yup I use it) no problems. Been using it for since my first axie 2.5 years ago. I have only encountered a yellow growth on silicon and tubing due to its aloe.

 

[auntiejude]

Some axies will react to a change in water chemistry, not that there is anything wrong with the dechlorinator, but it's just different.

I would say the ammonia and nitrate are too high though, is it a new tank or filter? It looks like your cycle isn't working properly as you have high ammonia and nitrates, have you done anything to upset it recently? You need to do some small daily water changes until you get the levels down, and try and figure out why you had ammonia in the first place.

 

[Mortimer]

I wish I knew something that would be helpful. I use prime, and I haven't had any issues with it that I am aware of. Does your axolotl seem to be in any kind of distress (that you can tell)?

Do you know your nitrite level? I'm not sure if you meant nitrite or nitrate in your post. Do you measure all three?

 

[axolitic]

Hi everyone, thank you for the replies!

Hayley: I don't think it's the brand causing the problem either.

auntiejude/Sharon: Yes I agree it could be because of the change in water chemistry and perhaps he's not adapting well to it. There's nothing I can think of that might cause distress to it. I am doing daily water changes (100%) now and I'll see how it goes.

To answer your qns about ammonia and nitrate levels, this is here it gets a little complicated. My tap water contains a bit of ammonia (~0.25). Yes the level mentioned is nitrate level (I do not have a nitrite test kit). My axololts do not have filtration: I do 100% water change every alternate day. I "age" my water in a 3ft tank before using it on my axolotl's tank. I have an eheim canister filter and an internal power filter running - there is overfiltration. There are no living organism in the aging tank. This set up started about 2 months ago. Previously was just the single internal power filter. I've had my axolotls for about 6mths now. I changed my dechlorinator to prime about 2months ago too.

I do not think my cycle is complete. The more important question is whether it can progress to completion? I am wondering if the low level of ammonia present in my water is able to support the bacteria responsible for converting NH3 to nitrite and subsequently nitrite to nitrate. NH3 present in my water shows that there is NH3 in my tap water (I have tested it) and the bio filter isn't converting NH3. Or perhaps not fast enough. Because of my regular water changes, the turn over of the water in my aging tank is about 20-25% every day.

Will adding commercially available bacteria help? I am afraid the NH3 will be insufficient and they will be starved, resulting in a shift in bacteria type/species? In the past I did not foresee this as a problem, I assumed that water should be fine as long as they are filtered and constantly changed.

Any thoughts? Sorry for the wall of text.

 

[Possum63]

Hello

Your water parameters should be as follows IN A FULLY CYCLED ESTABLISHED TANK:
Ammonia: 0
NitITE: 0
NitrATE: less than 40ppm
Ph: Anywhere from around 7.4-7.8
Temp less than 20 degrees celcious

Now, as for your filtration, let me get this straight. You are doing a water change every second day in your AXOLOTL tank which has NO filtration. You discard of the water you are taking OUT of the AXOLOTL tank and throw it away. You then use aged water from a separate tank that has NO LIFE FORM in it but has two filters and put this in your AXOLOTL tank to complete your water change, yes??

If that's the case, I can't imagine either of your tanks are cycled - you have no life form in the tank with a filter (which would be the cycled tank) to create ammonia and therefore kickstart a cycle and since you are using prime it removes the ammonia that is originally in the tap and detoxifies nitrite and nitrate.

Adding commercially available bacteria won't help either until you either A. add ammonia to the tank on a regular basis or B. add life forms to the tank to create and sustain a cycle.

Also, while any ammonia is not ideal. Up to .25 if barable. Its above .25 that problems can begin. And your nitrate is perfectly safe at just 5. So I'm not sure what "auntiejude" was on about unless she misread and thought you had typed nitrite - easy mistake.

 

[ciele02]

Hello

Your water parameters should be as follows IN A FULLY CYCLED ESTABLISHED TANK:
Ammonia: 0
NitITE: 0
NitrATE: less than 40ppm
Ph: Anywhere from around 7.4-7.8
Temp less than 20 degrees celcious

Now, as for your filtration, let me get this straight. You are doing a water change every second day in your AXOLOTL tank which has NO filtration. You discard of the water you are taking OUT of the AXOLOTL tank and throw it away. You then use aged water from a separate tank that has NO LIFE FORM in it but has two filters and put this in your AXOLOTL tank to complete your water change, yes??

If that's the case, I can't imagine either of your tanks are cycled - you have no life form in the tank with a filter (which would be the cycled tank) to create ammonia and therefore kickstart a cycle and since you are using prime it removes the ammonia that is originally in the tap and detoxifies nitrite and nitrate.

Adding commercially available bacteria won't help either until you either A. add ammonia to the tank on a regular basis or B. add life forms to the tank to create and sustain a cycle.

Also, while any ammonia is not ideal. Up to .25 if barable. Its above .25 that problems can begin. And your nitrate is perfectly safe at just 5. So I'm not sure what "auntiejude" was on about unless she misread and thought you had typed nitrite - easy mistake.

I'm not much help here except to say im thinking your putting in a lot of extra effort to not get any positive results. if you have an eheim cannister filter (i have the same) you should just set that up in your Axie tank and get it cycled. if there is nothing living in your 'aging' tank its not really achieving anything that just leaving your water in a bucket overnight wont do. If you dont really want to put your filter in the axie tank your probably better to do 20-40% water change every day rather than 100% water change every other day. it probably is too drastic a change for them and lets the ammonia, nitrate levels go in really dramatic "waves"in the tank. i would say it most likely stress thats causing the problem. your axie may like some almond leaf in the tank to soothe its skin anybody feel free to disagree if they thinks thats wrong

 

[axolitic]

Jess and Ciele, thanks for your replies. I shall rethink my whole set up

 

[axolitic]

It's been some time since the last post. I've since installed a canister filter, got it cycled and all's back to normal. The shedding skin problem went away even before the filter was introduced. But my water changes were very frequent (daily). Upon introduction of the filter, it seemed a little stressed, but soon it got used to it. Thanks to all your views and advices.

A few qns unrelated to the original topic of this thread:
1. I see several extremely tiny white specks, they move in a worm like manner. Are they harmful? They adhere to the glass surface of the tank.
2. I feed my axolotls hakari sinking carnivore pellets and nothing else. I don't trust the feeder fishes from the LFS, and here in my country they don't sell earth worms/night crawlers etc. are they okay being on pellets exclusively? I'm thinking it may lack some nutrients that live food offer.

Any views? Thanks!

 

[auntiejude]

The little white things are probably planaria - harmless.
Axolotl pellets are fine. If you set up a worm farm you won't need to buy- try searching the internet for organic gardening worms, get a large bucket with lid, some good untreated soil, and feed the cooked mashed potato.