Help - skin sloughing/peeling

[JakeK]

Hi All,

Little Gecko (my daughter named her!) has had a rough couple of months.

She's housed in a 76 l tank Aqua One Tank (filtered with cotton, carbon and noods) - we had an ammonia spike about 2 months ago and have been treating since with Seachem Prime, 50% water changes every 1-2 days. After about a month, the ammonia's down to about .5ppm. Nitrites/nitrates at 0. Ph sitting at around 6.4. Regular cleaning of poop.

She still eats (2-3 pellets every day- removed after 5 mins if uneaten), swims about, perches.

Ive attached a Hailea 500A chiller via an internal (in the tank) pump as we live in Australia and we're coming into Summer and the room can get to over 25 celsius (with flow down to the minimum but still a bit strong - getting that fixed). The tank temp is around a constant 18 celsius.

The first photo taken in early October 2020.
The second photo taken last night November 5 2020 under blue light - really highlights the skin issue. You can also notice a chunk of skin taken from about 2-3cm left of the hind leg.

Gills don't always face/curl front, no curl at tip of tail.

It looks like her skin is peeling off - not noticeably though. HELP please!!

 

[inuratus]

I can't help with the skin issue, but is that fish I'm seeing in the same tank? Axolotls are supposed to be housed alone or with their own species as fish can nip at their gills and/or the axolotl can eat the fish. Another issue is the fish can cause the axolotl to be stressed out as they move quickly.

 

[JakeK]

Yes! I had a couple but they're out of the tank now. Axolotl alone

 

[inuratus]

Phew that's great! I hope someone can chime in about the skin issue. It does look like it has a dip in it. Never seen something like that.

 

[EasternRomioi3]

Ok, I noticed two minor, easy to fix things. 1, low pH. Axolotls like it at like 7-7.5. They prefer a harder, slightly saltier water. Second, the 0 nitrates. I have been told axolotls need at least 20 nitrates but never more than 60. I do NOT entirely understand what that means, I do the test, it tells me what number, I go from them and do the water change if I need to.

Everything else seems fine. Cool, clean, well cared for, well loved. I would try to raise that pH. I bought a thing, it's a powder in a little cylinder. API makes it, they make them in all sorts of pH levels. I have one for 7.0 just in case. My water tends to be hard in my area anyways, poor water quality in a landlocked US state.

 

[Murk]

Second, the 0 nitrates. I have been told axolotls need at least 20 nitrates but never more than 60.

Axolotls don't need nitrates, but nitrates levels of 0 is (usually) a sign that a tank is uncycled.
In a cycled tank, you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and rising levels of nitrates. If nitrates are always 0, your tank is not cycled.

@JakeK, that seems to be the problem here as well. You have recurring ammonia issues and no nitrates, so an uncycled tank. That would definitely explain the skin issues. Looks like a little bit of fungus on the gills as well?
Best thing to do would be to tub the axolotl in fresh water with daily water changes while you get the tank cycled as quickly as possible. Once you've got that under control, the skin and stress issues will most likely heal on their own.

Raising the pH a bit would indeed help with getting the tank cycled quicker.

 

[JakeK]

Hey Murk,

Any ideas about raising the pH? A Seachem product?

I’m doing my best to cycle the tank. I’m putting in heaps of API QuickStart as well.

 

[Murk]

Putting a small bag of crushed coral, limestone, any kinds of shell, etc. in the water flow of the filter (or in the filter) is an easy low-maintenance way to slowly raise pH.
It will also raise your hardness - I imagine that won't be a problem in your tank but can't hurt to test it too.
Some use baking soda for pH, but it's a bit less subtle.
An air stone helps slightly. It won't be enough on its own, but they're fun either way.
Personally not familiar with Seachem (or any other additives-in-a-bottle).

It's also good to check your tap water. If it has a low pH (or even ammonia), you would need to constantly work on the water quality in your tank. If your tap water is fine, eventually the tank should straighten out as well.

Cycling still has priority, though. Raising the pH will help a little bit with cycling, but getting the ammonia (and nitrites) down is most important.

 

[JakeK]

Cheers everyone! Most helpful suggestions, I’ll post in a couple of days and let you know how I went.

Came home from work today, skin looking a lot better under natural light.

She was leaping, jumping, swimming, ate a couple of pellets.

Interestingly, her gills are really black! Much darker than in the photo from last month. More oxygen in the tank?

The gill fuzz was a disaster from last month but seems to have resolved. One thing I’ll say - be careful with advice from aquariums, as a first timer, I relied heavily on their advice. A lot seems to contradict the sensible and informed advice I’ve received here.

 

[EasternRomioi3]

@Murk

Thank you for clarifying the situation with the nitrates. "They don't need them, but it is a sign of an uncycled tank" I will try to remember that now. I knew that was important.

@JakeK

Keep us posted on the cycling and if you need anything. Murk's advice is very solid and I have followed it before to great results.

 

[Calgarycoppers]

I'd say this is due to the ammonia, nitrite issues.

I would tub your baby asap in cold clean prime treated water and change the water twice a day with nice cold water.

Id add skin soothers like IAL and potentially meth blue to prevent any infection.

this may take a few weeks to settle down but leaving in the tank with the severity of the slime coat sloughing it could be fatal if left.

I would look at how to cycle your tank.