Illness/Sickness: I think my Axolotl has fungus

[Marked]

Hey guys,

I fear that my Axolotl may have fungus after doing a bit of googling after noticing a strange, white fluffy thing on one of his gills.

I took a photo off of my phone for you guys to take a look (see attached image)

He also isn't eating, and the both of them (there's another white one in there as you can see in the photo) have been spitting out their food recently, but not consistently. for example the white one would not eat at all and complete;y ignore good but the next day it would eat.

Just wondering what I should do if it is a fungus, and how serious it is.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[emz]

Hi im no expert but it does look like fungus. You should check out the salt bath tutorial on the sick axolotl sub forum. But you may find it only necessary to fridge which is explained in the tutorial too. If it is just in that area i dont think you will have a problem getting rid of it. Mine had fungus on its gill once and i put him in some cool dechlorinated water in a tupperware box and the fungus fell off before i had even salt bathed. Also part of the gill might come off with it but it grows back.
I wouldnt worry too much about the eating as long as they are eating a bit most dont feed there axolotls everyday. As long as they are eating about three times a week and dont lose too much weight they should be fine. Hope that helps.

 

[Mandy6]

It does look like a fungus. Check out the salt bath tutorial.

What are you water paremeters?

They may not be eating because they may have swallowed some of that gravel. It's very easy for them to swallow the gravel and can be hard to pass it. Fridging will help them to pass any gravel they may have swallowed.

I think I'd fridge, do salt baths on the one with fungus and while they are in the fridge change the gravel to sand or just leave the tank bare. It will be a lot better for them and can save you a lot of grief in the long run

 

[Marked]

Thanks for your replies I've read the tutorials and I'll get onto them straight away, though I'm not too sure how I get dechlorinated water.

I suspected the gravel wasn't good for them.. they've grown out of it now. I suspected it was bad for them to have gravel they could swallow.

What are you water parameters?

I've seen members posting these all over the forums, but I don't have the equipment to get these readings. Do I need to buy something from a pet shop or something?

 

[yellowpebble]

yes. You want an ammonia test kit, a nitrate/nitrite test kit and a PH tesk kit. You can buy them as individual tests or as a master kit.

They test the quality of the water to keep things under controll.

 

[emz]

Dechlorinator is the liquid you add to the tap water to remove chlorine etc to make it safe. Maybe you know it as something else.
Oh i forgot to mention about removing the gravel.

 

[Marked]

Ah ok, thanks for the advice It is needed.

Bit of an update here. When I walked in my room I noticed the fungus was gone off my axolotl. That's just 24hrs after noticing it on him. I found it in the tank behind my filter, and went to remove it. But when it was on the side of the tank, it didn't look like a fungus at all.

See the attached image.

I apologize for the quality of my image. I was using my phone. This is what was on him before. The photo shows it on the side of the tank. Its like a gell type substance with little worm-like thingies inside it. A google image search would suggest this not what axolotl eggs look like... any ideas? I put it back in the tank in case, hopefully its not harmful.

EDIT: I took it out of the tank. On closer inspection, it does look more like a fungus being a bit fluffy. The bits on the inside look like little warms, but on closer inspection they look like just strands.

I guess the salt bath is no longer necessary?

 

[emz]

Thats great it came off! No you wont need to salt bath now if there is no fungus.

 

[scooty16]

Don't forget to change the gravel ASAP! And still fridge your babies, to help them pass any that may have been ingested. When fridging your axies, make sure you have a bottle of dechlorinated water that is the right temperature as the fridged water you axies will be living in for when you change there water whilst in the fridge. Water will need to be changed daily while they are in there. Please note that your axolotls may not eat while in the fridge, this is due to the decreased metabolism while they are in the fridge, so don't panic! Just offer them the food and if they don't eat it, remove it.

What foods are you offering your axolotls?

And glad that fungus disappeared! :happy:

 

[Marked]

Ok, thanks for the advice I think he's nearly normal again, seems to have an appetite, but they both still are not eating as much as they used to, and sometimes spit the food straight back out (hope that's not a bacterial infection..). I was feeding them each 1 block of bloodworms everyday (which I now know is too much, actually they both look a bit fat) and that's their diet, as well as the occasional worm I find in the garden.