On last legs? Please help

H

hayley-jane

Guest
Hi
Please help.
My axolotl had 'cotton wool' disease a few days ago, she gets this a lot and the medicine I give her always makes it go away.

Today though she is thin, her skin has changed - more 'hard' and she doesn't seem to want to stay in the water. She is crawling up the walls trying to get out of it. I put a large rock in her tank and now she is constantly sitting on it with her head fully out the water with the tips of her gills still under. She's constantly opening her mouth to take in air.

She also has a slight red discolouration to her mouth area, and though her gills are as bright as they usually are, the 'sticks' that the 'feathers' are attached to have become very dark.

Whats wrong? Is she sick or metamorphosising?

She's eating normally, though does look a little thin.

Thanks

Hayley
 
Hi Hayley,
I'm no expert but it might be worth checking the water temperature, whether or not this is related to your axolotl's illness. We live in Cheshire and after the hot weekend, our axolotl's tank temperature was getting on for 24C. He wasn't looking well and after making my first post on this site asking for urgent help, this is something other people advised me to do. Apparently the ideal tank temperature is less than 20C. We picked up a stick-on thermometer for less than £2 at the local aquarium shop and are very glad we did!
I'd wait to see what other more experienced people recommend, but in any case a thermometer would be useful for the future. We put our axolotl in the fridge inside an ice cream box to cool him down - this seems to be a bit of a "cure-all" if you read some of the other postings, but again, you could wait for other suggestions.
Good luck

Laura
 
Hayley - What was the name of the medication you used treat your axolotl with?

As Laura suggested check your water temperature. You should also check the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings.

I would remove your axolotl from the tank and put it in a food safe container (like an ice cream bucket) with fresh dechlorinated water and put her in the fridge. Leave her in the fridge for now.

Tomorrow check back with us and let us know what your water parameters are, the medication you used and how the axolotl looks.
 
Hi

Thanks for your advice. I moved her out of her big tank and put in her a shallow tub with fresh water and sea salt. I wasn't allowed to put her in the fridge (parents), so I put some ice filled bottles in and left them floating on on the top. The water is really cold now, but she looks the same this morning and is still sitting with her head out the water.

I forgot to mention yesterday that there are about 100 teeny tiny baby water snails that have appeared from nowhere in her big tank. Possibly they were on some water plants that I brought for her a while back? Could it be them thats harming her?

I'm off to the pet shop today to buy a thermometer (thanks for the advice), some more medicine in case she gets cotton wool disease again and some sand as she normally has smooth gravel, but all you guys with healthy axies seem to have sand!

The medicine I use was advised to me by the main guy at this huge pet store, never had any probs with it and it always does the job in a few days. Its: AQUARIUM TREATMENT 8 - ANTI-FUNGUS & FINROT Cures fish of fungus, mouthrot and finrot INTERPET

Then on the back it says ANTI-FUNGUS AND FINROT - cures fish of finrot, mouthrot/mouth fungus and cotton wool diseases.
The active ingrediant is 2-phenoxyethanol

Thanks a lot

Hayley
 
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Hayley - How much salt did you put in her water? For right now since she has no fungus I would put her in fresh water with nothing to irritate her to see if she will stop trying to get out of the water.

Salt can burn the skin and gills it is not good to let axolotls sit in strong salt solutions.

Over exposure/over doses of 2-phenoxyethanol is lethal from what I can find on the web. When treating axolotls use the medication at half strength of what is listed for use on fish.

Does anyone know anything about using 2-phenoxyethanol on axolotls for fungus treatment? SYNONYMS: Ethylene glycol, phenyl ether

Instead of buying the Interpet No 8, which is the 2-phenoxyethanol, next time she gets fungus use salt baths to cure the fungus.

A salt bath is given by mixing 2 liters of water with 2 teaspoons of salt and soaking the axolotl in it for 10 min twice a day.

The baby snails should not of caused any problems.

In the picture you posted the veins in her head appear to be brighter than normal, are their bright veins showing through out her body?

Tell your parents your axolotl could really use an over night stay in the fridge at the very least. You can put her in a food safe container with a lid on it so she doesn't splash any water out.
 
Maybe if you offered to clean the inside of the fridge afterwards your parents might reconsider?
I do sympathise though. I doubt my mum would have been too keen on the idea when I lived at home.
 
Hayley - If you don't have one you should purchase a test kit that will allow you to test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph.

Adding medication to the tank can kill or reduce the biological filter.

If you can't get a test kit, take a sample of water to the pet store and ask them to test your water for you.
 
Hi Guys,

Thanks everyone for your advice.

Okay so today I went to the pet store. Brought new filter re-fills, huge thing for her to hide in, 4 new plastic plants, a thermometer, 2 new real plants and 4 bags of silver sand rather than the gravel I had in there.

Basically I'm skint now!

The silver sand isn't silver...its brown and I had to wash it the guy said, is this normal? Its taking forever to settle even with the filter on.

Anyway, put the new thermometer in and the water was 23 degrees, which means she's been living in water of that temp for 18 months now - I had no idea they had to be kept cool. Feel really bad, wish the pet shop I brought her from had of told me, can't believe it could be me who has made her ill??

Got plan to keep the water cool now though with small containers full of ice floating at the top (hope this works because I can't afford a chiller right now.

Finally convinced parents to let her go in the fridge and she's in there now with fresh water, no sea salts or medicine. Its made all her pink gills go quite dull, almost white though - is that normal?

Got rid of all the snails, just to be sure (they eat all the plants anyway).

She has got load of red veins all over her, they aren't usually there. Also noticed this morning she has a red line on the bottom of her tail, similar to the redness around her mouth

Tell me honestly, is she gonna be okay? I've never seen her this ill.

Hayley x
 
Just been to check on Elsa in the fridge, she has passed 4 tiny little pieces of smooth round gravel.

Glad I brought sand today for when she's better...
 
Not sure about the gills, but Axle went much pinker when he was in the fridge.
Glad to hear about the gravel coming out. It didn't take long at all for that to happen to Axle when we put him in the fridge once before for 'constipation'.
As for the sand, I wouldn't worry about having to wash it a lot. It always takes ages to clean off the dust and grit. That's also probably why it's taking a long time to settle - will still contain fine particles.

Laura
 
Hi,

Do you think the sand will settle over night?

Or should I take it all out and wash it again (please no! its a huge tank, takes soooo long!)

Hayley
 
As your axie is in the fridge, you could wait and see what the tank looks like in the morning. I imagine it will settle overnight, at least to some extent. When we set up a new fish tank recently it took hours to settle, maybe more than a day, despite having washed the gravel thoroughly.

Laura
 
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By the way, we don't just eat pie and lettuce at our house! lol We've had a new fridge so half the food is one and the other in this one.

See how small her gills have gone now? They're not nearly as pink as normal.

Hayley
 
whoa, your axolotls it orange and pink! I don't think i have ever seen one that color. very pretty.
 
Hayley - shrinking gills are a sign of illness so I am not surprised they are shrinking.

Since she has made it to the fridge and in that picture has her head down and has passed some gravel, I would suggest leaving her in there for a few more days if your parents say its okay.

She will be less active and wont want to eat as often, but offer her food daily. I would let her be for a few days and see how she does in clean cool water. If she poos while in the fridge you will need to change her water. Keep some extra water in the fridge to change her water with so you are using water that is the same temperature.

Now to your tank... Since you just changed your substrate and I am guessing your filter cartridges too, your tank will probably go through a cycling process again. Though it shouldn't take a month it may take a week to 10 days to get back to normal. I would add a chuck of frozen brine shrimp or something similar to start to rot to help your cycle get back on its feet.

I would not put the axolotl in the tank until your water has cleared up from the sand, the ammonia reading is zero, the nitrite reading is zero, the nitrate reading is low and the temperature is 20C or less.

If you do not have a test kit, you need one. Or you will need to take a water sample to the pet store every few days for the next 10 days or so, and ask them to test it for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

Be patient with her and do not salt her unless she has fungus.
 
Thanks for your advice.

If Elsa stays in the fridge for 4 days, but the tank needs 10, what do I do with her in the mean time?

Just put her in a bucket?

Hayley
 
Yes a temp house is fine even one of those mini hermit crab carry tank thingies. Just change the water everyday or so.
 
Hi Guys,

Just been to the pet shop, brought massive testing kit £17. Can test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, high ph and something else that I've forgot.

I'm at work at the moment, as soon as I get back I'll test for everything. Not sure what I can do if the water levels aren't okay as I honestly have £2 to my name now
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Can someone please tell me what the levels should be? Should everything be 0 except for the PH which should be 7? Or is that wrong?

Elsa looked a bit more lively this morning in the fridge, her gills are still shrunken and the red around her mouth and tail are still there.

The sand has not settled at all. It'll be 8 more hours before I get home, if it hasn't settled by then should I take it all out and try washing it again? I don't understand why its so cloudy, I washed it thoroughly for about an hour.

Hayley
 
wait, what color is the sand? I can't find it on the posts if you mentioned it. if it is black sand, black sand has a lot of black dust in it because it comes from Valcanic Islands. really the sand is actually small bits of brownish yellow glass. If it is some sort of freaky colored sand like blue or red or something, they are dyed, and sometimes the dye comes off. if it is regular colored sand and it is still really cloudy, have you run a filter with it? filters will usually help clear the problem. Also, Amonia reading should be zero, Nitrite zero, and the Nitrate a low reading. There should be some Nitrate in the water, but not much. Also, The tank should cycle for about 3 weeks, the longer the better before the axies are put into it. Sorry, my eyes are puffy, I can't read the screen very well so sorry if this post is redundent. 20% water changes are needed once a week to help keep the tank clean, the sand needs to be vavuumed only on the top layer. Disturbing the sand will disturb the good Bacteria that thrive in the sand that help produce Oxogen and help clear the waste. Ph reading of 7 is good. Axolotls like hard water. Soft water isn't good. Also, keep her in the fridge for now. This is what i do with my Axolotls. I keep them in the fridge, but I take them out for about an hour, and let the water warm up a bit. Then I feed them. I do my water changes at night, because I leave my Axolotls out at night, but during the day they have to be in the fridge because it is so hot. My tank is ready, but my Axolotls aren't ready to face this heat yet. I hope this helps. Once again, sorry if it is redunant. Having a bit of a stress problem with my cat, so I am bit rattled right now.
 
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