Please help my axie!

[Noah_411]

I don’t know what’s going on. My axie seems to be loosing her gills. I didn’t really notice until today, but looking at before pictures, I’m shocked. The first picture is from April 13th, the next are all from today. Her gills are pale, stringy, and looking much more bare. I’m not sure why. I checked her tank parameters with my Mastertest kit and for 0 amm 0 nitrite and 20 nitrate. Temperature has stayed between 62-68 this week. She is eating just as voraciously and is active and moving around. She may have thrown up her food yesterday though. I found three brown circles I thought was poop at first as she has been pooping more frequently lately, but now I’m thinking it might be undigested pellets (I feed her Hikari carnivore pellets). The only thing that is new to her tank is yesterday I put in a a new decoration (pvc pipe siliconed black and covered in gravel that I let cure for 24 hours)
I do 30-40% water changes every week and her tank is just sand.
She really hasn’t seemed sickly and if she started loosing gills it must have been just the past couple days.
Is there any way this is a fungus or parasite thing? I did add some media from my goldfish tank to her filter about 3 weeks ago.
That’s everything I can think of. Any help at all is appreciated!

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

I don’t know what’s going on. My axie seems to be loosing her gills. I didn’t really notice until today, but looking at before pictures, I’m shocked. The first picture is from April 13th, the next are all from today. Her gills are pale, stringy, and looking much more bare. I’m not sure why. I checked her tank parameters with my Mastertest kit and for 0 amm 0 nitrite and 20 nitrate. Temperature has stayed between 62-66 this week. She is eating just as voraciously and is active and moving around. She may have thrown up her food yesterday though. I found three brown circles I thought was poop at first as she has been pooping more frequently lately, but now I’m thinking it might be undigested pellets (I feed her Hikari carnivore pellets). The only thing that is new to her tank is yesterday I put in a a new decoration (pvc pipe silicones black and covered in gravel that I let cure for 24 hours)
She really hasn’t seemed sickly and if she started loosing gills it must have been just the past couple days.
Is there any way this is a fungus or parasite thing? I did add some media from my goldfish tank to her filter about 3 weeks ago.
That’s everything I can think of. Any help at all is appreciated!

Are you using any chemicals or dechlorinators in your tank? what brand?

 

[Noah_411]

Are you using any chemicals or dechlorinators in your tank? what brand?

Yes I use Seachem Prime to dechlorinate the water

 

[Noah_411]

I was worried so last night before bed I fed her again to see if she would keep the food down and performed a 50% water change. Hoping that clean, cold water and a happy tummy will solve this one.

 

[axolotl nerd]

I was worried so last night before bed I fed her again to see if she would keep the food down and performed a 50% water change. Hoping that clean, cold water and a happy tummy will solve this one.

not an expert but i hope she gets better! if i had any information id offer it!

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

I was worried so last night before bed I fed her again to see if she would keep the food down and performed a 50% water change. Hoping that clean, cold water and a happy tummy will solve this one.

ok, Prime is good. Your water parameters also look good.

Have you noticed any behavior changes? floating? gulping air more frequently? does she seem more bloated than normal?

For now, I would tub her in cold fresh water changed 100% daily. See if you see any improvement with her tubbed.

 

[Noah_411]

ok, Prime is good. Your water parameters also look good.

Have you noticed any behavior changes? floating? gulping air more frequently? does she seem more bloated than normal?

For now, I would tub her in cold fresh water changed 100% daily. See if you see any improvement with her tubbed.

Well now that you mention it, I have seen her come up to the surface a few times and grab a gulp of air real quick and swim back down. Yesterday I noticed her flicking her gills a lot, which ive never really noticed before. Her belly does seem more filled out than usual, but she’s been pooping pretty normally.
Could temperature have anything to do with it? We’ve had a hot week this last week and her tank in the morning would be around 62 and when I would come home from work it would be around 67-68, which I know is a little high but I didn’t think it would be high enough for any illness to occur.
I’ve already left for work for the day but I changed her water this morning, she kept down last nights dinner, and I removed the silicone decoration I made just in case it was somehow leaching into the water or something. I got fans blowing on her tank to keep temps down. I’ll tub her later today when I get home and pray her gills grow back

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

Well now that you mention it, I have seen her come up to the surface a few times and grab a gulp of air real quick and swim back down. Yesterday I noticed her flicking her gills a lot, which ive never really noticed before. Her belly does seem more filled out than usual, but she’s been pooping pretty normally.
Could temperature have anything to do with it? We’ve had a hot week this last week and her tank in the morning would be around 62 and when I would come home from work it would be around 67-68, which I know is a little high but I didn’t think it would be high enough for any illness to occur.
I’ve already left for work for the day but I changed her water this morning, she kept down last nights dinner, and I removed the silicone decoration I made just in case it was somehow leaching into the water or something. I got fans blowing on her tank to keep temps down. I’ll tub her later today when I get home and pray her gills grow back

Gulping air is normal typically. An increase in frequecy or seeming to be aggitated can be an indicator though that something may be up. Temperature swings like that could definitely stress her out. 68 isn't outside the safe range, but id be more worried about the daily fluctuation. Fans could definitely help keep that a bit more stable. I agree with removing the pipe. I've not had an issue with silicone (as long as its aquarium safe) before, but it never hurts to be cautious.

 

[JM29]

I agree with GulfCoastAxolotls.
Just to add a precision : most silicones used for aquariums leach acetic acid (like in vinegar), which is not really toxic for fishes, but not really pleasant I suppose. Acetic acid is easily used by bacteria at low concentrations.

 

[Noah_411]

I found an even more recent video from just 6 days ago of her swimming with beautiful pink full gills so this must have happened in just the last couple days. I can think of no other explanation beside the temp fluctuations and possibly the silicone leaching into the water. I’m nervous because this weekend temps are supposed to shoot back up into the 80’s. Any advice on how to keep temps stable, or do we figure ans blowing over the water be sufficient?

 

[Noah_411]

I agree with GulfCoastAxolotls.
Just to add a precision : most silicones used for aquariums leach acetic acid (like in vinegar), which is not really toxic for fishes, but not really pleasant I suppose. Acetic acid is easily used by bacteria at low concentrations.

When you say used by bacteria, do you mean that the acetic acid benefits the bacteria? I always thought it killed bacteria and fungus

 

[JM29]

Excuse me, I should have said "some bacteria". I precised "at low concentrations". It benefits some bacteria which can use it as a carbon source.
If silicone leaches acetic acid in a tank, this may be at low concentrations, in spite of the fact I don't exactly know how much.
Of course, high concentrations are toxic for a lot of organisms, including most bacteria.

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

I found an even more recent video from just 6 days ago of her swimming with beautiful pink full gills so this must have happened in just the last couple days. I can think of no other explanation beside the temp fluctuations and possibly the silicone leaching into the water. I’m nervous because this weekend temps are supposed to shoot back up into the 80’s. Any advice on how to keep temps stable, or do we figure ans blowing over the water be sufficient?

fans should be sufficient. Though you can also float frozen water bottles in the tank to help cool it off a bit too. You will need to find a more permanent way to keep the temperatures cooler though if the fans dont hold it below 68.

 

[Noah_411]

fans should be sufficient. Though you can also float frozen water bottles in the tank to help cool it off a bit too. You will need to find a more permanent way to keep the temperatures cooler though if the fans dont hold it below 68.

So I got home from work and the fans kept the tank temps at 60 degrees. Woohoo! It was the hottest day of the year so far so this is good news. She’s active and has been swimming right up to me every time I’ve gone to check on her. No vomit so it looks like she kept her dinner down.
As for her gills, it looks like the white stringy filaments are gone or fell off and she just has little tiny pink ones now. I’m hoping this is a good sign?
I’m not sure there is much else I can do besides make sure she has clean water and wait to see if her gills start to grow back or not, as I don’t think salt or tea baths would be helpful in this situation. Should I still tub her?

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

So I got home from work and the fans kept the tank temps at 60 degrees. Woohoo! It was the hottest day of the year so far so this is good news. She’s active and has been swimming right up to me every time I’ve gone to check on her. No vomit so it looks like she kept her dinner down.
As for her gills, it looks like the white stringy filaments are gone or fell off and she just has little tiny pink ones now. I’m hoping this is a good sign?
I’m not sure there is much else I can do besides make sure she has clean water and wait to see if her gills start to grow back or not, as I don’t think salt or tea baths would be helpful in this situation. Should I still tub her?

I would try tubbing her in clean cool water for a few days and see if you see any improvement. if you do, then it might be something in your tank that's bothering her.

Tea baths wouldn't hurt. If anything, it'll help sooth her skin if she does have any minor irritations.