Sickly axolotl forever quarantined

[Colettem]

Hi everyone! If you haven’t seen my previous posts, I bought an axolotl in November and she has had fungus consistently since I got her. It’s been about 4 months now and I’m lucky if we go a week without a new fungal infection. She is in a fully cycled tank with no rocks. She has two hides. She actually likes the filter flow and sits under it quite often, so I know that’s not the issue. She eats axolotl pellets and brine shrimp consistently every other day and is pretty chubby. (The worms sold close to me made my other axolotl extremely sick for weeks so I am scared to try again)
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:10-20
pH: 7.8
She is currently in a 10 gallon because it was just supposed to be a quarantine tank til she could go in with my other axolotl, but I don’t know if that’ll happen now.
Temperature: 64 degrees Fahrenheit
Water is always dechlorinated with seachem prime.
I do about 30% water changes weekly.
I was advised by the breeder and vet to consistently add a little salt to her tank. They recommended 2 tablespoons per 10 gallons but I’ve been doing about half a tablespoon because I know salt is harsh on them. I also put Indian almond leaves in the tank to help.

I don’t know what the problem could be. She does have very long fluffy gills, so I don’t know if it’s just easier for stuff to get caught in them? But her gills are almost always curled and the tip of her tail has been curved so much, the tip didn’t grow with the rest of her and it is starting to fall off and has lost color.
My vet doesn’t have any other suggestions other than adding salt to her tank and continue treating her. I’d previously been treating her with methelyne blue, and it got rid of the fungus but dyed my poor baby blue and is a huge hassle.
I am not sure what to do because I was not planning on having two axolotl tanks forever, but I am scared to put her with the other one because she is always so sick and requires different care than the other one. I have been doing everything I can, but I’m not sure how to get her back to health. Does anyone have suggestions? Are some axolotls just born sickly? Will I ever be able to put them together? Thanks for any help
First pic is her poor little tail, second is how she normally looks, third is a rare picture of her gills laid back.

 

[Murk]

Do you have a picture of the fungus? I couldn't find any in your other threads.

 

[Colettem]

Do you have a picture of the fungus? I couldn't find any in your other threads.

First picture is a couple months ago. You can see the fungus is the blue clump in her gills. Second is when I first got her. Last one is just now

 

[Murk]

Hm, curious.
Good water parameters, decent food (brine shrimp aren't ideal, but not really wrong).

My own approach would be to stop treatments and to wait and see.
So no salt baths or methylene blue (you can keep the almond leaves and half a tablespoon of salt, that won't hurt).

You say she's very sick, but she looks relatively healthy. The curled gills are not perfect, but on most of the pictures even that doesn't seem too severe. The tail end is not uncommon.
A healthy axolotl in good water should be able to combat her own fungus.
It could be that the frequent treatments and changes actually cause more stress and harm than they're worth.

I'd be interested to see what happens if you just keep calm and quiet for a week or two, with no treatments, and allow her to relax a bit.


As a disclaimer: I know I'm a bit too fond of the "wait and see"-approach, so, uh... take my advice with a grain of salt.

 

[Colettem]

Hm, curious.
Good water parameters, decent food (brine shrimp aren't ideal, but not really wrong).

My own approach would be to stop treatments and to wait and see.
So no salt baths or methylene blue (you can keep the almond leaves and half a tablespoon of salt, that won't hurt).

You say she's very sick, but she looks relatively healthy. The curled gills are not perfect, but on most of the pictures even that doesn't seem too severe. The tail end is not uncommon.
A healthy axolotl in good water should be able to combat her own fungus.
It could be that the frequent treatments and changes actually cause more stress and harm than they're worth.

I'd be interested to see what happens if you just keep calm and quiet for a week or two, with no treatments, and allow her to relax a bit.


As a disclaimer: I know I'm a bit too fond of the "wait and see"-approach, so, uh... take my advice with a grain of salt.

Thanks for responding! See I had wondered the same thing about the constant treatments. So I actually haven’t done a real treatment with a salt bath or methelyne blue in several weeks. The past couple infections she had were mild and the fungus came off after adding more salt in the tank and Indian almond leaves. Also, she only gets brine shrimp once every two weeks She’s a bit of a princess and only eats pellets dropped directly above her head so it takes awhile to feed her that way. So she only eats brine shrimp if I leave for a weekend and someone else feeds her. I’ve stopped worrying quite as much when she gets and infection. My major worry is if I put her in the tank with my other one, they will get fungus too and I don’t wanna add salt to their tank cause they haven’t had any issues.

 

[ArpTheAxolotl]

Thanks for responding! See I had wondered the same thing about the constant treatments. So I actually haven’t done a real treatment with a salt bath or methelyne blue in several weeks. The past couple infections she had were mild and the fungus came off after adding more salt in the tank and Indian almond leaves. Also, she only gets brine shrimp once every two weeks She’s a bit of a princess and only eats pellets dropped directly above her head so it takes awhile to feed her that way. So she only eats brine shrimp if I leave for a weekend and someone else feeds her. I’ve stopped worrying quite as much when she gets and infection. My major worry is if I put her in the tank with my other one, they will get fungus too and I don’t wanna add salt to their tank cause they haven’t had any issues.

Just have them separated for now. When I got my axie she also had a tiny bit of fungal infection. Now she doesn’t and is happy in her tank. She lost one side of her Gills though. But they are regrowing!

 

[Colettem]

Just have them separated for now. When I got my axie she also had a tiny bit of fungal infection. Now she doesn’t and is happy in her tank. She lost one side of her Gills though. But they are regrowing!

How long did you have to keep them separated for? She’s lost quite a few gill frills, but never the whole gill. I just noticed a new spot of fungus on her this morning too.

 

[ArpTheAxolotl]

How long did you have to keep them separated for? She’s lost quite a few gill frills, but never the whole gill. I just noticed a new spot of fungus on her this morning too.

I only have 1 axie, but I kept her tubbed for a week and a half. I changed the water everyday, and fed her in different tub.

 

[Colettem]

I only have 1 axie, but I kept her tubbed for a week and a half. I changed the water everyday, and fed her in different tub.

Ah. I did the same for two months and she would still get fungus :/

 

[ArpTheAxolotl]

Ah. I did the same for two months and she would still get fungus :/

Maybe try tea baths. they Like tea baths

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

Thanks for responding! See I had wondered the same thing about the constant treatments. So I actually haven’t done a real treatment with a salt bath or methelyne blue in several weeks. The past couple infections she had were mild and the fungus came off after adding more salt in the tank and Indian almond leaves. Also, she only gets brine shrimp once every two weeks She’s a bit of a princess and only eats pellets dropped directly above her head so it takes awhile to feed her that way. So she only eats brine shrimp if I leave for a weekend and someone else feeds her. I’ve stopped worrying quite as much when she gets and infection. My major worry is if I put her in the tank with my other one, they will get fungus too and I don’t wanna add salt to their tank cause they haven’t had any issues.

I agree with Murk. Sometimes less is more with these guys. They are resilient little things and if their water parameters are kept clean and stable, they will generally fight off illness and heal on their own. Letting her just relax may help in the long run. Overall she looks really healthy so I wouldnt hit he panic button every time you see a little spot.

As another option, black tea baths are a gentle, soothing treatment for most minor fungal/bacterial infections and can be used really whenever.