Illness/Sickness: White Spots Developing on Axolotl

[Janni]

Hi All, this is going to be a long introduction to the current problem.

I recently bought 2 axolotls from a friend who was bored of them, about a month ago. They had been living on gravel substrate on a window sill. I am not exactly sure how old they are, friend had them for about a year. I made sure I read as much as possible to try to help them back to health. Over the month they have pooped out a lot of stones (it was over 30 in the first week), and the stones are fished out. They eat well and their gills are a lot bushier than before.

The current problem is the wild type one has white spots developing on its body. When we first got it, there was a patch on its face that my friend said had been there since being bought and hadn't changed. He still eats well and behaves exactly the same.

They currently live on fine sand substrate. The tank unfortunately couldn't be cycled before putting them in, but the parameters are monitored. The temperature is around 18-20 Celsius. The pH is about 8 (unsure how to get this down). Ammonia is 0, nitrite is high (I assume this is because the tank is still settling the nitrate cycle) and the nitrate is 20-25mg/L. We change the water every week about 30% with dechlorinated water and use a filter.

After reading this forum and axolotl.org and CC, I think the white spots are either fungus or due to heat stress (by appearance, I thought the tank temperature was ok for them?). The spots aren't fluffy. I've attached some pictures.

Basically I've performed one salt bath following instructions on the sticky and started fridging him.

Can someone let me know if this is the right plan or if there is something else I need to do?

Also should I be doing the same to the other leucistic, I can't see any patches on him but its difficult with his colour.

 

[Mortimer]

I don't know that this will help the spots unless they're from stress, but I'd be doing more frequent water changes if the nitrites are high. How high are they?

I would also separate the two until you know more about what's going on. I might even just move them to small tubs with 100% daily water changes until the tank parameters level out. It looks like that should be pretty soon.

A couple questions:

--Are you doing salt baths in the fridge? My understanding is that salt baths are much more effective with done in the fridge--not sure if that is correct.

--Are you letting the treated water stand for 24-48 hours before doing water changes? I didn't know to do this at first, but I read several posts on here about it....and my axolotl seems to do much better after changes when the water has been aged a bit.

Sharon

 

[Mortimer]

And I forgot to say this--

I'm really glad you have them now and have them off the gravel, out of the window sill, etc.

They will be much happier/healthier with you!

 

[Janni]

Unfortunately my test kit isn't too accurate with nitrites, the colours for 1.5mg/L and 4mg/L are practically exactly the same - so high! I will definitely not be buying this particular kit again.

I shall try more frequent water changes and letting the water sit before the change.

If I take both axolotls out should I be adding something to help the nitrate cycle continue?

The first salt bath was performed out of the fridge with water as close to the same temp as the tank. I now have water in the fridge for tomorrow's salt bath and water change so he will be bathed in cold water.

Thank you for replying! I was getting quite excited that they were looking fitter, until the spots.

 

[snuggly time]

Firstly, It's great you've given these axolotls a good home and researched into their care. :happy:

If your tank is still cycling it's best to do a small water change every day. Around 20% will help dilute ammonia and nitrite. If the reading is particularly high a bigger water change might be necessary. As said previously the water is better if it's left to sit a while.
Your temperature is perfectly fine. Over 24c is considered stressful for axolotls.

You can buy bacteria boosting products to help the cycle but yours looks like its doing well so I wouldn't bother.
API master test kits are one of the best kits for checking water parameters. Not sure if you're using strips? If you are, they're not the most accurate tool.

 

[Janni]

Thank you for the advice on testing kits! I have a tablet one but its almost as accurate as the paper strips.

I shall be sure to keep changing the water then.

Any ideas on the white spots, or should I just keep the axolotl in the fridge in clean water and observe until the parameters are settled?

 

[snuggly time]

I'd just keep an eye on it unless someone else has any ideas. If it's not fluffly like cotton wool then it's probably not fungus.

Here's some other threads with similar topics. I'm hoping it's just pigment :happy:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...icanum/f58-sick-axolotl/89359-white-spot.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...otl/86207-strange-white-patch-not-fungus.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...ick-axolotl/84527-big-white-dots-pigment.html

 

[Janni]

It does look similar to the pigment, it's not raised or fluffy. It's just a bit odd that he developed more. I'll definitely just watch carefully!

Thank you for your help!

 

[Hayleyy]

I can offer help with the pH! With our test pack, it came with pH up and pH down. It's basically powder which you gradually add to the water (over the course of a few days-weeks, depending on how much you want to change it). It seems to work pretty well. I've gotten into the habit of adding it to the treated water, before I put it in the tank (and before letting it sit).
Hope that helps!

 

[Janni]

I shall look into it! Thank you.

 

[FX1C]

I can offer help with the pH! With our test pack, it came with pH up and pH down. It's basically powder which you gradually add to the water (over the course of a few days-weeks, depending on how much you want to change it). It seems to work pretty well. I've gotten into the habit of adding it to the treated water, before I put it in the tank (and before letting it sit).
Hope that helps!

Messing with Ph is really not that necessary & Ph changes / settles naturally over 2 days - to test your "true" Ph put some water straight from the tap in a bucket & aerate it for 48hrs then test the Ph.

Unless your Ph is drastically high or low constantly adding chemicals is unnecessary & often done on the advice of unscrupulous shops who need to sell you "stuff" axolotls are tolerant of ph in a broad band so you don't have to keep it at an exact number - trying to do that will stress you & the axolotls out pretty quickly.

Be very careful using powders to adjust Ph, it needs to be done very slowly & very accurately often requiring micro scales to measure - so you avoid drastic swings in ph that will do more harm than good! also some of these powders contain phosphates which can (& will) lead to high phosphate levels encouraging algae.

Testing for Ph is good to understand what your levels are normally (without interference) keep a log of the Ph & any fluctuations. If over time you want to raise or lower it try using a more natural method such as adding a small amount of crushed coral / peat moss to the tank at the same time monitoring the changes very closely.

I've found this article explains ph really well & it's very thorough.

http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/107





<3 >o_o< <3

 

[Janni]

That's very helpful. The pH is very steady at 8, if this is suitable for the axolotls I'll just be sure to monitor it.

 

[Hayleyy]

Messing with Ph is really not that necessary & Ph changes / settles naturally over 2 days - to test your "true" Ph put some water straight from the tap in a bucket & aerate it for 48hrs then test the Ph.

Unless your Ph is drastically high or low constantly adding chemicals is unnecessary & often done on the advice of unscrupulous shops who need to sell you "stuff" axolotls are tolerant of ph in a broad band so you don't have to keep it at an exact number - trying to do that will stress you & the axolotls out pretty quickly.

Be very careful using powders to adjust Ph, it needs to be done very slowly & very accurately often requiring micro scales to measure - so you avoid drastic swings in ph that will do more harm than good! also some of these powders contain phosphates which can (& will) lead to high phosphate levels encouraging algae.

Testing for Ph is good to understand what your levels are normally (without interference) keep a log of the Ph & any fluctuations. If over time you want to raise or lower it try using a more natural method such as adding a small amount of crushed coral / peat moss to the tank at the same time monitoring the changes very closely.

I've found this article explains ph really well & it's very thorough.

Properly Maintaining the pH in a Freshwater Aquarium | RateMyFishTank.com





<3 >o_o< <3

Yep! I agree 100% ha. I've never used it for my axolotl tanks, but our fish tank was at the lowest on the ph scale (we didn't realise until we brought in new fish, and had some deaths...). So over a few weeks, adding little bit by little bit (mainly to the new water, though) we brought it up to normal yay.
I'll check for that phosphate actually, seeing as our fish tank has loads of algae... Might explain it!
Also, what would cause the pH to drop so much? Our tap pH is 7 :S