# Sick axolotl



## shadoe (Jun 21, 2008)

Hey

I've only had my axies for about 3 months and one has always been dominant. The non-dominant one (my wild-type) hasn't eated for.... two weeks tomorrow! Very worried about the little fella. I put him in a seperate tank because I thought the albino may have been bothering him (or her) but there is no improvement. Obviously very VERY skinny. 

Today he developed cottony white stuff on the top of his head and in his gills (gills have never had prominent feathering, don't know if this is relevant). I got some sulfa treatment because I figured it was a fungal problem... Getting mixed messages about temps of tanks, have been keeping it at 18-20. He was in with my three remaining male guppies but I have removed them aswell. pH in tank is fine, maybe a little alkaline, would this be a problem?

Sorry this is complicated... I would really appreciate if anyone could give me any more suggestions! Pet shop lady suggested putting in a weekend feeder block so that he would be getting some 'food' from breathing/swalling water (???) sounded dodgy to me, but hey, im pretty desperate by now!!

sigh... 
Thanks for any suggestions

Amy

(have attatched photos of scrawniness and weird gills)


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## Dragon1 (Jul 2, 2008)

Im not realy sure. You should try what the pet shop lady said, but taking him/her to the vet would be a good idea. Sometimes axyolotls just don't eat. I had one like that once, but it died.

Dragon1


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## wood_nymph (Jul 2, 2008)

yep fungal infection, if you heat the tank don't cooler the better, aquarium salt in the water and a fungal treatment. axys unfortunately can't tolerate malacite green (the primary ingredien used in most fish treatments) so you have to use a melacite free medication. i would recomend a course of mela-fix and prima-fix both all natural products of aust native trees. prima-fix is the one that treat fungal infection, mela-fix does bacterial, bacterial infection are common secondary infections in these situtaions so i treat for both. with this product you add dayily for seven days with a 30% water change between courses, you can retreat as many times ad you like it won't hurt them the only thing to remember is that you must take out any carbon from your filter because it will nuteralise the cative ingredients
good luck, they're very rpone to this esp when stressed


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## wood_nymph (Jul 2, 2008)

also forgot the feed block no bloody idea what she's on about (this is form another pet shop chick  ) and like i said don't heat axys tanks at all, they're cold water animals heating them will always weaken their immune system and open them way way up to fungal infections, fungal deseases love warmth


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## Cheyne_Jones (Jul 2, 2008)

Was the separate tank you put him in fully cycled before you put him in it? I'd say it wasn't and you will probably have an amonia or nitrite spike happening which is causing the fungus. I would do a 30% water change with cold water daily adding a little salt to it. Thats really all you can do on top of what wood_nymph has stated.

And dont use a weekend feeder block, all they do is fill the water colum with unwanted nutrients which will add to your problem of poor water which is causing this problem.


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## shadoe (Jul 3, 2008)

thanks guys
the fungus seems to have disappeared with the stuff pet shop lady gave me, but wood_nymph ill try that stuff if it comes back, it sounds much gentler on the animal...
he has eaten twice since i originally posted, which I am very excited about. still incredibly skinny and not very active though so ill just have to keep trying.
thanks for all your help


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## Kathryn_ (Jul 3, 2008)

Two weeks without food is nothing, mine have gone off for months at a time, especially in winter. I wouldn't worry unless he starts spending a lot of time floating in the tank - that's a sign of stress. By all means treat the fungal infection and do everything you can for him, but two weeks without food won't kill him unless he's already very sick indeed.


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## shadoe (Jul 3, 2008)

:O
thats crazy
but thankyou, makes me feel much better 
strange creatures


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## cosmotiger1 (Jul 9, 2008)

Also what are you feeding them?
you can try buying a cow heart (from woolies or coles) and rub a small piece on there nose.
cow heart is a good diet for them and it doesnt break apart and mess your tank up also attributing to ammonia spikes.

What filtration are you running?
what size tank?
how often do you do water changes?

as for the fungal infection im with woodnymph mela-fix and pima-fix are the go.
you can use these products everytime you do a waterchange as a safeguard,
you should also be doing weekly 25% water changes.

next time you go to that petshop poke the lady in the eye who said the crap about the feeding block (moron just trying to get extra sale off ya).


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## 888lowndes888 (Jul 9, 2008)

When i had my axoltl he wouldn't eat worn beef heart mealworm pellets or anything.. all he would eat is feeder fish. The guy at the aquarium was saying that nearly all fussy axoltl's eat feeder fish and i found it was true.


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## melgalea (Jul 9, 2008)

years ago we use to try and keep them, and so did my brother, very finicky things. as soon as they got that fluffy white cotton type stuff on em that was it, they would eventually die no matter what we tried. good luck with them though.


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## shadoe (Jul 16, 2008)

hmm ok. i spoke to one of the vets at my work and she said all i needed to do was give him a salt bath. also im a bad fish mummy and should be testing ammonia, nitrates and nitrites as well as pH... (smack). i `have been away for a week or so and the white stuff has come back. so illtry the salt and if not try that mela-fix and prima fix. 
yes zoocam, finicky creatures. but they are awesome. i can watch them for hours.

i started off feeding and community diet (thats what it said it was called...) have tried live earthworms and lambs fry (liver) and latest plot was beef heart cubes, but they don't like them very much. well my healthy one doesnt, the sick one doesnt like anything. the big one loves guppies, but the sick one has never had a go at them, so im not sure he'd go for feeder fish unless i held them for him!! silly creatures... also how do i get them to eat on their own? they seem to ignore everything unless it is held right in front of their faces!

cosmotiger1 the isolation tank he is in is only about 35 litres, it has a built-in sponge filter with a spray bar.
they got very cold (about 10 degrees) while i was away because i had turned all the heaters off so most of the guppies died and apparently they werent moving at all so hopefully they will pick up. i just need to get back and change so many things!!!

thanks for your help everyone


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## shadoe (Jul 19, 2008)

*Rip*

well, im sad to say that i got back from fiji last night and he had died 
i left the vets number with dad, but he didnt ring her...
now i am fighting to remove it white stuff from the other tank.
will try and get hold of some of that stuff that was mentioned...
thanks guys


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