mexican walkingfish

Question
QUESTION: my betta fish is blue, but just recently the skin and fin at the dorsal area has lost its colour. where the skin has gone a whitish colour the fin has lost all the colour in that area. i have been treating it with bettafix for damaged fins and skin, but it dos'nt seem to be working if you have any advise or what may be causing this i would appreciate any advise. thank you

ANSWER: Hi there!
Bettafix tends to not be the best treatment for suspected infections. It is more effective as a fin 'healer' than a real medication treatment.

I would start doing large water changes on his bowl/tank. Keep the temp warm (at least 78-82F) add some aquarium salt to his water (pre-dissove it first) and you may have a start a fungal/bacterial medication.

It's possible he may have a fungal-type infection. Fungus doesn't always appear fuzzy, stringy, or moldy-looking. And to be even more confusing, most fungal infections are actually bacterial in nature.

Clean water is extremely important for treating infections. Along with water changes and some salt, I would start a treatment of Jungle Brand's Fungus Clear. This has worked very well for me many times and doesn't seem to put much stress on the fish.

Dosage for Fungus clear on smaller setups is-
1 Gallon Dosage:
Dissolve 1 tablet in 10 tablespoons of water. Add 1 tablespoon of concentrate mixture to 1 gallon.

(This is against medication directions, but I change 50% of the water everyday and redose the med after each water change. I have never lost a fish or noticed ill effects from it. Medication looses its effectiveness after a several hours in the the tank anyway and pollution can make medications less effective as well)

I hope this helps and best of luck!
Karen~

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QUESTION: thank you for your advise and i have started treatment with an anti fungus treatment and sea salt. anyway as i was doing a total water change. i had noticed in the water heaps of tiny grayish looking tiny mites/bugs swimming around and their was allot off them. would this have been the course of my problem, and would you know what they may be,

ANSWER: Hi there and your welcome!
Good deal on starting the treatment.

The tiny grayish heaps -might- be dust particles mixed with one of the many types of scavenger critters that gets into our aquariums frequently. If they look like bugs swimming around they likely are a type of crustacean and they only really thrive in environments where there is a lot of waste and nutrients for them to build a large population on and keeping the water cleaner will definitely help get rid of them. They aren't harmful but are a sign the tank could be cleaner.

I hope this helps and best of luck with the treatment!
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you for all your help with my beta fish, i will be cleaning my tank more often than usual, anyway i have one more question, do mexican walking fish get lice, i havnt been able to find any information on it.

Answer
You're welcome!

Does your Mexican Walking fish (axolotl) have lice right now? I've personally never had to deal with lice and unfortunately don't have experience with the fascinating axolotl. You are lucky to have one!

I did however, find this website that seems to be quite informative about these cool creatures.

http://www.axolotl.org/

I believe there is a forum there that you might be able to ask experienced people and get more info that way.

I hope this helps!
Karen~