Sick axie?

S

Salvador

New member
Joined
Jul 23, 2007
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Northumberland
Country
England
Hi,

I've had my axie for about 3months now, He has sand on the bottom of the tank and i feed him on bloodworm & cockles.

Last night he was floating and i thought he was dead, when i touched him he swam to the bottom and looked ok.
This morning he was floating again. i put some food in and he swam down to get it but was really struggling to stay on the bottom.
When I came home fom work he's sat on the bottom of the tank and looks fine.

I'm confused, is he ill?
Any help/advice much appreciated.

Ratch
 
Cockles are some kind of oyster/clam kind of thing, right? Do you use them raw or cooked? I would stop using them until you figure out what's up with his health. I'd suggest a good pellet food or earthworms instead.

How is your water quality? How much water do you remove from the tank each week?

The behavior doesn't sound entirely normal. They do occasionally float to the surface for brief periods, but they should stay upright. Struggling to get to the bottom may indicate a problem.
 
I buy the cockles frozen, the box doesn't say if they're cooked or raw. Do you buy the earthworms or dig them up? He's still only very little too (about 4 inches) so i don;t know if he'd manage that.

The water quality is fine and the filter was cleaned only a week ago. I remove 1/3 to 1/2 the water

Also his gills are quite curled up instead of splayed out like usual - don't know if that means anything?
Thanks
 
he definately doesnt sound happy.
firstly you say your water is fine, what are the parameters of ammonia-nitrite-nitrate?
ammonia=0 nitrite=0 ph=6.4-7 nitrate=400 these are more ideal measurements anyhing above 0 ammonia and nitite can cause big problems.

what substrate is he on?
if gravel you need to remove it he might of swallowed some.
what type of filter is it?
if under gravel i would remove it as they hoard gunk
if it is under water filter is it fast flowing?
if so try to deflect it to the side or place something in front of it to lessen the flow.
i would stop feeding the cockes espescially with how small he still is, people feed earth worms from their garden as long as no pesticides have been used near it, you should be able to get organic ones froma garden centre i should think.
my juvies are aboutthe same size as yours and they are fed blood worms and trout pellets.
if he keeps on floating you might want to place him in a shallow container with just enough water to cover his back this will stop the floating and therefore not cause so much stress.
hope this is helpful in some way good luck.
 
Okay, have just done a new set of water tests and my pH is 8.8 so i'm gonna do a water change. (would you reccomend doing another tomorrow also?) Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia were all 0.

He has sand in his tank so he's not swallowed any gravel. The filter is interal but not under-gravel.

xx
 
Do water change today. I would do another test tomorrow if it is still high then do another water change. Some drift wood would also help keep the ph down a little.
 
Another thing to check is his tank temp, if its above 20 degrees it'll need attention.
 
do not change more than 20-30% a day or else tank will start to recycle.
also nitrate should be around 40 if not i would think your tank is going to recycle due to the amount of water you have been removing, soi would keep a close watch on it until all readings are normal
 
Actually, the bacteria that are 'cycling' the tank rarely live in the water. They're more populated on the surfaces in the aquarium. Changing extra water is not usually going to harm the cycle unless you scrub the tank.

Nitrates are the end product of cycling. The presence of nitrates means your tank has finished cycling, and have no bearing on the previous steps in cycling.
 
i meant the tank will be recycling as the tank was cleaned last week and 1/3 - 1/2 of the water was removed this is why there are no nitate readings and all parameters will have to be kept an eye on until the cycle has finished.
 
Thanks for all the help guys.
he's floating again this morning :(
Gonna put him in a tub like you said to reduce his stress. Does he need to be in the fridge or anything?
His tank water temp is 20 degrees so i think that's ok.
 
hi, it might be better to pop him in the fridge unless you have a cool dark place in your home as the cooler he is the more relaxed he will be.
dont forget to put just enough water to cover his back and keep bottle of dechlorinated with him for water changes.
hope al goes well
 
update

Hi all,

Well Dali spent 6 hours in the fridge yesterday and seems SO much better. I left the tub out overnight to let the water temperature come back up to normal and he's doing very well.

After reading other threads I've been and bought lots of new plants for the tank(it's now more of an underwater jungle!) as when i did my water change last week I took out some of the less healthy plants and possibly the increase of open space stressed him?

I've got the pH much more stable now and will just have to keep doing regular checks.
Thanks for all your help. Will keep you updated on any changes.

Ratch
 
Update 2

1009.07002.jpg
1009.07001.jpg


Just taken these pics - he's looking much happier now!
 
Does your little axolotl have yellowish markings running along his sides?..He looks like he needs feeding up after his ordeal, but he looks great in his lovely re-furbished tank
 
Wow !
This little guy will be getting a lot of attention! He has VERY unussual markings on him.

How long is he, as this could reflect how much he needs
 
Last edited:
Salvador said:
Okay, have just done a new set of water tests and my pH is 8.8 so i'm gonna do a water change. (would you reccomend doing another tomorrow also?) Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia were all 0.
Click to expand...

Two comments:

If the pH was really reading 8.8, then either your test kit is very inaccurate, or there is something in your tank that is pushing up the pH. What is the pH of your tap water? Do you have anything made of cement or shells or limestone in the tank?

It's normal for ammonia and nitrite to be zero. But if the nitrAte is really zero, then again I suspect there is something seriously wrong with your test kit. It would be very abnormal for the nitrate to be zero. It should be somewhere in the range of 10-40 ppm.

Where did you get your axolotl? He is different looking. I almost suspect he could be a larval Ambystoma other than A. mexicanum.
 
He's about 4inches.

Tap water pH was 6 ( i think). No there's just rocks, a plastic cave and plants in the tank.

I got him from the local garden center. What's the difference between larval Ambystoma and A. mexicanum?
 
Good morning.
I would feed him every day something along the lines of a smallish worm ( thin slivers of raw lean meat/ tigerprawn/ prawn/ heart/ live river shrimp etc).
With regards to the water we tend to have hard water from the taps, when I do a water change I replace the 20-30 % water with a bucket of de-chlorinated water from the tap and a couple of jugs of filtered water, with regards to the filtered water make sure the cartridge is up to date. ( i test mine every couple of weeks). I used to use water butt water until hubby was a tad zealous in creasoting the shed, this was more acidic at the time so I added crushed shells to bring it up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Back
    Top