Forward Gills? Can't tell (newbie warning)

Hi there, I'm new to the forum and new to keeping axolotls. I thought I'd start off with a 180L tank because it would be easier to have a relatively large tank as the fluctuations in water quality are less severe. I started by putting 6 small fish in the tank to get it cycled before I put my axolotls in there, however at this point I see that was my first mistake. After more than a month of cycling the tank to get the correct bacteria in the filter/substrate/water I went to a dodgy pet store and bought 2 leucistic axolotls who are a year old. (or so I was told) skip ahead about 3 weeks and I had to send one back because they were fighting too much so I didn't want to risk their health by keeping them together. Now I have a single axolotl (named Aristotle) with plenty of room in his tank as well as the 3 fish who haven't already been eaten. I know they should basically never be kept with fish, but I have watched them a LOT (even in the middle of the night sometimes) and the fish try their hardest to avoid the axolotl and never peck at his gills like I had feared.

The only issue I have seen recently is that Aristotle's gills were facing forward a little bit and they might even be shrinking. Just thought I'd post about a week's worth of pictures of his gills to see the difference over time. If anyone knows if he looks stressed I'd like your opinion. By the way, his gills were facing even further forward than that before I took the first picture. So if he is stressed, he might be starting to feel a little better.



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Further information if you need any:

Water level is kind of 3/4 of the way

Filter is a bubble/sponge filter to reduce current

He is feeding on a combination of dry pellets and bloodworm for variety, though he much prefers eating bloodworms.
I'm using a fine sand substrate almost an inch thick
I have a bunch of Java Ferns and some Java Moss
The temperature is almost always under 20°C, but has crept up a little higher on a couple of hot days

Nitrites are <0.3 mg/L Ammonia was 0 on last check and Nitrates were kinda high, but I wasn't doing enough water changes at the time, however I've been doing around 20-30% per week which is more than before.

I keep water flow to a minimum by having the water level the same as the level of where the bubbles come out of the filter.

I only give the tank around an hour a day of light from the window and I hardly ever turn the tank lights on.

He is eating really well and defocating lots.

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I think that guy looks a little small to be a year old... but his gills do look a little forward-y to me.

Have you tried blowing a fan over the top of the water to help keep it cool? You can drop a few degrees by doing that, and you're sneaking up on the temperature danger zone. Perhaps that's causing some stress on your little guy.

It's a good sign that he's still eating, though.

Thanks for the advice. I will move a fan into his room and do I angle it to blow directly at the water?

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This is the most recent picture. Sorry for the moss being in the way, but I don't like having the lights on too much, so I get what I can. I think his gills are slowly improving.

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After dropping the temperature by about 5° from using a fan, I think his gills are even better

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That does look much better he looks happier

He looks pretty good now. He hasn't looked as good as this since I got him. Thanks very much for helping me sort it out early,rather than leave it to get worse. I've ordered a small fan which won't use as much electricity and I can angle it a little better.

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