Help sick axie <IMG SRC="http://www.caudata.org/forum/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":-(" BORDER=0>

hello everyone

I've had my axie for a good 9 months now and lately I've been having trouble with him floating. I can't put him in the fridge since its too cold, so usually just taking him out of his tank into a plastic bowl seems to do the trick. Once he poos he's fine and I put him back in the tank.
Lately however, putting him in the plastic container doesn't seem to be doing much. He's been in the container for 4 days now and he's still floating...even after pooing enough to turn the water yellow and green two times in the span of a few hours. He's eating just fine. Any thoughts?
I'm not sure what the problem could be. After all the pooing he's done, I don't think its an impaction. he doesn't look bloated, and his diet has been the same since I bought him (brine shrimp and salamander pellets). ammonia and nitrite lvls are 0 and nothing seems amiss. I'm really worried. Can anyone help me?

Thank you all

Hi Aimee. Are you doing complete daily waterchanges in the plastic bowl? Do you have a chilly bin (Esky in Oz, not sure what you call them) that you could place an ice pack in and then the plastic container to maybe bring the temp down. Maybe that might help. Also is the water high enuf to cover his top fin but low enuf to allow his feet to touch the bottom? And also, have you tried feeding your axie worms?

How often are you feeding it and how much?

Ed

Yes, his water gets completely changed at least once a day, sometimes twice depending on how much he discolors it. As far as feeding goes, I feed him a mouth full of brine shrimp and 5-6 tiny pellets every four to five days. Should I feed him less more often?

Are you feeding frozen thawed brine shrimp, freeze dried brine shrimp or live brine shrimp?

Ed

The brine shrimp I feed him is freeze dried. It just seems a bit strange to me that he would just now start having problems if the cause is his diet/eating habits since his eating regime has been pretty much the same in the 9 months I've had him...Is it common for problems due to bad eating habits to take so long to arise?
He is actually doing much better today. He hasn't discolored his water at all in the last 24 hours and his feet are firmly planted on the bottom of his container. This entire little ordeal hasn't affected his gluttony at all, which is a relief. Do you think its okay to put him back in his tank? Even though ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate were all perfect, I've done a 40-50% water change. Also, I've noticed a bit of algea appearing on the glass of the tank recently. Do you think this could have had anything to do with my axies problem?

I don't know about the freeze dried brine shrimp. But when we first bought our axies home we were also given some freeze dried bloodworms and square tubifex cubes (which ur meant to hold against the tank and they supposedly feed) Well the fd bloodworm just floated at the top and they weren't interested; while the tubifex made a hell of a mess as it disintegrated (also no interest). Also, when we feed pellets to some of our axies they tend to float a bit, get gassy (not all of them just a few); so we stick with earthworms as a main - which they love and they're cheap to find or once u establish a worm farm! (Also, ox heart or liver as an odd treat)

ive had my axies for about a month and they are doing fine. i usualy feeg them meal worms (3 every 3 days) and they are doing fine. i have tried the earth worms and they work. i much rather preffer the meal worms but sometimes use earthworms. sorry this isnt much about the topic but how many 5cm earthworms should i feed my about 20cm long axies every 3 days? i would like to know so i dont have to buy meal worms as often.

(Message approved by jennewt)