Mii El Fonzo; Hasn't Eaten for 7 days, Yet Active.

brooke · May 20, 2006

Hello!

Okii Dokii,

Ive bought my very first Axi Couple of weeks ago,
Whole family suggested it shall be name.. El Fonzo ... Because.. Mexican Walking Fish.. Mexican Name..

Anyway

First couple of weeks it ate really well!
He basically ripped the blood worms apart, I also feed him Shrimp Pallets (Fish lady gave me them :3 )

Yeah, well now El Fonzo hasn't eating for 7 days.. though he's realli active, swimming up and down, gulping air, rolling around etc etc.

I dont know if its the temperature of the tank..
( 21 degrees cel ).. Reasonable temp?

Ive been hearing about this Fridge thing,
Does it help them get back in Eating or something?..

My mum is bit worried, just putting him in an ice cream container and chucking it in our kitchen fridge, coz its realli cold...

Oh.. and I saw some pictures of other Axis on this site, they all look fat... mines like a skinny stick.. How do i get him to be tubby?

Help from the experts

Thanx!

luke · May 20, 2006

Putting him in the fridge will not make him eat.

Theres a lot of things that could be wrong, he's gone off his food (that type), your tank lvls, maybe he hasnt done a poo yet. Wait till someone comes on with more knowledge.

denise · May 20, 2006

hi brooke
did you cycle your tank before you added your axie and have you tested the water on ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph levels since. Sometimes axies can go off their food for no reason at all, one of mine went a month without eating then i lowered the temperature from 19 degrees to 17 degrees and she is now eating again, she also got really skinny but fattened up soon enough

brooke · May 21, 2006

Ooo.. *Drains in knowledge*

Okay! Thanx..

Umm. how do I test the water.. I'm really new to this kinda stuff,
Oh yeah and he hasnt pooed for a while too D:..

And Cycle my tank?

Eek!.. he looks perfectly happy though, but i'll check the water stuff to be sure..

brooke · May 21, 2006

Hm, well hes spending more time on the surface of the water now, well hes like floating, and just gulping the air like every 3 minutes..

i tried poking him down back to the surface but he just floats back up..

?

alex · May 21, 2006

brooke, cycling your tank is very important. http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml go to this site to learn more about cycling. i advise you put your axie in a different tank if you have one or a container with fresh dechlorinated water. if your tank is only just cycling now then your axie could get very sick or possibly die if he stays in there.

brooke · May 21, 2006

Gosh.. I feel bit scared for my axie now.. D:..

Umm, so like cycling, like filtering or something?.. D:, Ill go pop down to my aquarium to see

..

Um, well it stopped floating, because my little brother scared it, so its back into its dark cave...

Thanks for the info

kapo · May 21, 2006

Brooke, as you are going to your aquarium take a sample of the tank water and get it tested and post the no.s here.

Sounds like your tank cud be cycling.

As Alex said take your axie out of the tank and put it in a smaller container/tank with fresh dechlorinated water. You will need to change this small tank/container every day while he is in it.

The reason he may be gasping is the ammonia and /or nitrites could be quite high in his tank, which can be quite toxic and will make your axie sick. (hence the need for your tank water to be tested.)

Read the article that Alex posted on cycling - it's very important.

People put their axies in the fridge (as long as temp. is not below 5 deg celcius) when they are sick as it slows their metabolism down, calms them down and gives them a chance to heal. At lower temperatures they may not necessarily eat.

brooke · May 21, 2006

Thanks Muchly Kapo

So do i just put him in like an ice-cream container? or something bit larger?

kapo · May 21, 2006

How big is he? Icecream container (if he fits) or even a bucket or small plastic storage container. Offer him food when u do the waterchanges.

Also, while he is in the small container there will be no need to do any waterchanges on your tank while it is cycling.

If u intend putting him in the fridge, put a lid on and make sure you wrap his container with a teatowel, to stop the temp spikes and light when the door opens. Also, put a bottle of dechlorinated water in fridge so the water temp is the same for when u do the daily water changes.

brooke · May 22, 2006

He's about 16 cms long.

Okay then !

Err now all i need to do is like, get that kit to test the water.. are they like cheap or something?, and i guess you can just buy them at a local aquarium store?

kapo · May 22, 2006

You'll need to test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrate while cycling. You can buy a master test kit which tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, low ph and high ph but not too sure how much it costs in Oz. Here it costs between $65-$75 (may be cheaper there or might be able to find it online cheaper).

Easiest thing for the the moment is take a sample of water down and get it tested and find out the no.s/results for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/ph. You'll be able to check out the prices of the test kits then. If too much then just take samples of tank water down each tiime you need it tested, til u can afford to buy one.

sharn · May 22, 2006

there isnt any edible sized pebbles in his tank is there?

brooke · May 23, 2006

Kapo- Wow,well lucky me, ^^; , My friend use to have an axie and said she has a test kit she can give to me.. *yay* .. :>..
My axie doesn't seem to gasp for air as much now (good sign?), but still isnt eating, i put a pallet above his nose and he "ate" it, then spat it back out.

Sharn - Yeah.. their edible sized pebbles, this is like my first time having an axie, and i asked the aquarium person whats best to cover the base of the tank, and she said that pebbles were..
but since seeing all these threads, i guess she was totally wrong

..

I'm trying to convince my dad to get me sand though..

brooke · May 23, 2006

YEYEYEYEYEYE!

Well, when i gave him those pellets i thought he was just sick and didn't want to eat them..
so i picked up the uneaten pellets and noticed he was chasing my finger around, i thought to myself that he prob thought it was a worm XD.

So i gave him blood worms to see, and Yep.. he ate them! hehe, so happy now. He's eaten 1 and 1/2 cubes of bloodworms already.

(Message edited by brookemz on May 23, 2006)

(Message edited by brookemz on May 23, 2006)

kapo · May 23, 2006

good one Brooke! And glad to hear he is starting to eat again.

anna · May 24, 2006

Pet shops dont usually have enough knowledge about axies to advise people correctly, though occasionally there is exceptions. If you ever need to buy test kits (when the others run out), this site is pretty good. www.theaquariumshop.com.au
I got mine for around $40 including postage.
If you can get a hold of some earthworms they are a really good food. My axies love them. All in all you are doing well and you have definately come to the right place to learn. Good luck.

brooke · May 24, 2006

Thanks for the Information, really appreciate it!

Yeah, this site is really helping out!

sharn · May 24, 2006

careful feeding BW on stones, you will often get stray ones he will snap at later and get a nice mouth full of intestine blocking gravel lol

brooke · May 25, 2006

LOl yeah, i seen him do that a few times but spits everything out and gives up, i guess he knows its better to get hand fed..

Mii El Fonzo; Hasn't Eaten for 7 days, Yet Active.

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