Brand new axie, already in the fridge

Hello, all. I'm new to the forum - new to axies, actually. My girl, who I brought home just yesterday, has been spending more and more time at the top of her tank until she finally stopped dropping down to the bottom at all. I put her in a small container in the fridge this morning with enough water to cover her. She was fine when I got her home; she explored her new tank and hung out at the bottom for a few hours before we started noticing that she was hovering near the top of the tank for a few minutes at a time. I tested the water and everything was fine - zero ammonia, zero nitrites, pH 7.5, water temp 17C. I did a 50% water change anyway, since it's a new tank and I hadn't had a chance to cycle it, but this only alleviated the floating problem for about half an hour. The tank is 10 gallons with a Fluval 1 internal filter and sand at the bottom. My axie is around four months old. She did eat a couple of pieces of salamander pellet when she first arrived, but she spit them both back out and hasn't eaten again. She was in a small tank with pea-sized gravel when I got her, so I'm afraid she may have ingested that before I got her in the new tank. For now, she'll stay in the fridge for at least a day. I'll do a 100% water change with chilled water (already in a bottle in the fridge) later day and keep an eye on the temperature in there. Is there anything else I can do? This axie is replacing another one that died the day after I brought him home, and I'm so afraid of it happening all over again. Any suggestions?

Keep her in the fridge for a bit longer than a day with the daily waterchanges (a few days may help alleviate any problems she may be having and will calm her down. ) Don't worry too much about feeding her while she's in the fridge. If you can get some livefood sorted out or her (earthworms or similar). If she's spitting them back out she may already have food in her stomach that is digesting.

Has the internal filter got a strong flow? If so, it might pay to divert it somehow or turn it down.

As for waterchanges, don't do anymore till she's back in the tank, and rather than do 50% waterchanges and because your tank is uncycled then; test the tankwater daily or every 2nd day then do a partial = 20-30% only = waterchange only if the ammonia or nitrite levels are over 0 on the same day. pH is fine - it doesn't need any adjusting (axies can reside in pH levels of 6.4-8.0); and you have a good temp.


She just may very well be settling in.

She could be floating because it had taken a gulp of air. If it has no problems getting to the bottom of the tank and staying there, then I doubt it's floating for any other reason.

Additionally, you should try foods that are live and wiggly. A salamander of that size is capable of eating earthworm chunks pretty easily. The pellets you're offering might just not be palatable (or your salamander thinks they taste/feel bad).

Thanks for the suggestions!

Slip (as the kids have dubbed our new axie) seems to be doing well in the fridge. I'll leave her in there for a couple more days and keep doing the water changes.

We've stuck a plastic plant in front of the filter outlet, so that should divert and slow down the flow a bit. I'll make sure to keep testing the water daily and doing the water changes as necessary, and we'll go pick up some earthworms from the garden store tomorrow. I'm hoping that this is just the result of a stressful environmental change for her and not something more serious.

Thank you both again for your help!