Sick/ floating Oliver

My baby axolotl (about 3 inches) born in jan. was floating on his side yesterday in his tank, he could not swim to the bottom he was trying hard. I assume he has a gas bubble .At thjis time he is currently in shallow water(in a tupperware container) in a styrofoam cooler with ice under the container to keep it cool in the dark in my office.There has been no change since yesterday but he is still alive and eating.Any advice would be great, I feel useless. thnx

A good place to start would be your water parameters. What are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? Also, what is the water temperature?

It would also be beneficial for us to know your aquarium set-up and the type of substrate is in the tank.

Don't worry- there are many intelligent people on this site, not including myself, who will help you get to the bottom of this.

I have certainly seen my share of juvenile axies that are buoyant, but typically it is a uniform buoyancy, and they do not list to one particular side.

water is great. test kit says no amonia, no nitrite and less than 20 ppm nitrate (safe zone)
he was in a 10 gallon tank with one of his siblings. (who seems perfectly fine)there is some sand subtrate and a 10 gallon submersible filter.none of the water parimeters seemed to have changed, water is holding at a steady 70. (thank goodness for air conditioning in florida)adult tank shows same readings.So far no change although he seems less active.....still floating on his side.

Juveniles are really prone to abnormal behavior. I had my babies on a sand substrate and it seemed they were swallowing more sand than food, I could see in their stomachs more yellow than sand (the sand was whitish and I was feeding them bloodworms). I decided to remove the sand and use a tile bottom, which made me feel much better, In a baby Axie 3 mos. old you can ID their stomach contents pretty well. Do they seem to have a lot of sand in their stomachs? If yes, this may cause the odd floating and "sickness".

Baby axies are tough, don't be too nervous, and just realize that they need very close attention.

Just another thought.... when I first got my female axie, it was July in Texas and about 105 degrees everyday. I had my AC on full blast, but I still had a difficult time keeping the water temp under 72 degrees. When the temperature crept up over 72 degrees, she would float like a bobber. In her case, the buoyancy was caused by her tank water being too warm. I now have mini-chillers and keep the water at a cool 64 degrees.

Here is some information from the FAQ section of Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander. The question was regarding why an axolotl would start floating.

"Often, some stress will lead to a small bacterial infection in the gut. This would lead to a gas build up, and the floating. It is possible that the axolotl swallowed a large amount of air into its digestive system too. Warm temperatures (over 20 °C / 68 °F) don't help. Anything over 25 °C / 77 °F is far too warm for axolotls - just in case you didn't know.

As to how to solve the problem, axolotls find it stressful when they can't touch the bottom. I suggest you lower the water level so that the axolotl is touching the bottom, but still submerged. The fact that it can touch the bottom should help to relieve the stress and hence help it to recover. If you keep it at temperatures over 20 °C / 68 °F it will probably make it harder for the axolotl's gut to keep up with any bacterial activity, so try and keep it cooler. As long as it eats, that's a good sign."

3 days in the cooler in shallow water and nows hes fine and back in his tank, HAPPILY swimming from top to bottom and able to walk on the sand, also eating well. I saved his life

Painisme said:

I saved his life

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With a little help from someone with worlds of experience handling baby Axies...