Little air bubbles under the skin

My two axolotls are not doing so well :c
They have some air under their skin. Just little bubbles around the stomach area.
Enough air for them to be upside down, and not be able to go down under the water, but they can turn onto their stomachs briefly.

The water is at about 63 degrees Farenheit. All of the water levels are correct.
There are live plants in the tank. The stones are bigger than the axolotls are.

I've fridged them before to see if it helped. While they were fridged, I changed the tank's water. The air bubbles reduced greatly while in the fridge, but when returned to their home, it took about a day and they were getting the air back in their stomachs.
They eat enthusiastically. They are about a year old.

Hi,

Do you have any photos? What do you mean air under the skin?

hi Axolot,

this could be nothing to worry about or a big problem but unfortunately we need to see photos

If they are a year old, they must be about 8 or so inches long..the floating issues usually appear in juveniles, but is definitely an issue with Axolotls as old are yours. What is their diet? And a picture of them and their setup would be helpful.

They are a year old, however, they have had this problem off and on for as long as I've had them, so they aren't quite as big as they should be.
They are currently eating freeze dried bloodworms and brine shrimp. I'm going to go to the store today to see what else I can find, I'm not happy with their current diet.

I had another axolotl that had the problem constantly since we got her. We tried so many things to help her, but nothing worked. ven while being properly fridged, she was still floaty. She just passed away last night, and I don't want to lose my other little buddies.
The ones I currently have have only gotten this problem within the last couple months, so I'm hoping I can cure their problem before they get stressed any further.

That axolotl looks very ill...are you sure your water conditions are correct? Could you provide a picture of the entire tank?

And it looks like there is a lot of waste on the bottom...how often do you clean?

Look for some frozen or live food - freeze dried is not as nutritious. If you have a petsmart or petco in the area, they have a huge selection of frozen foods - frozen bloodworms would probably be your best bet, but they also have a lot of other varieties in frozen and LIVE earthworms at most stores.

Also, the bottom of your tank looks bare, you may want to get some sand or something else to cover more of it - bare bottoms can stress them out and don't allow as much bacteria to develop(like it would in the sand) to break down their waste.

I just fed them, they are messy eaters.
I clean the tank about 2 times a month, or more, if the situation calls for it.
I was going to change the tank a couple days ago, but I haven't gotten a chance to go out for a while. I want to put down sand instead of stones, and put in some new plants.
I can't get a picture at the moment, but the tank is about a 45 gallon and there are two five gallon tanks in the tank that have ice bottles in them to cool the water if need be.

I read that salmon/trout pellets are good for axolotls. Is this true?

You clean your tank 2 times a MONTH? You need to do 25% water changes a week. Your axolotl is not in a good way, and by the sound of it your tank is the issue considering you've had another die of the same cause.

PLEASE do a water change, it only takes 10 minutes. Your water looks slightly green, make sure you do 25% water changes ONCE a week. Do you have a water drop test for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites?

Also, put your axolotl in your fridge for now until your tank is sorted. It will help him feel relaxed and better.
http://www.caudata.org/axolotl-sanctuary/Fridging.shtml

And yes, salmon and trout pelletes are great for axolotls.

Best of luck.

I had the same problem. The air bubbles look like they're under the skin, but they're really inside the stomach. OK, so the axolotl is not fully grown, but it looks fairly large. Gas bubble disease is much more common with younger axies. I wonder if there is too much oxygen in your tank water? Do you have an air stone? Maybe remove it temporarily?

The fact that the axolotl is upside down, and the fact that his feet are not on the floor, are very stressful to him, let alone whatever other ailments he may be suffering from. It's important to get the axolotl right-side-up.

You need to put him in the fridge with JUST enough water to cover his body, not more than that. Once you do this, don't be afraid to push him right-side-up with your finger, and hopefully, now that the water level is so low, he will have a much easier time staying upright. He still may turn upside down again, so check on him every few hours while he's in the fridge, and turn him right-side-up whenever you notice that he's upside down. Do this for about a week, and keep a close eye on his water level. Make sure that he has enough water to cover his body, so add more water as needed, but don't add too much. Keep an eye on the water level so that it doesn't evaporate too much.

After a week of him being in the fridge right-side-up, add about 1/2" more water, and see what happens. See if he can still stay right-side-up, or if this addition of extra water causes him to float upside down again. If it does, reduce the water level to "just covering his body" again.

He may have just swallowed some air, and being right-side-up in the fridge will give him a good opportunity to expel the air. Or, the problem could signify a more serious issue, which could require veterinary attention. Just get him in the fridge right-side-up right away.

There's no air stone, and I age the water before adding it.
Like I had mentioned earlier, fridging works, it's when they come out that puts them back this way, even if the tank has been 100% redone.
I'm going to try to go to the store today and get some sand to redo the tank.
I'll fridge them while changing it.

When you're at the store, buy some dechlorinator - aging it may get rid of chlorines, but if you water has chloramines it has to be aged a lot longer for them to clear those. And aging doesn't remove the traces of heavy metals either like most dechlorinators will...

You keep it at 63 degrees? Is that by adding ice to the 5 gallon tanks?

The water I have here is well water, I'm not sure if that makes a huge difference. I treat the water before adding it to the tank anyway.
At the moment, yes. Adding ice bottles is keeping around that temperature.

I added sand, more plants and much more water to the tank and cooled it down just a little more, and the axolotls are currently at the bottom of the tank.
I watched one of them go to the top for air, then had a little trouble getting down, but within five minutes he was at the bottom.
When I took them out of the tank to put the sand in, they swam to the bottom of the container, which they couldn't do in the tank, no matter how hard they tried. They floated to the top of the water, but they got down, and that was a huge improvement. it was almost as if they got scared and let out some air. I decided at that point that I wasn't going to fridge them, and wanted to see how they did when I put them in their tank. Overnight, they were able to get to the bottom, just by cooling down a little more. Maybe the sand helped. I'm not sure.
Is there anything I can do to prevent them from needing to go to the top for air?
And is 63 a bad temperature to keep it at?

I always manage to keep my tank at 59, it's the perfect temperature. 63 should be O.K but any higher and it's a bit too warm... 68 is the max for axies.