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Axolotl floating and constantly snapping at the surface

Yamid

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Hey all,
Ive been having a problem with mabel, my leucistic. For about a week now on and off, she has been floating at the top of the tank with the middle of her back breaching the surface (so she is curved a little)

i didnt think this was too odd, but she constantly snaps/ gulps at the surface. It sounds like she is trying to grab food off the surface rather than gasp air. I have another axie in the tank and he is just fine. I put her in the fridge overnight as i thought she might be blocked, but the problem is persisting. She still eats like a horse though.

Is there anything i can do?

Thanks!
 

danchristopher

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Could possibly be a water quality issue. Have you tested your water for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate? What are the dimensions of your tank and how often do you do water changes?
When I first got my axies and had no idea about what cycling a tank meant, one of them behaved exactly like this. The cause was a high ammonia reading that was stressing her out and I believe she was trying to sort of "escape" her tank, or the water at least. She didn't eat though, so the fact your axie is eating is something.

If she's still doing it in the fridge that is a bit weird though...there could be something else stressing her out. What is the temperature in your fridge? Did you by chance use tank water to fill her fridge container?

As much info as possible would be good, for example - any recent changes to her tank environment? Is there anything in the tank she could have swallowed that might be causing her stress? Is her tail curled at the end or anything like that?

Hopefully she will be okay! I'd probably keep her in the fridge for the time being...
 

Yamid

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I just did a water change, I have them in an 100 gallon tank- the tank level seem good and the temp is usually between 16c-19c. When i came home from work last night, she was happily sitting on the bottom of the tank, however she sensed motion and got all riled up. All night i could hear her at the surface.

She cleared out a little while in the fridge and was grounded, but when i put her back in the tank, she was floating again a few hours later. The fridge i believe is around 7c

ive enclosed some pictures on her, just in case it helps!

thanks for replying!

also a video of their tank and such here Axolotls Mabel and Lurky - YouTube
 

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danchristopher

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From what I'm seeing she looks like a totally healthy and very pretty axolotl :D They both have really beautiful gills.
So if it's not the water parameters then I'm stumped as to what might be the cause... with 100 gallons, unless your cycle has completely crashed it's probably highly unlikely to be a build up of waste causing an ammonia spike or something like that.

Sorry I can't be of more help! Maybe someone else will have more insight though...
I guess it could be possible she just feels like acting a little bit kray kray at the moment and gulping down some air to float about? :S
 

Yamid

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haha its okay! Something have noticed about her is that she is more sensitive to things than the other one- when i move her or something changes she gets incredibly grumpy and just sits and flaps for a few days, i will keep checking the water and cleaning to see if anything changes. Thanks a lot for your help!
 

Yamid

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just giving a quick update, it turned out to be a water quality problem- I bought a better and more powerful filter and mabel is much happier now, no more floating!
 

sheena22

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I thought it was as soon as I read your post, very glad you managed to get the problem sorted out xx Had a similar problem x
 
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