2 weeks of having an axolotl, 2 problems

Hello,

I have always wanted to get an axolotl but have mainly stuck to other amphibians and reptiles however at the last reptile expo I came across these beautiful creatures and ended up taking a wild type 6 month juvenile home. While having it in a very small tank for the first day I fed a fair bit of bloodworms which were readily accepted. Now when I moved it to a 10 gallon filtered tank with a submerged spraybar with only one small hole uncovered the rest have been taped shut to reduce flow.

I have experienced two problems since then



1. Problem: the axolotl was having trouble reaching the bottom of the tank

My thoughts: I thought it could have been the water but I had purchased demineralized water so I did not think that could be a problem. Maybe the filter was to wrong so i did what I could to severely lower the flow rate. I thought it could be constipation or an air bubble and refrigerated.

Solution: Refrigeration worked well by the next morning two small pieces of fecal matter were found and taking the axolotl out of the fridge and letting the temperatures slowly decrease I added it back to the 10 gallon. It could swim fine now!


I fed the axo again and the following day I removed the filter to test it in a final tank that would hold the axo permantely

2. Problem: The axolotl is floating on its side/upside down
I came back home to find the axolotl on its back floating at the top of the tank motionless, thinking it was dead I went to cradle it and it swam down to the bottom still upside down and wedged itself into a hide, still upside down.

My thoughts: The previous day I had watched the axo occasinaly swimming to the top for a breathe of air. Maybe this was done since I had removed the filter and the water was not oxygenating as much and maybe again It had taken in too much air. After researching this problem on caudata etc I did consider supersaturation as a problem however this didnt make sense to me. Would supersaturation not occur from a filter introducing too many air bubbles? And the fact that I had watched the axo going to the top of the tank wouldnt that indicate that too much oxygen was not a problem in the tank? Or am I thinking of supersaturation in the wrong manner?

Attempted solution: So far I have removed the axo and placed it in a very shallow container in the fridge, enough so it can somewhat stay in a proper swimming position. No fecal matter has been found in the two days it has been in there so far.

Questions:
What can I do to speed up this fellows recovery?
What could I have done wrong to cause this issue?
Is surface feeding not a smart thing todo as it can cause a juvenile to possibly take in too much air?
The new tank I have setup has a PH greater than 7.6, and negligible NH4 and NH3 levels Sadly my water test kit only goes as high as 7.6 so I will be grabbing a test kit to get a more accurate idea of how high it is. Can PH be too high?
Supersaturation can be from excess oxygen being present in the water however can I rule that out If I have witnessed the axolotl coming to the surface for air?

Sorry for the long post I have been wrestling with these questions for the last few days, If anyone can chime in on any of the questions it would be much appreciated.

Thanks

You're on the wrong track with this supersaturation idea. Forget that.

When you say "demineralized" water, can you please explain in more detail? I am worried you're using distilled water, which would be a big mistake.

In my experience, floating most often occurs when there is either:

(a) too high a temperature in the aquarium for an extended period of time. If this leads to floating, I believe it's because of over activity of bacteria in the gut.
(b) if there is an impaction (gut blockage). Are you keeping this fellow on gravel?

I wouldn't necessarily resort to the fridge every time, but definitely keep it in just enough water to cover it. That will relieve its stress. You can also feed it in this container. Fridging is something I would only recommend for an axolotl that is ignoring food and has a very serious ailment or injury.

What temperature is the aquarium?

I feel really foolish now, my thoughts were that distilled water wouldn't have any added chemicals so the more pure the better it would be for the axolotl. Alot of the resources I read about housing didnt mention a problem with using distilled, not even caudata.org! Luckily since I only had 4L of the stuff I havent used it to an excess but I have been fridging him using that water which I definitely will not be doing again thanks to your input. Is there anything I can do to reverse the effects of doing that? To help strengthen the skin that I potentially damaged?

a) Temperature of the tanks stays steady at 20 degrees celsius as it is housed in my basement.

b) It may have again been impaction, this morning a checkup showed he had passed some fecal matter and was not floating upside down. The setup was bare bottom each time this had occured. The more permanent tank I have has playsand which has been filtered for large chunks and washed/ treated with ager. Is it possible I could be feeding to many bloodworms at once? I usually feed half a cube and feed the rest to some of my juvenile newts.

I guess coming to a new species any ailment in my eyes is considered serious since I dont know whats really bad and whats not too bad. I will keep that in mind in the future.

Also the new tank I am planning to introduce it to when its looking better may have a high PH so far my reading shows 7.6 but its possible its higher than that since the kit only goes to a max of 7.6, what are the potential problems of having too high of a PH for axolotls?

Had a chance to grab some water testing chemicals.
PH=8.2
N02=0
(this is for the tank im intending to move the axolotl to.