Axie not eating, running into divider

Hi, all, I just found this site but I cannot find my specific problem in the forums.

I have two quite young axolotls that I have switched over from two separate one-gallon tanks to a 10-gallon tank with a screen divider purchased at a pet shop. The purpose of this was to anticipate size later on (they have been steadily increasing in size, as one could imagine, since they were hatched two months ago) and also to introduce a gentle filter so that they don't have to swim in their own waste and I don't have to change the water every 2 days.

My problem is my friend's axolotl that I am taking care of (one is his, one is mine). He (she?) has not eaten over the past two days and is sitting at the bottom of the tank, burying itself in the small rocks that cover the bottom of the tank. What's worse is that he keeps pushing himself into the screen divider, isn't swimming around or floating around at all, and again, not eating.

While the temp is on the high side (78 F), all other water tests look fine. I am in the process of changing the water to refrigerated dechlorinated water as it is hot and humid in my house. The other axolotl, however, is happy as a clam in his new, larger tank, and has grown, while my friend's growth has stunted.

Can someone please help me with this? I don't want my friend's axie to die!

First, a 10 gallon tank is not big enough for 2 adult axolotls. You will need a bigger tank.

Second, having small rocks (gravel) on the bottom of the tank is not recommended. Axolotls often ingest these, and become impacted. This may be contributing.

78F is far too hot for axolotls. They can survive these temperatures for a few days (AT MOST!), but beyond that, they will start to succumb to illnesses, stop eating, and eventually die. If you can't keep the temperature down in the tank, I suggest moving the axolotls to the fridge.

Get those temps down fast. Temps that high are a death sentence.

The larger axolotl is about 3 inches long. The smaller one is a bit more than 2 inches. I am taking care of my friend's axolotl for the summer, I don't believe they'll get that big over the next two months, but if they do I will change their tanks accordingly.

I'm not using gravel on the bottom, I'm using rocks of at least a half-inch in length, much wider than the axolotls are. There is no way they could ingest them.

Do you (or anyone else in this forum) have any ways of quickly lowering the temperature of the tank without having to refrigerate them? I have thought of putting ice cubes in the tank but that probably wouldn't be the wisest of choices...

I just did another 20% change of water to refrigerated, dechlorinated water, but the temperature of the tank as a whole hasn't gone down any... my parents haven't put air conditioning in the house yet and we're all feeling the heat, apparently.

What is an ideal temperature?

Ideal temperature is 14-18C. If you do not lower your temp asap then your axolotls will die. I suggest frozen bottles of dechlorinated water that you float in the water. However, if you don't have some prepared it can take a few hours to freeze so put your axolotls in the fridge now. It will be quite stressful for them at the moment so you really should put them in the fridge!

Edit: I saw on another thread just then that you have no fridge space. Chuck out some food then and save your axies.

The temp is dropping steadily now, at 72 F and I keep adding more dechlorinated ice and bottles. The problem with the fridge is that there is no gauge of temperature, only a scale from 1-5 with 5 being coldest. I don't want to make things too cold, I don't want them falling out of the fridge, there are too many variables in this house that I don't trust most people to not accidentally throw them out (regardless of how many post-its I place on the fridge or their containers).

I just came back from dinner with friends (I had to take a break to eat as ice was freezing) and I thought the one that wasn't eating was dead... I was devastated. I tapped lightly on the screen that he leaned against, though, and he scuttled away quickly so he seems to be okay. For future reference, how do I know if an axolotl is dead without having to do a tap test? I know it's bad to touch them with my bare hands.

I have one of those fridges too, so what I do is fill a glass of water and put a thermometer in to measure the temperature.

If you are using ice bottles, keep an eye on what happens when they melt as the temperature can quickly go up again.

Hmm not sure how to tell if an axie has died as I have never seen a dead one. I heard they tend to tuck their legs up... but a few friends said they removed their axie to another container when they suspected they had died and it became pretty obvious as they started to decompose (sorry, hard to put it nicely~).

tashaxlinda said:

The temp is dropping steadily now, at 72 F and I keep adding more dechlorinated ice and bottles. The problem with the fridge is that there is no gauge of temperature, only a scale from 1-5 with 5 being coldest. I don't want to make things too cold, I don't want them falling out of the fridge, there are too many variables in this house that I don't trust most people to not accidentally throw them out (regardless of how many post-its I place on the fridge or their containers).

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The problem with ice bottles is they are a temperary measure as a temperture fix, during the night there will be nothing to keep the water cool once the ice in the bottle melts. The fridge is best as it keeps the cool temp at a constant level day and night.

If you could do as Sarah suggests with the thermometre in the glass - the fridge really is the best chance your axies have of survival.

Ok so when I woke up just now the temp was up again to 74F and my axie started doing barrel rolls in his tank, so I finally took the advice and put him in the fridge... I was really concered so I just kind of grabbed the first bowl I could find and grabbed him and threw food on the ground... the other axie is in the tank right now, I need to find some container to put him in so that I can transfer him as well. Their gills are starting to come forward (which I read is due to stress from a filter, but that can apply to any sort of stress, yes?)

I just hope no one messes them up in the fridge. Also, how long should they stay in there? It's only supposed to get hotter this week, and I know my father is still reluctant to put in air conditioning (he generally leaves us to swelter until mid-June)

Update: They are both back in their original one-gallon tanks and in the fridge.

Axies can stay in the fridge for a long period of time. In a nasty heat wave we had in Australia, I know of some members who had their axies in the fridge for a few months. Axies love the cold.

While in the fridge, you will need to place bottles of fresh dechlorinated water in the fridge as well, these will be used for 100% water changes that must be done daily - the axies will release a lot of ammonia in such a confined space.

You may find that while in the fridge they will not eat very much - the cold slows the metabolism right down. As they are juveniles though, try them each day with some food.

There is literally no room for refrigerated water bottles. I had to completely reorganize the fridge as it is. Would it be ok to use fresh cold tap water tomorrow morning, add dechlorinator, and change accordingly?

The fridge at its warmest is 40 degrees-- is this too cold now?

I fed them this morning pre-fridge so I guess I'll try again either later tonight or tomorrow morning

The temperature of the water you use to change should be the same otherwise the temperature change will be very stressful for your axolotl. So I would not recommend using non-refrigerated water. Unfortunately you have found out the hard way about how important temperature is for axolotls and all I can really suggest is use frozen bottles of water (or one of the other methods mentioned in the cooling article posted in the other thread) or find some way to make fridging work for you.

40F is ok but no lower. Don't stress if they don't eat, they will be very unlikely to eat at 40F. However, their metabolism will have slowed a great deal so they will not need to eat.

Update:

Unfortunately, the ailing axolotl died this morning, even after refrigeration. My other axolotl is in the fridge now, but my family wants him out of there. I don't want this to happen again, and there is some air conditioning in the house now. How can I transfer the axolotl back to the original tank without him going through temperature shock?

Thank you for your help, I'm really upset about my friend's axolotl, though he doesn't really care all that much.

tashaxlinda said:

Update:

Unfortunately, the ailing axolotl died this morning, even after refrigeration. My other axolotl is in the fridge now, but my family wants him out of there. I don't want this to happen again, and there is some air conditioning in the house now. How can I transfer the axolotl back to the original tank without him going through temperature shock?

Thank you for your help, I'm really upset about my friend's axolotl, though he doesn't really care all that much.

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I'm so sorry

Float his container on top of the tank water until the water temps are the same. Then gently pop him in the tank.

If you cant float the container (ie. it's made of glass) just leave it to sit in the same room as tank and wait till it is room temperature (ie. same as tank) then pop him in.

Thanks so much... I transferred him over, but now he's occasionally having problems swimming properly... is this due to air bubbles? He can't keep his back end down and keeps having to put in tons of effort in staying at the bottom.

tashaxlinda said:

Thanks so much... I transferred him over, but now he's occasionally having problems swimming properly... is this due to air bubbles? He can't keep his back end down and keeps having to put in tons of effort in staying at the bottom.

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Axies will float for a variety of reasons...

If his back end is up, and it is 'occasional' he could be just trying to do a pooh.

Could you provide your water parameters so we can eliminate the water quality as suspect for his floating / swimming trouble? (Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate/PH and Temperature).

Cheers Jacq.