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Axolotl Floating & Can't Swim Down?!! HELP

maddief

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I have two juvenile axolotls, Squirt (leucistic) and Crush (melanoid). They are approximately 3 inches in length, Crush is a little bigger. They've been eating lots of blood worms (thawed from frozen blocks) and I decided to see if they would eat pellets. I gave them 1-2 last night and I woke up to find Crush floating on the top of the water.

I lightly touched him to see if he was alive and he frantically swam away. He keeps trying to swim to the bottom of the tank but he just floats to the top of the water again. He looks stressed by the way he's swimming. When I try to feed him, he won't eat. He's also floating to the side (tilting) but not completely upside down. I'm very worried and I'm not sure what to do. (Squirt is completely fine, normal behaviour, and eating regularly).

MY TANK: - 20 gallon long tank, I'm currently cycling it at the moment.
- nitrite: 0ppm nitrate: 0ppm ammonia: 0.2-0.5ppm pH: high
- currently doing water changes every 3rd day
- temperature of the tank is around 19 - 20 degrees Celsius

!! I know that ammonia is highly toxic, should I be doing more frequent water changes?
!! Whats causing Crush to float ??
!! How do I help my poor axie??
 

KombatVirus

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If you have ammonia, your tank is not fully cycled yet. Maybe he is sensitive to that. I think you should take him out and chill him, make sure to change the water daily, and just let him sit in the fridge for a couple of days. Hopefully he will come to
 

auntiejude

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I would say there are 2 problems that are unrelated - the floating and the ammonia are not connected.

The floating is most likely caused by the change of food - basically it's gas - and should pass in a few days. Give your axie something to wedge under such as pondweed or a cork mat would be useful until it passes.

The ammonia and lack of nitrate means that your tank is not yet cycled, you need to test the water daily and change water as needed to keep the ammonia under 0.5.
 
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