Floating axie

I brought home our first axolotl yesterday. i did a bunch of research before getting him but one topic i never came across was floating and within hours lil dude was floating around the tank. he seems to be struggling to get around so i don't think it's a preference. i have a low low over back of the tank filter with a flat rock to displace flow, i tried turning it off to see if it was still just too strong but he still floated. later in the evening he was back down, but his bum was up. this morning we're back to floating around. near the top looking like he can't get where he wants to go.

he had no interest in food yesterday but ate a couple of pellets today. our substrate is rocks (marble sized or larger) glued to the bottom of the tank with fish tank epoxy and lil dude is just under an inch and half long

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

If his butt is floating it could be that he needs to poop
Have you tried feeding him bloodworms?
Check all your water parameters too (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate).
How high is your water level? Maybe try reducing it to a few inches high and see if that helps.

all the parameters are good.


could it have something to do with the temp? i noticed it hit 72 (22 c) yesterday so i went out and got a fan for it, which brought it back down to an acceptable level.

a few hours later he was back on the ground and ate some more pellets last night.


he still seems to be hovering just barely above the ground but seems to be getting around better. i'm wondering if it's b/c he's so tiny.

if i take the water down too far i have to turn off the filter, is oxygenation a concern?

If bringing down the water level will make the filter stop working I wouldn't do it (unless you want to keep it in a separate container and do daily water changes). If it's a HOB you wont be able to drop it much.
That temp was high so it could be stress from the heat, see how he goes now.

Sometimes they just accidentally swallow air and will float until they can burp it out. It can take a long time, during which they stop using their lungs and just breathe through their gills. Some axolotls seem to have a genetic predisposition for it. It's not fun for them, but it's not dangerous.