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Tail floating on Axolotl

D

daniel

Guest
Hi Guy's I Have A Full Grown 3 year old 12" Axolotl and just lately it tail has been floating and making the axolotl float about 5" on the back end the thing is that i don't understand, is that the head end is staying on the gravel.It look annoyed because it cannot get it's back end on the ground. The axolotl look's healthy and fine except for the back end floating, it gill's are fine it's body is fine i feed it pellets and some times has a treat frozen bloodworms and brineshrimp it be appreciated if i can get some help because the axolotl looks very annoyed!!

thank's Dan
 
M

mik

Guest
Sound like he's struggling to get down. Have you fed any liver or heart recently?
Try rubbing his belly gently and see if it's trapped wind...serious!
 
M

mik

Guest
ok Daniel, we need a bit more information. Water quality, temperature, diet...check out other threads in setups and sick axies to see kind of details I mean.

For now, transfer your fellow to a shallow tub (if you have one) and drop the water level so that he is covered but his legs can reach the base (say 50-60mm deep). This will help reduce stress. I'm guessing his floating is probably due to something in his diet and it may take a few days to clear.

If you like, reduce the water level in his tank. save the water you took out and put it back a few days later.
 
C

cathy

Guest
Hi everyone, my axies are tail floating also. I thought it might be due to temp being too high in tank as they go to the surface to gulp air?? I rubbed the females belly the other day and in a couple of hours she was fine, but my male has been tail floating for 24 hours now and the belly rubs don't work. My temp in my tank is too high and i have tried to reduce this with ice bottles, a fan on the top of the water and the room is also air conditioned and the lowest i can get it down to is 20 degrees. It is very hot in Australia at this time of year and very humid. I am home all day with my baby so i do all these things all day and still the tank temp is high. The highest it has gotten to is 25 degrees!!! They don't appear stressed and are eating well but i realise it isn't ideal for them. For this reason i don't want to put them in shallow dishes with the tail floating as i am worried the temp could increase further! I have fed the male liver about 4 days ago but after reading this web site i have decided not to feed mammal meat and am now feeding meal worms, earthworms and tubifex,krill and bloodworm cubes. Is this diet ok? Sorry this message is so long.
 
D

daniel

Guest
I guy sorry took so long, i been out. My temp is been from 21 to 25 degrees c. Because it's been really hot here in Australia
My p.h is 7.0 my ammonia .0, my nitrate is 10.0
my nitrite is 10.0 my g.h is 7,8 drops, I feed him axolotl pellets and some times frozen bloodworms and brineshrimp . But since this has happend i have only been feeding axolotl pellets.
And A another thing my axolotl his a pink tail as well!!!
P.s The Tank Is only 3 Weeks Old But I have been using cycle
Please Help

Dan
 
L

leah

Guest
"Cycle" doesn't work. (If you can find some of Marineland's Bio-Spira, this stuff works a treat to instantly cycle a tank.) Prolonged exposure to 10.0 ppm nitrite is enough to kill your axolotl. The good thing though is that your tank is almost done cycling (you have nitrates starting to form, so the nitrite levels should drop off soon.) Don't do any water changes until the cycle finishes, you'll only slow it down!

A pink tail can be an indication of stress. Since your tank is too hot, and has toxins in the water, I'd say stress is the cause and nothing else. If you can get your axie out of that tank and into cool, clean water until the cycle finishes, you'll do a lot to help him out!
 
D

daniel

Guest
Thanks leah, I checked the nitrite and nitrate
and it was never that high it was 50 on the nitrate and 1.6 on the nitrite but i checked it today and it only 0.3 on the nitrite and 5 on nitrate .p.s there is nothing else i can put him it to!!
 
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