Please Help! Behavior shift following water change!!

Hello! I’m new to this forum but have been reading and learning from it for a while now! I am a first time axis owner and am worried about my baby Nommo, a leuscistic whom I’ve had for almost six months. He has been acting strangely since a tank move/ water change just over a week ago.

At first, I thought he didn’t like the noise in his new location (on top of a mini fridge, I thought it might keep the tank bottom cooler and would store his worms) but I unplugged the machine he has still not resumed his typical behavior.
Since the tank move, my typically busy and friendly axi has been skittish and reclusive, lounging on leaves or hiding in his jar. He is eating normally, so I was holding out that a brief Atlanta heat wave had simply bothered him, but the weather has settled and yesterday he was curling his gills!

Additionally, when I purchased my axi he had some bumps behind his rear legs which the seller told me were his reproductive organs. But since then, they’ve been getting bigger. I amounted this to his overall growth, but I noticed they seem extra large/ swollen during this period of stress. Is this something I should be concerned about? Does he simply need a mate?

TLDR; my normally peppy axi has become reclusive and skittish following a tank move and water change. He eats normally (night crawlers), but the genital area behind his legs seems swollen. This is following a 25% water change, a wipe down of tank walls and decor, and a tank location move.

What can I do to help return my baby to normality? I hope one of you experienced axi owners can help me, as I am very anxious to help my Nommo!!!

Included are photos of Nommo lounging sadly, walking about and curling his gills, and of the bump on his bottom.

Hi Mona, Have you checked your water parameters after the tank move and water change? You might have stirred something a little bit with the move.

The 'lump' behind his legs looks about normal size for a male, but of course hard to see from the pic clearly if there is any extra swelling or not. Probably not. But the first thing to do is to check his water. Good luck!

Yep check water Ammonia, Nitrite , Nitrate , PH etc... make sure your tap water is treated with something like API Prime to remove harmful chlor and chloramines etc..

It is possible new tank is not cycled or if you did not transfer old filter and filter media it crashed the cycle if it was cycled before hand. Read up on aquarium nitrogen cycle and beneficial bacteria.

Make sure those basic things are good and take if from there.