Stressed Axolotl?

Hi everyone,
I'm very very new to Axolotl as we just got our guy yesterday. He is about 4 inches long gfp Mel. I've kept aquariums but new to these guys. We had a cycled tank that held guppies for almost a year that we converted a few days ago. I left the old decorations and filter media hoping to disturb the cycle as little as possible when I moved the guppies, but I think I crashed it instead. I'm testing the water and showing below 20 nitrates nitrates and ~1 nitrite with small traces of ammonia so I'm doing water changes daily until we fix it. I have a hang on the back filter but I've damped the flow with sponges, fine sand media.

My question is the guy seems stressed in the tank. Flipping gills every 10-15 seconds and they looked slightly curled gills this morning. I was having issues feeding him in the tank as he is slow to grab worms so I scooped him slowly into a Rubbermaid container with aquarium water and he immediately seemed to relax. Should I let him stay in the Rubbermaid? Could the fine sand be bothering him? Is this just adjustment? We've had him less than a day but hes eating in the Rubbermaid right now.

I should add the water is between 66-68 degrees according to the digital thermometer.

Carolina85 said:

I should add the water is between 66-68 degrees according to the digital thermometer.

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That temperature seems a bit high... try to get it to more like 64 degrees Fahrenheit and see how he adjusts. My tank just went through a cycle crash but he seems to be fine as he’s eating normally and not floating a lot. I think imo that same substrate is the best route to go, but make sure it’s really fine!
Keep us updated!

I'll try floating a water bottle. The heat right now is relentless, but the tank is in a cool dark room. I think if we make it through August things will get easier. I'd appreciate suggestions on feeding as well. At what size can we do bigger worms? One blood worm at a time is slow work!

66-68 is fine, better than the inconsistency that a frozen water bottle would create. Consistency below 70 degrees is what I advise.

I'm sure the stress is from the parameters caused by the cycle crash. Keep up the water changes and everything will be fine once stabilized. Axolotls are hardy, just make sure you keep the ammonia and nitrites in check while cycling. This could mean water changes daily.

So I am cycling water bottles about four times a day because we've had another heat wave in SC, but I've been able to keep the tank pretty fairly consistent between 63-65f I'm doing a 20% daily water change with chilled dechlorinated water in the mornings. I'm happy to report that Batman is looking much better. As of today Batman is gobbling up his worms with fierce determination. I think he was still stressed from shipping and is finally chilling out. Gills look nice and fluffy and other than one extra long one no more curling.