So I recently bought an axolotl (March 12th) and things were fine for a while. He's been going through sick spells lately where he floats. Sometimes its nothing and he goes back down no problem. Sometime when he goes down his tail end still floats. And sometimes it looks like he's struggling to stay down.
I have him in a 10g tank with an internal filter. The outflow is diverted by some java moss. I have moss balls in there as well. I have a tunnel for him and rarely turn on his light. The room is usually kept pretty cool, but I frequently put frozen water bottle in there to cool it down. I don't have a thermometer so I don't know exact temps. There is no substrate in the tank. I've ran tests on the water and its fine. He's on a diet of refrigerated canned bloodworms right now because I fear he's too small for earthworms. I preform frequent water changes about 2-3 inches off the top probably once or twice a week. And I remove all uneaten food and poop as soon as I can.
He's about 3-4inches long tip to tip. You can clearly see he has some air in his abdomen. And its gotten to wear he is floating on his side from the air bubble.
I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I've read a ton of forum posts since this started happening. Everyone says its the water quality but every time I've tested it is all zeros. When he floats I put him in a shallow container. Usually I keep him in the container for a few days, changing the water every day. When he isn't floating on his side he still eats well, although I usually have to feed him with plastic forceps since he doesn't reach/acknowledge them on the bottom of the container.
Can anyone help?
I have him in a 10g tank with an internal filter. The outflow is diverted by some java moss. I have moss balls in there as well. I have a tunnel for him and rarely turn on his light. The room is usually kept pretty cool, but I frequently put frozen water bottle in there to cool it down. I don't have a thermometer so I don't know exact temps. There is no substrate in the tank. I've ran tests on the water and its fine. He's on a diet of refrigerated canned bloodworms right now because I fear he's too small for earthworms. I preform frequent water changes about 2-3 inches off the top probably once or twice a week. And I remove all uneaten food and poop as soon as I can.
He's about 3-4inches long tip to tip. You can clearly see he has some air in his abdomen. And its gotten to wear he is floating on his side from the air bubble.
I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I've read a ton of forum posts since this started happening. Everyone says its the water quality but every time I've tested it is all zeros. When he floats I put him in a shallow container. Usually I keep him in the container for a few days, changing the water every day. When he isn't floating on his side he still eats well, although I usually have to feed him with plastic forceps since he doesn't reach/acknowledge them on the bottom of the container.
Can anyone help?