Illness/Sickness: Really worried about my axolotl Miguel...

I've had my black axolotl Miguel for about a year and half now, and despite early problems with heat stress (I've never previously owned an axolotl and my petshop couldn't give me much help getting started) he's been healthy and happy.

Recently I went away for a week and stocked his tank with small feeder fish for him to eat during my absence which has worked perfectly in the past - however this time when I returned, he had started eating very little, there were still four or so fish left. I cleaned his tank, checked the pH, checked the temperature and got everything normal and thought he was fine, but in the last two days he has begun hanging out near the top and listing around, not swimming much and rarely going to the bottom of his tank. He sits with his head under the water, back slightly out and his tail under the water. He is not interested in the remaining three fish at all and refuses any food I try to give him.

The pH is perfect, right on neutral, the temperature is 19 degrees Celsius, and the water is conditioned so there should be no chlorine...any help would be much appreciated I'm very worried and are almost out of ideas...

His tank dimensions are: L: 38cm H: 26.5 W: 25 (Its quite deep to compensate for a relatively small length, his body from head to tail is over half the length of the tank, I'm going to buy him a new one ASAP)

Axies do need a lot of floor space so once that's sorted he will be happy. What are the parameters? Nitrite, nitrate and ammonia. Do you have a filter? What substrate is he on? Do you have an airstone and filter? We're the fish quarantined? Sorry for the endless amount of questions but I'm just trying to work out the problem here. Would you be able to post some photos of the tank, an you axolotl preferably side, above

Yes he does need more room!
I am unable to measure the nitrate etc. because I don't have a kit, but there's never been a problem before, so that could be unlikely? Apparently my pet shop can measure that so I was going to take in a water sample as soon as I can to be checked out.
I have a filter, but no airstone.
He's on gravel, which I'm going to fix when I get the new tank - never got told gravel could pose a problem when I bought him, irritatingly enough :/
Quarantined? As in before I bought them, when I brought them home? I got them from my pet shop and he's eaten plenty before with no problem, but I suppose he may have caught something from them possibly? :S
I've included some pics.
Thanks for helping!!

Get rid of the gravel immediately - better to have a bare bottom than a layer of hazardous gravel! This is a priority!

A testing kit is essential & presuming that your parameters are OK is never good enough - reading every post on here will reinforce how essential healthy water is for a healthy axie! Make it a priority to get the water tested or remove your axie from the tank & fridge with daily 100% water changes daily until you're certain about the water quality in the tank... After all you wouldn't like to be left in an acid bath for a second longer than necessary - once you worked out your skin was burning you'd want out & urgently too!

Quarantining any feeder fish / new additions / even plants is essential because you don't know where they've come from & keeping an eye on something in isolation is easier than dealing with catastrophes of introduced disease or in the case of a plant introducing a population of unwanted snails - it's always better safe than sorry! Plus the quarantine tank comes in handy if you have 2 axies & need to separate for whatever reason

Please take it seriously & do what you can for your axie before it degenerates in condition



<3 >o_o< <3

Of course I'm taking it seriously, I know its my fault he's sick and I feel absolutely awful about it
The gravel is gone, and I'm getting the water tested tomorrow morning, first thing, and I'll buy a testing kit too.
The fish are out too, though if they have done any damage, then its already done I presume
Thanks for the help

Your tank actually looks fine for a single axolotl, you should however change the diet to earthworms, you can have a read of treats etc on the axolotl.org page. Your axie will thank you for removing that gravel. Don't worry we are all told **** in the start. Would you mind
telling me what your cleaning regime is like? It's great that you're getting your water tested, you might get a shock.

He seems to be hanging out in a more normal position and moving about more, but that could be just because I disturbed him again to take out the gravel and fish.
Yes I got told gravel was fine, actually asked if my axolotl could accidentally eat any and was told no *sigh*.
I change about a third - half of the water every week or so on average to control the temperature so it doesn't get too warm, especially now its summer and make sure the filter is not too dirty when I do this and if so, I clean that. The tank, gravel and everything in the tank gets cleaned about every two - three weeks. Is that all ok? That's what I got told to do when I bought him. Oh I add water conditioner which removes chlorine and chloramine, add a small block which dissolves gradually and controls ammonia levels and also nitrate I believe, and adjust the pH accordingly depending on how it is. Its usually too alkaline.
Also are bloodworms a good diet? I can come by them easier than earth worms since I know the pet shop has blood worms

Tank water equalizes to the air temperature. Water changes will only change the temperature of the tank on a short-term basis. The temperature change doesn't last for a week, or even a day. Many people in Australia invest in a chiller for long-term temperature control.

You shouldn't clean your filter, other than to remove debris. Then, you should only rinse in tank water. This is because beneficial bacteria that remove ammonia (not chemicals!) grow in your filter. There are lots of threads on cycling and how to clean filters. Have a search and you should find all that information pretty easily.

Bloodworms are not nutritionally complete and shouldn't be used as a staple food.

Ok thanks that's really helpful - I was going to check out chillers today actually.
And I won't use blood worms as his main food.
There isn't any change in my axie's behaviour (not that I really expected any yet) so I was thinking I'll get the water tested, and solve any of those problems, invest in a chiller and find a way to get more oxygen flow in his tank, such as an air stone - the way he's floating at the top and I've just him take a gulp from the surface, perhaps the problem is lack of oxygen flow?
Does anybody have any further suggestions?
Thanks so much for all the help so far!

Sounds very much like poor water quality, get that checked ASAP. Then work out the oxygen, then a chiles be warned, they are a big investment so buy a good quality one.

It appears to be oxygen he has moved from the top of the tank and is moving about more normally
Thanks for all your help, I'm sure Miguel thanks you too!!