Axolotls rear floating

Hmm, that's sounds like it's wortha shot. I'll put him in a box under my filter outlet today and we'll see if the flow makes him cough something out.
 
I put one of the floaters in their solitary confinement net. They coughed out some bubbles but were still floating. :(
He was being thrown by the water flow so I let him out.
Here are some pics of the floaters:

Both together moping around

Here are individual shots of their bodies


Neither of them have any weird bumps or anything. I'm stumped as to where to go from here.
I'll give them worms and see what happens now.
 
The worms were engulfed with vigor. I'll wait and see if there's a change in their behavior.
 
TallTree01 said:
Hmm, that's sounds like it's wortha shot. I'll put him in a box under my filter outlet today and we'll see if the flow makes him cough something out.
Click to expand...

I didn't mean for you to isolate him under the filter oulet. That will definitely stress him out. Just to try having a hang on back filter on the main tank, but one that creates a good surface disturbance.... typical waterfall.
 
Oh oops. Ah well. Done now.
I can just drop the food on the substrate but in the interest of saving time ( me not having to wait for them to sneak over the worm/pellet and eat it ) I usually tweezer feed them.
Plus it means that I can control how much they eat and they don't steal each other's food.

The floaters can't reach the bottom to eat the food either. I have to feed them where they float.
 
Feeding is becoming very tricky. When I try to feed them because they're so close to the surface they can't properly create suction. They just suck in air and miss the food altogether. This is probably making their floating even worse. :(
 
I heard tha Epsom salts can help axolotls pass gas and stuff. I Think that the axolotls might not like it though. Is it worth a shot?
 
From what I understand, salt baths are very hard on the axolotls, and usually used to treat fungal issues. And if you do do them, they should only be in the baths for about 10-15 minutes maximum a day, as per the guide stickies on this thread. Do not add salt to the tank!

I've read here that tea baths (in cold water obviously) can help issues with axolotls, and some people do add those directly to the tank, but generally everyone advises against doing anything to the tank itself; instead isolate the axolotl in a tub and do it there.

I know this was partially covered before but...
Have you considered making levels (as in, not just a tub, but a full level that is of a good size) in your tank for your floating axolotls? So that your ones down at the bottom can stay there and happy, but you could add another level over, say, about half the tank, and put plants and decorations there, so that your axolotl can still reach a floor and have hides instead of struggling to swim down so far?

I know I have used turtle basking platforms for this purpose, and then lowered the water level so that it was just deep enough for the axolotl to walk on. The texture seems to help them too, so they don't slip and slide as they would on glass. I've also had good luck with plastic mess canvas (the type used for crossstitching), but obviously that is much more flexible and you have to find ways to rig it up in your tank.
 
That's a good idea se. I'll see if I can find anything for the job. Will I need to glue it in place? How will I get it off?
I think I'll steer clear of salt baths. Seems like it'll stress my axolotls more than it'll help them.

My leucistic's floating has gone down a lot today. Just over night he has somehow made it to the bottom and can stay there unassisted. His tail still floats. Maybe witj more time he'll stop altogether, maybe he'll be floating again tomorrow. Axolotls are very unpredictable. :rolleyes:
 
TallTree01 said:
That's a good idea se. I'll see if I can find anything for the job. Will I need to glue it in place? How will I get it off?
I think I'll steer clear of salt baths. Seems like it'll stress my axolotls more than it'll help them.

My leucistic's floating has gone down a lot today. Just over night he has somehow made it to the bottom and can stay there unassisted. His tail still floats. Maybe witj more time he'll stop altogether, maybe he'll be floating again tomorrow. Axolotls are very unpredictable. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
That's great! I'm glad he's better. One of my axies just likes to hold her tail up sometimes, and another still floats on occasion, but it's always due to constipation for mine (and is obvious, especially with the girl). I think especially with younger ones they just can be unpredictable, as you said, especially as they can gulp too much air or food at once and have issues. Let's hope he stays down there!

As for platforms:
​
I can think of a few ways to work this out, depending on how you want to do it. I'd avoid (or at least research heavily) before gluing anything in place just because I would worry about the effects of glue in the tank. Most tutorials I see are for permanent platforms, but also require a cry tank and long curing time for the foam they use. I can think of a few temporary ones though, two of which I have used personally (first and the third).

Obviously with all of this you probably want to give anything a good vinegar wash and rinse before putting them in your tank, just to be safe.

1) Use turtle platforms, the kind that are hard plastic but imitate rock. They tend to be heavy so they won't float up on you. I'm specifically thinking of ones like these (I think these are by Zilla, but there are tons of other brands I'm sure). They aren't very wide, but at least would provide an area for your floating axie(s) to go down to, and a nice hide for your axie(s) on the bottom as well. If you bought a larger/longer one for more space, what I'd do is put it against the back tank wall, then put some tall plants in front of half to three fourths of it, and maybe floating plants above. So you'd have a sort of plant wall in front of part of it (leaving some open so the non-floating axies can get into the bottom area if they wish). This would give your floating axies some sense of a hide and is easy to do.

2) Use clay pots, that are both tall and wide, and break/drill them so that they have large holes on the bottom but can sit stably upside-down (and sand down the edges; as for how to best handle this, you'll have to search the forums though, as I haven't done it myself). Obviously this would take up a lot of tank real estate that you couldn't see, but again, it's another option where you get a hide both on top and on the bottom and is easier to do.

3) This is one that would have some floating problems (potentially), but wouldn't take up as much real estate in your tank on the floor and would give you the biggest "top floor" option that I can think of. I've used this in terrariums with water bottoms before, and while it does have some issue with stagnant water getting in the PCP pipes, it's better than nothing so long as you occasionally take it out to clean it. I'm basically going to give you the same steps you use to set up a terrarium base, haha. (Sadly I can't find the tutorials I used, but here's an example picture; yours would be taller, not cover the entire tank, and without the moss substrate on top). It has a lot of parts and steps, but it's not hard to do (just takes a while), and is quite cheap.

  1. Get some PCP pipes and cut them, or buy them, as tall as you want your upper platform to be. Again, sand down any rough edges. You can also use egg crate for the sides, but it'll take up more real estate and I'm unsure on how stable it is for this frankly.
  2. Now, you can either drill/sodder holes in the side of the PCP, or get a T junction and put one on top of each PCP pipe (or just use a large T-junction, depending on how high you want the platform to be). You'll want 4 of them for a square area, potentially more to go in the center if it's unstable and depending on the size of platform you want.
  3. Get some plastic egg crate, cut it to the size you want it. Again, soddering works. This is tricky but egg crate is quite stable and will hold up well. Sodder or cut down any rough edges or cover with some sort of aquarium mesh mesh (or just make sure the edges you did cut are against the walls of the tank).
  4. Buy some plastic cross stitch mesh/canvas, or some very fine aquarium mesh to go over the top of egg crate, as the egg crate has large holes but the cross stitch mesh (or other mesh) has much smaller ones, so they won't bother your axie(s). It might be good to use egg crate, cross stitch mesh, and a fine aquarium mesh honestly. Again, cut to size, smooth edges. I'm afraid I don't know of a good alternative mesh personally though, sorry.
  5. Tie it all together with fishing line, by looping the line through the PCP and the egg crate and mesh holes, tying them off as tightly as you can. This does take time and trial and error, and tweasers and needle-nose pliers are a lifesaver here. Have patience with yourself! Some people can tie them all together in one go, others (like myself) have to make the platform and covering and then attach the PCP pipe. The line should be non-toxic and sterile, but if you want to be safe and vinegar soak it, that never hurts. If the middle of the platform seems wobbly, put the extra PCP pipe(s) in the center and test for stability.
  6. Decorate it with any plants/hides/deco that you want on top, and you should be good to go. If the deco and plants don't keep it down enough and it does float, just get some non-jagged rocks, sterilize them, and place on top of the crate where the PCP pipes are. If you're having issues with the axie(s) on the bottom knocking the PCP pipes around, try heavier pipes or perhaps weight with sand or rocks inside the pipes.
Hopefully I didn't forget anything and this helps! If I did forget anything, or if anyone has suggestions on a better mesh to cover the egg crate, please say so, as I'd hate to not give the best options possible.


Edit: Aha! I found the tutorial I used. Here it is!
 
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Excellent! Thanks heaps for that. I'll get the materials next time I'm in that part of town. :)

Unfortunately, the leucistic is floating again. Ah well, least I got to watch him being himself for an hour or two.
 
TallTree01 said:
Excellent! Thanks heaps for that. I'll get the materials next time I'm in that part of town. :)

Unfortunately, the leucistic is floating again. Ah well, least I got to watch him being himself for an hour or two.
Click to expand...
No problem, I hope it helps and you can find the materials to do whichever of those you want. And good luck. Again, with whatever set up you do, be patient, with yourself and your axies. The axies will need time to adjust and you'll need time to set it all up. Especially with the egg crate, it can take an hour or two, depending on how complicated your rigging is.

Sorry to hear he's floating again though. But I'd think him being normal for a bit is hopefully a good sign for him in the long run.
 
Is it likely that the Axolotls that are floating are in any kind of pain or is floating painless?
I have begun planning a second surface for the Axolotls to sit on so they can be a little less stressed.
 
Yes, try the levels and see how it goes. There are so many possibilities of materials and ways you can accomplish this in the tank.
I can't remember if you mentioned already what kind of filter you have in the tank....
 
TallTree01 said:
Is it likely that the Axolotls that are floating are in any kind of pain or is floating painless?
I have begun planning a second surface for the Axolotls to sit on so they can be a little less stressed.
Click to expand...

I honestly don't know if they are in any pain when floating like that. It has to be uncomfortable though. And difficult for them to feed.
 
I made a sortta prototype floater to see if they even use it. If they don't I'll take it out in a week or two.
It's a 30x 30cm plastic sheet tied to the lid. It sits about an inch into the water. They're not using it at the moment. I'm looking for some plants for shade so they don't get blinded. I'll post pics in a bit of how it looks.
 
Here is my platform, very simple and unsophisticated but they seem to like sitting on it.
 
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