Axie floating and not eating - help

[pinkcarol34]

Hi - my son got his first axie two months ago but it has been looking increasingly unwell for the last two weeks and now we're really worried. It is now floating constantly (and struggles to go lower in the water) and although is taking random gulps he's not eating as he did initially.

The axie is in a small tank with approx 6inches of water. The tank has a plant and also a goldfish but he keeps away from the axie. The tank does have gravel at the bottom - we didn't realise until reading the website today that this was wrong. The pet shop thought our setup (including gravel and goldfish) was fine! The tank has an overhead filter but the water isn't fast moving - it flows fairly slowly back into the tank. I haven't measured the water temperature yet but we live in Scotland so it's not a naturally warm climate!

We're not sure what to do. We don't want to make things worse. We're happy to remove the goldfish and lower the water level but would we be better moving the axie to a new tank ?(or would that just be more stressful?). We'd be very grateful for advice. Many thanks.

 

[naymo]

How large is his tank, do you measure the water parameters like Ammonia,nitrate pH etc? If so what are the readings.

I would say you should raise the water level. That goldfish is potential food and danger for him as the goldfish will nip at his gills and body parts. This is probably why hes not himself he maybe stressed.


What do you feed the little guy? A good diet is esstential for health.

You may have to put him in the fridge.Now i know this may seem a shock but im sure the others will explain this in depth.When the reply.

 

[pinkcarol34]

Thanks. The tank is small - 14'' x 8'' (x 10 height) - feel a bit guilty now but the pet shop said this was fine. We can get a bigger tank if that would help and we can certainly move the goldfish. The axie is approx 6''. We haven't checked the water but will try to do this today. We do partial (10-20%) water changes every week or so and fish had been fine so we never bothered before. (We previously had a crayfish in the tank who lived for a few years - also with the goldfish!).

We haven't taken the axie out of the tank since we got him - to be honest we weren't sure how to pick him up without hurting him. We've been feeding him dried river shrimp, dried bloodworms and the occasional small earthworm. We'd just started looking for info on what else he could eat - as the pet shop wasn't terribly knowledgable. He initially ate well but has been eating less and less over the last two weeks.

I've been reading other threads about putting axies in the fridge. Seems cruel! How big a container? How much water? How long do we leave him for?

We're really grateful for the advice.

 

[Hofnarr]

Can you put some pics? Because I come from Germany, I have difficulties with the dimensions information. We have cm and metre… hence would help me pic very much;-)

 

[g_k]

hi

an axi that size needs at least a 2 foot tank if you are going to keep just the one.

you need to feed him some different food. dried food doesnt have as much good stuff as fesh/live or frozen. i use dried river shrimp as a treat some times. one prob with blocks of dried food is it can contain air and when the axi's eat it they can get bloated.

the fridge helps them heal but it also makes them poo and pass things much more quickly. you need to put it in a container with declorainated water. keep some spare water in the fridge so when you do a water change its the same temp. i dont think it needs to be kept in there for long. try just a couple of hours to help it pass anything, then allow the container to come to room temp. i would keep him in there rather than return it to the other tank with the fish in it.

my advice would be to get another tank ASAP and use either large stones or sand. get some frozen blood worm and some beef or lambs liver and try hand feeding tiny peices. do plenty of water changes as the polution in the water will make the axi sick.

 

[pinkcarol34]

Thanks for all the advice. I've put him in the fridge in a large plastic box with just enough water to cover him (declorinanted using 'tapsafe'). I'll leave him for a few hours then bring the box to room temperature and change some of the water. I'll leave him in this box until tomorrow when I can hopefully get a new tank, just for him with no gravel. Will it be ok to leave him without a filter until then if I change the water a few times?

Regarding food, we did buy some frozen bloodworms but haven't used them so we'll try him with that tomorrow. We've grown really fond of him so really hope he'll be ok.

Thanks for all the help.

Carol

 

[g_k]

i use frozen blood worm as the main part of the diet and the best way i found to feed it was to use a little dish. i found some tericotta dishes that go under plant pots in my local homebase and i sandwhich some frozen bloodworm between two of these. leave it in the water for 5 mins and then take off the top dish and it makes it nice and easy to eat. (sometimes i turn the filter off as the current sends the blood worm all over the place)

i started using a corner filter with an airstone and some wool and carbon in it in addition to my other filter and i have found the water quality has really improved.

 

[naymo]

Hi Pinkcarol34,

The smallest tank to fit one Axie is a 2 ft tank. His tank is a bit on the smaller size and he maybe stressed as he is a growing and it maybe quite restricting.

Make sure you test the water, i test mine at about twice a week. Your ammonia levels should be 0,Nitrte 0 and pH roughly 7.0.

Best Idea to move Mr goldfish actually..why not leave him in there and put you axie in a bigger tank..as that tank seems suitable for Mr goldfish anyways.

Dried food isnt the best nutrient source for axies. Earthworms are a great staple food,or fresh/frozen blodworm allthough it can get messy. You can send your kids out into the garden to hunt for food, worms,slugs slaters can all be eaten.

If your are upgrading to a bigger tank make sure you have cycled to before putting the axie in.
you can get cycling infomation here....http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml

 

[kapo]

Pinkcarol, if you could keep him in the fridge for a couple of days that may be better for him/her as the coolness of the fridge destresses them. It is much better to keep him in a whole day rather than a few hours, warm him up and pop back into the tank.

Until you've checked your tankwater parameters, it's best to keep him separated.

A bigger tank would be better, but you could use a big plastic storage tub with lid or plastic fish bins (don't use a bathtub due to soap residue). When you do get a bigger tank or plastic container make sure the water level is much higher. That could have been part of the problem, low water level, small tank and two very dirty animals (fish and axolotl) adding to the waste in the tank. Lower water in a small tank also warms up more than a larger tank of water.

Good luck and keep us posted.

They prefer colder temperatures to warm. When they're active in warmer water does not mean they're happy! Ours are happy at colder temperatures, they eat less but there's less stress worrying about tank temperature. They can survive in temperatures down to 5C.

The most important test kits to get are ammonia and nitrite, and if you can afford to nitrate as well.

A cycled tank would be:
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10-40ppm

If ammonia/nitrite levels are above 0, they're considered unsafe, so you need to do 20=30% waterchanges. No need to buy any chemicals to fix the tankwater, the waterchanges will sort things out.

We have unfiltered tanks, we waterchange 2-3 times week (every 2-3 days).

 

[pinkcarol34]

Thanks for all the helpful advice. The axie (Burrito) spent yesterday in the fridge and today in the separate box and seems not bad. Certainly not worse. I'm changing the water daily. He's still not eating though and still floating (although I'm keeping the water shallow so he can just touch the bottom), but he can move around and is fairly active.

I've noticed a small amount of mucus-like substance which he has 'coughed up' and which is also coming from his rear end. I assume this suggests a problem with his digestive system so I'll leave him without food for a few days and then change his diet to avoid the dried food we've been feeding him.

I'll keep him in the cool for a bit longer and take the advice and get a bigger tank set up and start checking the water quality regularly. I can't believe the pet shop ever advised keeping him in the small tank with the fish!

I'm really grateful for all the help - I've learned so much about axies since yesterday. (Not so sure about hunting for creepy-crawlies though, although my son can't wait!)

(Thanks, Shelly, for talking to me for so long today.) I'll try to post a picture of Burrito if I can work out how to do it!

 

[g_k]

it was my pleasure

oh i dont know if you already have something like this but they need a cave or hidey hole in their tanks.

 

[kapo]

Kids are great for finding creepy crawlies. I used to blanch at the thought of killing my garden worms and touching any bugs/insects. Now couple of years on, my husband takes the credit for my "growth and new knowledge" when he decided to get the axies as a present!

On another note, two of our adults had been consistently fed tubifex cubes (the brown dry ones), they had mucousy type poo for a while until their new food (worms) kicked in.

You don't need to get substrate, it's just as easy cleaning a bare tank, but if you prefer substrate then go for sand or try this permanent substrate thread that Jennewt posted http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/793/77098.html?1170154180. It works well and looks good, my sister did her tanks in permanent gravel and permanent sand and is easy to clean. You could also throw in live food or bloodworm cube (after thawing/rinsing) and it's easy to clean up any residues/uneaten food and waste.