Axolotl Lost a lot of weight, Floaty.

[Mandy6]

Wow I haven't posted here for ages...Doubt anyone remembers me lol. Anyway the problem that bought me back:

For weeks now, My Axolotl Brownie, has being floating a lot. He was still eating fine though so I thought it was just a quirk.

The Tank is about 200 Litres, Filtered, Cycled.

Barebottom

In the tank are 2 Axolotls. The other one is fine.

The last few days Brownie has being good, not floating and eating well. But today I noticed him lying on the bottom of the tank, extremely skinny. it looks like he hasn't being fed for weeks! He is normally quite plump. He ate some pellets when I put them in but his reaction time was a lot slower than normal.

I change 20-30% of the water every week.

Ammonia:0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
Ph: 7.6

Last time I had an axolotl start going like this they went downhill very quickly and died. I don't want to lose Brownie too, been through a lot with him.

 

[GreerDalrymple]

It sounds like he may have had a blockage in his stomach, & the food was piling on top of it unable to digest. Strange that your tank is bare bottom though.
What do you feed them?
Also have a look in the tank to see if you can find any large objects that could've been it.
Is he still eating?

 

[Mandy6]

Nothing in the tank that can be swallowed. The only rocks are bigger than my axies are. I feed them axololt pellets, sometimes bloodworms and when I can get them earthworms. He is still eating but his reaction time is a lot slower than usual. (the pellets sit in front of him for a minute before he snaps at them whereas he would normally snap as soon as tgey are above him)

 

[PatchworkClocks]

Has he been passing things normally since this began, or has it been happening rarely, if at all?

 

[Mandy6]

It seems to be normal.

 

[PatchworkClocks]

What is the temperature of your water usually at? A bit too low, and it may be his metabolism slowed, too high and it may be a sign of stress, constantly fluctuating temperatures tend to upset them as well.

 

[Petersgirl]

I'll have to suggest a vet. While it might simply be wind I can't help thinking that the wind would come out with his regular leavings, and your parameters seem to be quite good. I would be concerned that the same thing that affected your other axxie is affecting Brownie, although of course this is just a guess. Either way a vet isn't going to hurt if you can find a good one.

Hope Brownie is better soon!

 

[Mandy6]

To be honest I dont know the temperature right now. I killed my digital thermomoter by dropping it in the tank. I have new ones on the way. On average it sat at around 18 celsius.

I will have to explore vets but I only have $20 to my name that is supposed to last the next 10 days

Also I thought I should add that my other axie died about a year ago now and after that I restarted the tank and cycle.

 

[PatchworkClocks]

Someone said something about taking their axolotl to the RSPCA. I believe they'll do a basic check-up for free, though I could be mistaken. It's worth checking out, at least.

 

[Mandy6]

He is even worse now

He was floating, not reacting to anything. I lifted him out of the water, he looked dead. It took him about a minute to react and climb out of my hand back into the water and then just kept floating

He isn't eating at all.

 

[PatchworkClocks]

With as hot as it gets in Australia, it could be a sign of heat stress. You could try fridging him for a few days, if only so he'll hold on until you can find help for him.

 

[Mandy6]

It actually hasn't been that hot here I will put him in the fridge though. I'm worried it will be too cold though, our fridge is at 3c and my mum doesn't like me making it warmer

This morning he had fungus on him. Patches on his head, arm and toes

 

[Mandy6]

I just went to move him to the fridge and do a salt bath and he was dead He was all veiny and after holding him my hands where all bloody

RIP Brownie Boy

 

[PatchworkClocks]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what could have been his cause of death. Hopefully someone else has more knowledge on it.

 

[Petersgirl]

I'm so sorry about Brownie May he swim under the Rainbow Bridge.

I think it was either bacterial or viral, given the sudden onset, floatiness and veins.

 

[Mandy6]

I was doing some reading and saw that metronidazole is considered a safe medicine. I have some that I've used for my goldfish before. They are actual tablets though. 200mg uncoated tablets.

If I managed to mix that into a food, at an appropriate dosage, do you think that could be effective if it happened again in the future?

In the past I've mixed up a Gel Food for my goldfish, containing 400mg of Metro per 40grams of food. I don't think the Gel food would be appropriate for axolotls though.

Just trying to get ideas incase this ever did happen again.