Floating and wobbly swimming

[lindsey]

Hi, me again. my baby axie (3 1/2 in long) is still floating and looks worse, she sometimes is on her side and goes upside, she seems to find it difficult to stay stable in the water as she wobbles from side to side when swimming. also yesterday, she went pretty much vertical in the water (head down, tail up) the temperature is 19-20 degrees, the nitrate levels are quite low but not as low as i would like them to be and the ammonia level is in between 0 and 0.25. she is still eating as is still very interested in her food but she is floating alot (most of the time it is horizontal) i am going to do daily part water changes, does this sound ok? my fridge is now 8 degrees so i could put her in if i need to, but i'd rather not. I'm trying to do everything i can.......please help!

 

[lorie]

Drain the water out of the tank so that your axolotl is still submerged but can touch the bottom and not float up to the top.
Its usually due to stress.
Temp needs to go down to 16 degrees.
Do you dechloranate the water?

 

[lindsey]

do you think it is anything serious?
i do dechlorinate the water, i use aquasafe.
i can't really get the temp down anymore, i have already moved her downstairs and she has a fan blowing over the tank (i leave the lid half on as i have a cat)

 

[lorie]

Aqua safe is a good product so thats good. It coan get serous.One of my axolotls died of it.
Try floating ice in tank also cool blocks (you know the blue ones you put in cooler boxes?)

Lol i do that same thing with the lid on mine. I have 2 cats so i know what u mean lol.

Make sure u lower the water tho or at least make sure theirs something she can stand on.

 

[lindsey]

thanks for the advice! i have lowered the water but i'm a bit worried about using ice to cool the tank down because of the flucuations. i was told that 19-20 degrees is ok. she does seem alot happier today anyway, since i did a biggish water change

 

[mary]

Has the wee axie always floated?
one of my 2 axies floated and tipped and i thought he was dying sometimes when he was little- i kept the water lower for him and startd feeding him lower in the water coz he used to gulp lots of air. He didn't come right until he started eating more solid food other than blood worms.His twin "sister" never floated and was quite happy on the bottom so i never really figured it out!

 

[kapo]

Lindsey, as long as you keep your tank temp at 19-20degrees celcius and don't have any probs with higher temps then it is fine. Higher than 22-24degrees then you have a problem. You do NOT have to lower it to 16degrees. If you could lower it and retain that temp, it would be better, but hey the temp you have is just as good.

Lorie, putting icecubes in the tank isn't a good idea. This can cause fluctuating temperatures. Using a fan above the surface of the water, as well as floating bottles of dechlorinated icewater rather than icecubes. Also, if you use the the plastic icepacks, best to seal them in a ziplock type plastic bag in case it leaks into tank.

btw was your tank cycled?

And i really don't think you needed to lower the water. If you have the test kits just keep testing the water every couple of days (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate)and if ammonia or nitrites start rising do a water 20-30% waterchange.

If your axie does start to tip and flip upside down again, then putting it in the fridge would be a better idea. 8degrees is a good fridge temp (ours always sits on 6deg).

 

[lindsey]

ahh cool, cheers for the info, she does seem alot happier now, shes isn't really floating and her swimming is more stable. i'll keep you informed of any changes! thanks alot x