Floating Upside Down.

[Elmo]

One of axolotls, Cookie, is floating upside down in his tank; he has been fine up until this afternoon. Previously he had been eating and pooping just fine. But he does not seem to be able to 'right' himself or make it to the bottom

My husband and I are fairly new to axolotl keeping, but realise this is probably quite serious.

The tank is 18 gallons, sand botton and the the little guys are fed solely on earthworms. The water parameters (I have just tested) are as follows:

PH - 7
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrates - 20.

The tank was thoroughly cycled before we placed them in the tank as we know the importance of this from our years of keeping Malawi cichlids.

Is fridging the best way to go?

I should add that we took this guy in from a collegue who was just going to flush him after his child lost interest and I have little idea of the conditions he was kept in up until three weeks ago. He has a very, very deformed foot. He appears to of regenerated his foot numerous times and now has 11 toes. Our other little guy who has been in the tank since cyling finished two months ago is spot on.

Very, very worried.

 

[auntiejude]

How old is he, and how big is he?

Have you read this thread? Some axies like to float, some get air bubbles.

Fridgin is only indicated for cases of impaction, or for very very sick axies as a last resort.

The chances are it will pass on it's own, but for now keep him in a shallow tub where his feet can touch the ground and his back is just covered with water, change the water daily and feed him normally.

 

[Elmo]

I'm not sure how, old. But he's around 9-10cm.. maybe a touch more.
I've put him in a smaller tub and he's still inactive, tilting to one side. When he was in the larger tank he was completely upside down and appeared to be unable to move much at all.

 

[auntiejude]

OK, so he's still small - chances are it's an air bubble, it happens to small ones a lot. And it will pass.
At that size he's probably around 4-5 months.

 

[Elmo]

Thank you, very much. You've put my mind at rest. He just appeared ever so poorly!

How long should I keep him in the smaller tub?

As an aside he keeps his 'funny foot' tucked right into his side, I've never seen him use it yet. Is this a concern or is this just because of the regeneration?

 

[auntiejude]

Keep him in the small tub until he appears to have stopped floating.

The foot may well be a protection thing - have you ever been extra careful with an injured hand/foot etc? He may be holding it funny because it's unconfortable, it feels funny, or just out of habit. I wouldn't worry.