High movement water? Playing Axie!

[ciele02]

Hi Everyone, I have a question about water movement. Now I see a lot of posts regarding Axies getting stressed with water flow....but should I worry if they seem to like it?...My flow bar from my filter creates quite a bit of movement in the water in that half of the tank (4 Foot)...and while 2 of my axies stay down the quiet end so to speak...1 seems to be having the time of his life playing in the 'wave' area...I cleaned the tank yesterday and moved the filter bar which created more movement and he has not left the spot! His gills are waving! He's swimming up and down, left and right and even gone up and seems to be playing right where the water from the flow bar hits the surface! Honestly I'm not worried because he looks like he's having a great play! but could I be missing something?

 

[FX1C]

As long as the flow doesn't affect the whole tank & there are quiet places to escape it - then a play area of current can be fun for lotls. I have a few axies that love wedging themselves into the plant directly in front of the waterfall outflow from my hob filter & they get absolutely pummeled and they love swimming into the flow like a jetflo lap pool & then go have spas in the air stone bubbles..

They're all different & they're all crazy!
If it doesn't look stressed or distressed then I say it's just having fun & it's ok



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[MiseryInc]

What are signs of too much flowing water?

When I had my filter on low, my Lotl used to sit still and just flap her gills every 5-6 seconds but when I increased it, she would be slightly happier and would flap the gills every 20-25 seconds!!

I thought it was better higher for her, and she was under it all the time

 

[Kaysie]

Gill flapping is only a sign of oxygen saturation in the water. Flapping moves fresh water past the gills without having to move the whole body. Frequent flapping is a sign that your water is less oxygenated, which isn't an issue with axolotls, as they also have rudimentary lungs.

Too much water movement can eventually cause stress. A normal adult axolotl will generally just lay around doing nothing most of the day (think 'cat'). Constant swimming and movement in adults is not a good thing.