New Axie Owner, getting worried

J

JoanneMelanie

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Hi Caudata!

I'm very new to the Axie world and I have a brand new boy (or girl, but we're going with boy at the moment), he's beautiful, his name is Maverick.

Now he's looking sad to me, he sits with his head half up in the corner with his tail bent and just looks miserable.

We've had him for 3 days, unfortunately due to situation I didn't have time to run the tank for 2 weeks before, so into a fresh tank he went, which sadly means New Tank Syndrome, it's cloudy but I had the water tested and it's fine (I don't have the numbers, sorry) but there seems to be two schools of thought, one is half the internet and the fish shop which is to do water changes so I've done 30-40% of his 40L each day since with API Tap water conditioner and Quick Start, but the other side of the internet says to leave it and the cloudy will clear on its own.

Last night I thought he was dead when I noticed he was vertical next to the filter pipe and I thought he was stuck (later realised it doesn't suck hard enough to get him stuck) but I moved the filter and he floated down stiff as a board, He did it again today but on his own, I didn't move it.

With feeding he doesn't eat much (a quarter of a square axolotl food frozen thing) and ignores the rest (I cut it up) so I offered it to him twice a day and he seems more active after eating that one-two chunks but then goes back to being sad.

He hides in his dinosaur head but I assume that's just him being nervous and scared of a new place.

Would love as much help as I can get!

Also I didn't realize how bad gravel could be for them, as soon as I'm able I'll be replacing the gravel.

I don't know how to add pictures, so here's the Imgur links, I hope they work
SdPWSZ5

https://imgur.com/a/PtvYHQv
 
It's hard to give advice without the parameters, how are you determining your water is fine? If your ammonia or nitrites are non zero or you nitrates are above 10 ppm you should continue daily water changes until your tank is fully cycled. If your tank is cycled and the cloudiness is just because of bacteria bloom, then Ive had better luck just letting it resolve itself and doing only the water changes you would typically do for the tank. Do you know the temperature of the tank?Are your axis gills curled forward? Is the end of his tail bent when he is not in the corner? The hiding could be just because of shyness or because the tank is too bright. Having more than one hide and some fake plants will help him feel more confident and secure. remove the gravel right away even if you don't have anything to replace it with. Barebottom is better than gravel it's very dangerous. From the pictures he looks pretty healthy and like he's just hanging out in the corner.
 
Thanks for replying. I've taken the water to the pet shop and they tested it, they suggested to do the water change cause of the cloudiness but said that none of the levels were anything other that fine, like no ammonia or nitrites and nitrates were under 10ppm (i can't remember exactly) but now cause it's been a few days (day 1 I filled the tank, day two I did a 40ish% water change, day 3 I did a 30-40ish% change, today I'm leaving it) I'm gonna take another sample back to the pet store tomorrow and see what the levels are. I'm glad you say he looks pretty healthy, I'm worried he looks really sad, but I just don't know cause I'm brand new to this. Unsure of the temperature but it's definitely not warm, I've made sure of that. I'm thinking at the pet store tomorrow I might buy another hide, a thermometer and test kit so I can test all the levels myself rather than having to take a sample in every time.
Gills aren't bent forward, only if he's moved slighty backwards but definitely not permanently and his tail doesn't seem to stay bent unless he's turned a corner or anything like that. He's been hiding in the Dino all day today with his tail sticking straight out the back. He was moving around a bit this morning after I fed him and then has just sat in the Dino for at least 6 hours. I hope he gets a bit more comfortable with us soon, he 'looks' at us now occasionally when we go near the tank.
I'm really keen for the bacterial bloom to fix itself up, I hope that happens soon too.
 
Giuseppe covered most of it, I'll add that every new axie that I have had needed time to adjust to the new environment. They may avoid you, hide, refuse food. My last one, Steve, took a month before she would take a worm from me. Now she hangs out the front of the tank with Bucky and swims up when I am near. I fed her those cubes first as it was all she would eat (and I still feed them it when I run out of worms). If you need any online nightcrawler suppliers let me know, I've tried a few places and am happy to recommend some!
Pop the axie in a tub (and some kind of covering so they don't jump out) so you can take out the gravel. Cycling will take a while because the axolotl is living in there and you have to do water changes. If you're able to you can tub the axolotl until the tank is ready. If you do you wont really have to do any water changes on the tank.The tub with the axie would need daily 100% changes though.
It's good to have your own test kit, it saves a lot of time. I recommend the API master test kit. They can be expensive in Aus stores, the best price I've seen is $60 (if you can make it in the next few days you might catch a black friday-cyber monday sale). It still works out cheaper than buying separate kits for each (pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate).
Goodluck :)
 
Thanks for replying!
I went out today and got myself some large white pebbles for the tank so I'll get them in there. Just cause Maverick is still looking really shy (getting more active though!) I'm gonna slowly take out the gravel rather than tubbing and scaring him even more.

Went back to PetStock and the water was:
Ph: 7.9
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0.50ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm

So I've done a 25% water change and added API Stress Zyme that she said would help as well as the Quick Start and Tap Water Conditioner.
Hopefully the Stress Zyme will also help with the bacterial bloom too. I got some test strips which I think will be a good rough idea but if I want specific numbers I'll head back into PetStock. Thankfully at the moment I'm on maternity leave so have quite a chunk of time on my hands.

Oh I also got worried when he spent a solid 10-12 hours in the dinosaur head and didn't really move except the gill flaps but I could see his tail flapping in the filter current which I've heard they don't like huge currents so I've since obstructed my waterfall filter so the water bounces off a Tupperware lid before it dribbles into the water and he hasn't been back in the Dino today since doing that, I think it was the right thing to do. I'm thinking he was hiding in there cause it blocked the current more than hiding visually.

Every time I get water checked or do something different I'll add in here so I can hopefully do the best I can for little Maverick :)
 
Ohkay I rubbed him and changed the gravel out. He didn't like it, I did t like it, but it's done. He's gone back to sulking in the back corner, he was moving around a but before I disturbed him, sorry buddy. The water looks gross cause of all the yuck that got kicked up from the gravel. http://imgur.com/gallery/EWR9RPK

I hope I haven't given him a heart attack...
 
Great! Have a turkey baster on hand to suck up any poop or uneaten food and use a dish to feed on to reduce mess. Debris can get trapped under those stones so you may want to move them around occasionally, and watch ammonia levels in case there's hidden poop :)
 
It's been a weird few days, lol. He's looking happier sometimes, then not other times. And I'm feeling hugely awful because I know I didn't give him the best start (gravel and straight into the tank) but I can only improve from here. He did his first poop with me (I thought he'd pooped and then when I saw the poop I was like 'oh no, THAT is poop') and it had a fairly substantial piece of gravel in it and the paint had come off so I assume he digested the paint.

We've finally got rid of the bacterial bloom, or at least started to, it's getting heaps clearer.

What he's doing now, especially last night is what looks like breathing up at the surface and then darting down. He's only taking one breathe at the surface every hour or so but when he darts down he slams into the rocks. I'm wondering whether the hide I've got is too big, especially cause he doesn't really go in it anymore, cause it might take up too much room.

Much like with my 6 month old daughter, I just wish they spoke English so I could know what to do! I'm such a worry wart and I just hope he's happy in there.
 
Oh and I have a turkey baster, best thing I bought two days into having him! Love it. Also just moved the Dino head, put it more towards the back of the tank cause he seemed to only be Infront of it and barely had any room so I think he was still hiding from the filter flow. Hopefully now it's moved he has more room.
 
My axies always walk through their poop and spread it around before I get to clean it up. This is where the turkey baster works it's magic haha
Going up to the surface to breathe is perfectly normal. Mine do it probably every hour or so. More often if they are being active.
Every month or so I move my decorations around so they can find new hiding places, and it's a great way to find their favourite spots and accommodate for it. Bucky's spot is the chiller output so I keep it clear and shady for her :)
 
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