something wrong with my axies? :(

J

jhoath

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I bought 3 axies last week, and although I have hang-on-the-side filter and an air stone in a relatively small tank, they still swim to the top, the newest more than the other two. We have feeder fish and some meal worms in the tank so I don't think they're hungry, but I guess it could be a little cramped.. I don't really know what's wrong though.. Can someone help?
 
How long have you had them for?
Its normal for axies to go to the top, but its diffrent if they stay there for a long time.
how big is your tank if you think its a "cramped" issue?
Is there anything else going on?
what are your water parameters like? temp etc...
It could be a stress thing...
Some one with more experience will probably ask you more specific things.

Elsie.
 
Hi!

How big is your tank? This could be one of the factors. Also, was the tank fully cycled when you put the Axies in??

Cheers, Mike.:cool:
 
Hi Jhoath,

Have you tested the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) and water temperature? Poor water quality and high temperatures tend to make axies float on the surface more.

In addition, if there is overstocking (too many axies and feeder fish in small tank), the water gets fouled quickly. I would also advise you against leaving mealworms in the water. If you want to feed them as treats. Offer one sparingly, feeding by hand. Uneaten (rotting) food fouls water quickly too.

Lastly, if you obtained your axies at different times, did you quarantine your newest axie before adding to the main tank?

Cheers.
 
No, they don't stay up for a long time, they just swim up for a second then go back down.. So I guess that's normal then?
I guess the temperature is pretty cool, it's going into winter here and we don't have a heater in the tank or in the house. pH is fine, I haven't checked anything else yet.
The tank is 37cm long, approx 15cm wide.
The tank wasn't cycled before we put the axies in, we set it up when we brought them home. We got 2 first, and then the third one a few days later.

No, I didn't quarantine the newest axie, but she died a few days ago (we'd had her for a week tops).. One day she was fine and I walked out of the room for a few minutes and when I came back she was on her back, not moving. I flipped her back over and she barely moved for the next few hours, she couldn't even support herself with her legs. We couldn't even tell if she was dead or alive unless we touched her to see if she was breathing. I called the place we got her from and he said to seperate her from the others, which we did. 2 hours later she was dead and blood was coming from her mouth.
The other 2 don't show any signs of this, and we'd only had her for a few days.. I don't know what caused it.. Any help would be appreciated because I don't want it to happen to the others.
 
Depending on the size of your axolotl, your tank will be far too small for 1 let alone 3. How big are they at the moment ?
As the tank was not cycled it will need at least 20 % daily water changes with fresh dechlorinated water. You will also need to be very careful at removing any waste, as in such a small tank the water will foul quickly. I would adise you to check your water daily using individual test kits for ammonia , nitrate and nitrites, if you do not have the tests the pet shop should be able to check a fresh sample for you. A thermometer is very important too in being able to check the water temperatures, anything much over 20 degrees will be harmfull also.
​
 
Hi Jhoath,

Blood coming out from an axie's mouth isn't normal. Was the axie roughly handled at the shop or sloshed around during transportation home? How does the blood look like? Clotted? Fresh? How much blood was there? Any other body bruises or bleeding? Any other unusual signs?

Cheers.
 
I'm not sure if it was handled roughly at the shop, it was the first time I'd been there and the lady caught her with a net.. And the car ride home was less than 5 mins at about 60km/hr so it shouldn't have been rough. The blood was fresh and runny, and there was maybe a mouthful or so. I didn't notice any other bruises and there was no more bleeding other than that. I didn't notice anything else unusual but I'm a first time axolotl owner so I could have missed things..
 
Hi Jhoath,

Because there is a large volume of fresh blood involved, i highly suspect that poor axie had suffered some trauma. It is unlikely to be due to an infection or illness.

Cheers.
 
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