Still floating?

[Ai]

One of my couple of months old axies has a problem with floating, she's had that for a while and the answeres here has been; that some just floats when they needs to poop.
But my Axie Deedo is just floating anyway.

I put her in a separate tub for a few days with water level just covering her back. After two days she's stoppes floating. I put her back in the tank, it lasts for two maybe three days, she starts floating again. The first days just a little bum floating. After about five days she can't stay on the ground, layes under stuff instead. A couple of more days it's like she's given up, and floats at the surface, often on her right side.

So instead of keep moving her to the other tub every second day i put artificial plants in the corner of the surface where she usually stayes.
It seemed to help the first week, but no she's just driftig around with the water flow.

It just doesn't look right. When she's not floating she gets curious when you walk into the room, follows you. When she's like this she's just trying to hide.
She's always had curled gills so it's hard to see when she's stressed. With her it's more behaviour. She's not being herself.

Water parameters is good and stabile, as the temperature ( 19 celcius).
I've tried changing their diet, but no change. I feed them red mosquito larvae now.
She's eating and passing food as normal. No change in skin or gills.

The water is the same in the other tub just lower level.

The other axie is fine, had fungus once but some water baths fixed it. She's behaving like always.

I don't know, Deedo just seems to getting worse. Hard time getting anywhere or turn upside down if she doesn't swim really fast. I'm worried.

I don't get what's causing this. And it doesn't get better.
It's like a bad circle that just starts over and iver again everytime i tried something new and thought it's getting better.

 

[Ai]

I do 10% water changes every week to. And fine sand at the bottom, the pet store did to, no gravel.

 

[Elise]

Is she floating now? Can you take a picture of her?

How do you aerate the water in your tank? Do you ever notice your water being cloudy? How often and how much do you feed each of them?

 

[Ai]

You mean get air into the water? I just have some plants.
And it's not often the swim to the surface for air so i've thought it's air enough in the water.

I feed them once everyday, but i've tried less often too. It's fozen cubes with larvae and i give them a half of that each. So one cube for both of them.

I've never seen the water cloudy except the first time i put the sand in

She's in the other tub now and floating a little but for the moment nothing odd about it. I'll try to take more pictures

 

[Elise]

I was thinking possibly a supersaturation of gasses in the water, overfeeding which can cause floating, or some trapped air which would be visible in a picture. None of these seem to be the case.

I'm at a loss. We'll have to see if anyone else has some ideas. Overall does she seem healthy or has there been a decline in health since the other one contracted the infection?

 

[Ai]

No she's always seemed healthy otherwise, no fungus when the other one had it for example. So that's calming, i'm just lost about this


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[Ai]

And i don't feed them in the tank, cause i don't want to risk leftovers, or biting incidents.
Had a worm problem some time ago, and hydra, got it with a plant. But it's under controlled now since i feed them in separate tubs.


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[Elise]

And i don't feed them in the tank

Perhaps it still could be an issue with supersaturated gases in your tap water. Trying using aged water in the tubs you use to feed them and see if that changes anything.

 

[Ai]

Could do that absolutely. But she's been floating before that.

I fed them earthworms before.


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[Ai]

Hi!
Stopped floating again, put her in the tank and after just one day she's floating again. So it's definently something in the tank. What? Don't know.
I took one peice of wood out, try it if it's something with hardness of the water.

But if there is something else, you talked about gas. What to do about it?
Sometime ago i did water changes every third day, like 20%. And that didn't help.

She's the one on the left of the picture. The other one is just leaning forward.

 

[Ai]

Sorry the picture is upside down, don't know how to fix it, using my phone. I have videos to but i can't upload them

 

[layna]

Sometimes axies just like to float, they take a big gulp of air and just hang about. If they havent learnt how to burp it out, then it could expalin the nearly constant floating.

Have you tried putting an air stone in there to aerate the water, or moving your output on your filter so that it breaks the water surface?

 

[Ai]

Hrm no should that.

But she floats with her but up, and tries to reach the bottom of the tank. When the other one floats and hangs out, her body is on the same level.
This one tips over, and she must swim really fast to not tip over.




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[Elise]

As floating for extended periods of time does cause an amount of stress, keeping her in the tub until the problem is resolved would be best. Also, it might be a good time to start fridging as that has shown to correct prolonged floating in some axolotls.

Below is a link to a very detailed response concerning floating, which Rayson gave to someone who was in a similar situation as you. In his post he also goes in-depth on treatment options and possible causes.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...ts-self-down-floating-problem.html#post178202

If you have exhausted all possible causes and fridging doesn't work you'll have to consult a vet.

 

[layna]

If there is no other signs of stress or illness, it could be that once the air is swallowed its travelling through the body.
As some axies dont poop every day, it could be the reason for the couple of days intervals with the floating.

Try keeping him in lower water levels so he is more comfortable until you can get him to a specialist

 

[Ai]

Awesome tips, and link. I'll try to fridge her, first of all. I've just never done it before so i'm a bit scared i guess.


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[Ai]

Hi!
Had my axie in the fridge for a week now and she still floats and has not passed any food.
I've feed her every second day and she's been eating somewhat normal. But she seems normal, not bloated or anything.

How long should i keep her there if there is no change? And what to do then? I have no further idea on what the problem is. The vets knows to little about them, can't really get any help.
The pet store knows enough to house them but nothing about this more than all the things we've talked about here

If nothing changes, can i try to have something that floats on the surface in the tank so she can stay under it?
And see if it goes away with time? Can floating be dangerous other than the fact that she gets tired?





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[seagull]

my gal burrito is a floater
some of them just float a lot, but r otherwise healthy
the time from eating to pooping varies
i find females who have just spawned (like my burrito) or who havent eaten in a few days hold food in for longer
then they take the biggest dump u will ever see
perhaps your gal is trying to build up an egg reserve
i think they need to extend their belly with food to fit eggs; i know they gulp air while spawning to keep body pressure up to eliminate all eggs
i wouldnt leave her in the fridge for too much longer than another week
i would set up her regular tank with stuff she can grasp (huge flat stones) and some fake vines and plants
my friend thinks they float from not having enough space
another tip is to float ice in the tank at room temp so she has a temperature gradient
as far as putting anything else in the tank to hold her down i dont recommend it, they surface breathe more than u may think and it isnt safe to prohibit such behavior
i dont think floating is dangerous as long as A:there isnt anything harsh that can get at the water surface (temperature issues or a lamp or whatever) B:no predators can snatch it (cats or such) and C:nothing that can be swallowed accidentally is floating near her

 

[Boomsloth]

Maybe get yourself an aerator, but try turning the lights off in the tank and making it as dark as possible to see if that helps.

 

[Petersgirl]

I agree with Seagull. Some axolotls seem predisposed to floating. My female Golden floats all the time, but I have never seen my male Wild Type float.

I believe that many floating problems are caused by a buildup of wind. My Golden is quite greedy and often rushes her food, so it wouldn't surprise me if that is what causes that for her. You may find this particular axxie floats a lot for the rest of her life, but this isn't a problem unless it appears to cause distress or causes her harm. Remember that axolotls gulp air to fill their rudimentary lungs (although of course gas exchange takes place across the gills, they do fill their lungs as an 'air supply,' and researchers found they could hold their breath for a year this way). That can also cause them to float.

I also wouldn't fridge her unless you are sure it is doing her some good. Fridging can release trapped wind but it's generally advised only if a dangerous object has been swallowed - such as a rock - to stop it from being digested. Fridging is stressful for them, as is constant changing of temperatures and locations.

My advice would be to take her from the fridge after a few days (say 1 or 2) and gently acclimatise her to her tank water by warming the cold water from the fridge gradually using her normal tank water. Then reintroduce her to her tank, keeping her dark, cool and calm. I think it will sort itself out. Hope this helps!