Illness/Sickness: Strange Behaviour, Floating!

[Mitchell93]

Hello. I have had an Axolotl for a few months now. He was in really poor condition when i bought him but he has been getting fatter and his gills have been growing really well. Suddenly about two weeks ago he started acting strange. He started swimming all over the tank which he never did. He started periodically floating on the surface of the water about 1 and a half weeks ago. He will spend a while on the bottom. Then he will swim around for a bit, then he will just float for hours and seem as if he can't get down.

He is eating perfectly fine, a couple of earth worms every couple of days.

The Parameters are:

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 30ppm
PH: 7.5
Temperature: 18 Degrees Celsius (Constant with chiller)
Water Movement: Almost non-existent.

Please help. Really starting to worry about him. Sorry for the long post.

I have also fridged him to see if that would work. It did not.

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

Pictures would really help on a diagnoses with these kind of symptoms :happy: Floating can be caused by water quality and temp, constipation and bloat. Have you seen him go to the toilet, did he pass anything when in the fridge? Also you say he's gotten fatter, how large would you say? When axolotls reach the perfect weight their torso's are generally the same width across as their heads - would you say it is larger?

 

[Mitchell93]

As said the water quality and temp are perfect. So that can't be the issue. He has gone to the toilet and when he was in the fridge he passed a lot of waste. He is still severely underweight. I just meant he gained weight compared to what he was. So no his body is much smaller than his head. I have taken a photo and will upload it shortly. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Mitchell93]

here is a photo.

 

[Methodzki]

Oh! If that is fatter than how did he looked before, I would say he is still a bit skinny. Tell us how old is he?

 

[Kaysie]

If he's that skinny, you can feed him more often. Even daily would probably be fine, unless you notice he isn't keeping the worms down. Smaller, more frequent meals will help him put on more weight.

 

[Mitchell93]

Yes, he looked awful before. Thats what I've been doing and he has slowly been putting on weight. But what about the floating.

 

[Kaysie]

What kind of filtration do you have on your tank?

If he's not struggling to stay submerged, the floating could just be him hanging out at the surface. This is where oxygen saturation in the water is usually highest (or right in front of the filter). Axies are lazy critters, and the less amount of energy they have to put forth, the better. If he's not struggling to stay down, he could just be lazing around in the better oxygenated water.

 

[Mitchell93]

I have a hang on the back filter. It doesn't create much water movement which would limit the oxygen. Makes sense. Would a Air stone/aerator do the job? If so what do you recommend?

 

[Kaysie]

It couldn't hurt. Any is fine, but if you can find an adjustable air pump, they're great.