Floating back end

[joanne]

Hi
I'm quite new to keeping axies. I have a male and a female about 1year old. Just recently the female has started to float,but she doesn't fully float. Her front legs are on the bottom of the tank but her back legs and tail are floating about 1" above the tank bottom. She feeds perfectly well and there are no other signs of illness. I just wondered what you all make of it. Is it something that needs treating.
Thanks
Jo

 

[mik]

Hi Joanne, sound a little like trapped air. You could wind her by rubbing her belly gently.

I tend not to get floating at all these days. But I have a theory that it is linked to diet...can you tell us what she has been eating recently...and perhaps a little on water temp and substrate?

 

[katherine]

Hi Joanne,
My axie had her rear end floating a couple of weeks ago so I did what Mikki suggested and rubbed her tummy. I checked on her half an hour later and she was fine, she must have swallowed too much air. I also fed her which made her happy but floating did not seem to stress her too much and it cleared pretty quickly post belly rub.
Kat

 

[miriam]

My baby axolotl (about 1.5cm) has been doing the same thing lately, and has begun swimming around more...he's too small for me to rub his belly, is there anything else to do? what makes them get air bubbles? I've been feeding him live brine shrimp.

 

[mik]

Brine shrimp tend to be a good food for little ones. I believe that floating tends to come from inappropriate or incompatible foods. I thnk ox or pig heart sometimes is responsible for floating. Have you tried anything other than brine shrimp?

 

[miriam]

nope, not at all. i've read that he won't be able to detect food unless it's moving, and i don't have a car so my access to fresh food besides brine shrimp (which I"ve been hatching myself) is somewhat limited...

I can't imagine feeding him ox or pig heart--he's so tiny! (and I'm a vegetarian, and while I'll feed him whatever he needs as he gets older...I"m not exactly lining up to go buy pig heart!)

 

[michelle]

Hello everyone

My Axie - Kurt - seems to be suffering from the same problem. Infact - I have just posted on a different sick Axie topic for him, as I've just successfully got rid of white fungus growing from his gills recently - poor Kurt! (

Any-hoo, apart from the floating thing, he seems to be fine. He's fed the same as everyone else. Trout pellets and earthworms on alternating days. The temperature of his tank is around 19 degrees C, and we use substrate as a sand - to avoid them swallowing small stones and getting bunged up, resulting in floating! (oh dear - didn't seem to work for Kurt!)

I'll give the belly rub thing a try too and post back my findings.... help is on the way Kurt!!