NEED HELP | Axolotl won't eat & seems a lil stressed.

[Mystimate]

Me and my girlfriend recently acquired two axolotls and honestly were quite under-prepared and probably should of done some more thorough research in terms of taking care of them.
We have done multiple water tests, As I said we were quite under prepped and didn't get time to cycle our water, but have been maintaining frequent water changes after feeding to clean any leftovers.
Our tank is 130Litres
We have two live plants, some hiding spots, fine gravel substrate, and some plastic plants.
WE HAVE ONLY HAD THEM A COUPLE DAYS.
Nitrite is 0ppm
Nitrate is around 5ppm
Ammonia is 0
PH is around 7.4-7.8
Our water temps sit around 16 Celsius with the highs being 20's
(Aussie weather)

Our white axie eats fine, and seems to have no issues eating and just being a lil boi in the tank, and will eat pellets & bloodworms
Our black axie although seems to be quite active and the last couple nights, swimming around the tank and just being quite active, which is the opposite during the day.
Whenever food is presented to the black axie, he just swims the other direction or move his head away from the food.
I'd attempted putting the bloodworms in a jar and seeing if that would be easier for them but was afraid to leave frozen bloodworms in the tank for to long in fears of polluting the water.


Any and all help would be amazing, this is our first time properly having our own aquatic animals, So I want to make sure everything is okay.

 

[wolfen]

both should be tubbed whilst the tank/filter is cycled.
axolotls are movement orientated whilst young, try live food.
axolotls are mainly nocturnal, feed at night clean in morning.
16°c is very good, 20's are bad

 

[Mystimate]

both should be tubbed whilst the tank/filter is cycled.
axolotls are movement orientated whilst young, try live food.
axolotls are mainly nocturnal, feed at night clean in morning.
16°c is very good, 20's are bad

How would I go about tubbing the axolotls, in terms of water etc.

 

[Mystimate]

I have tried dangling the food around in his face, to kinda mimic live food, but that seemed to not work either. I might try worms and see if there is the same reaction

 

[wolfen]

How would I go about tubbing the axolotls, in terms of water etc.

use a large container/tub (best to have two, one being used and one being cleaned/made ready for use), ceramic glass or pyrex preferable over plastic, make sure to use a lid or place something on top to prevent jumping, dechlorinate the water before placing axolotl in it, feed at night clean in morning, if possible place air stone into tub for oxygenation.
if both axolotls are being tubbed seperate tubs will be required to prevent accidental injury's.
the more water contained in the tubs the better (ammonia doesn't take long to build up), only house in shallow water if issues with floating.
place food in tub ie bloodworms etc.. and leave over night, then do water change.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

How big is the "fine gravel". It should be no bigger than 2mm. More like a coarse sand.