Question: Cloudy Water / General Advice

[ClaireMc]

Hi Guys,
My name is Claire, I am new to the forum and to keeping Axolotls but in the 2 short weeks I have had my Axie I have become more and more fascinated by her. I keep getting conflicting advice from the pet shops so I was hoping I could get some good advice here.
I bought a new 50 litre tank 2 weeks ago, the pet store recommended I use sand in the bottom due to the risk of gravel being swallowed, however my tank is constantly cloudy and I have now been told to remove the sand altogether ? I rinsed the sand thoroughly, until the water ran clear before adding it. I have had the water checked 3 times, I was told the nitrates were high and to do a 50 % water change which I did and now all the water values are apparently perfect but my tank is still cloudy, The pet store advised I add water clarifier which I did but it's still no clearer. Could anyone offer me some advice on what else I can do to get the water clearer ? Any help is very much appreciated. Thank you

[Jennewt]

I am really happy to hear that the pet shop recommended sand rather than gravel, that's encouraging! Maybe they are getting the message!

What kind of filtration/aeration do you have? I suspect that if you "ride it out" the water will clear in time. Keep doing partial water changes and testing regularly.

[ClaireMc]

Hi Jenny, Thank you for your reply. The tank came with a filter built in to the hood it has charcoal wrapped in a wool type substance and bio balls in it. I washed them when I set the tank up but haven't touched them since as I'm sure I read somewhere I shouldn't wash them for about a month ?
Thank you Jenny, I have so much to learn !

[Jennewt]

Do you have a gravel-cleaning siphon? You'll eventually need to be able to siphon the gravel to get out brown gunk, even if you don't have any right now. Siphoning it now may help, if the problem is due to fine material in the sand.