Question: Frustrating Ammonia Levels

Today I picked up my API Master Test Kit and tested 3 of my 6 aquariums including my axololts. Here are the results.

Axolotls:
PH: 7.6
Ammonia: First off the color wasn't even on the chart. It was a dark swimming pool blue. So I'm gonna go ahead and say the ammonia was around 8.0 since that was the darkest color even though it's dark green on the color chart.
Nitrites: 2.0ppm
Nitrates: 0 to 5.0 *I couldn't really tell what exact color it was but it was more on the yellow side of the color chart*

Community Fish:
PH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 10ppm

Betta Tank:
PH: 7.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0.25ppm
Nitrates: 40ppm


So what am I doing wrong in my axolotls tank? I clean all my aquariums out the same way. This is what I do in case something isn't right.

1: Remove axies
2: Clean decorations and plants inside the tank water and move them into a bucket to float with removed tank water.
3: Clean the slime off the glass .
4: Clean the entire filter and media inside the tank water and float it inside a bucket with removed tank water.
5: Clean the slate tiles inside the tank and put those into a bucket of tank water also.
6: Siphon out all remaining water. *I usually do a large water change since I'm having issues with cloudy water*
7: Put everything back including tiles, deco, plants, filter and media
8: Add fresh water into tank and into filter box
9: Add water conditioner
10: Wait until water is cold and put back in axolotls.

My plants are bamboo but they aren't fully submerged inside the water. They have the leaf parts sticking way out of the water so they don't die. And not sure it matters but my axie tank is a 20 gallon long housing two adult males that are around 9 inches.

What can I do to get that ammonia down? I've had my axie tank for a year already.

Are you sure that nothing went wrong with ammonia test? If the ammonia was 8.0, I'd expect to see the axies already suffering from it.
Nitrites are high too.

What I'd try first is clean less and add the water conditioner to the water before adding it to the tank. Just siphon out around 20 % of the water (or enough to keep the ammonia and nitrite down) and all the debris from the bottom. The cloudiness could be caused by bacteria when the tank is trying to cycle after every cleaning if you destroy the bacteria. Or you could try keeping the axies in a separate container for a few weeks and see if you can get the tank cycled then.

What water conditioner are you using? I found a link API Ammonia Test Question - 89780 that discusses some other causes for a super-high reading. One of them is that some water conditioners and bacteria additives (Stress Coat and Stress Zyme were mentioned) throw off ammonia tests, and so the ammonia measurement should be done after 24 hrs.

Because you have nitrites (assuming that test isn't being thrown off too), your tank probably isn't cycled, even if the ammonia readings are falsely high. It is also possible that you have another source of ammonia in the tank. What are the bamboo planted in? do they have fertilizer or anything?

Keiko is right - if you are adding the water and after-the-fact adding the conditioner, the chlorine in the water is probably killing off bacteria before the conditioner removes it. What I do is add the conditioner to the tank and then add the water to the tank. This isn't quite as good as adding the condition to the water before adding the water to the tank, since the conditioner doesn't take out chlorine immediately (but it is pretty fast). The reason I do this is that I am adding the water with a hose so I don't have to lug buckets.

I'm using Aqueon Water Conditioner.
Aqueon Water Conditioner at PETCO

As for the bamboo (I have 5 huge ones in total) they are in a 5 inch long transparent glass vase all bunched together. I don't use plant food or anything like that for them.

I'm doing a partial water change today and I'll retest the ammonia levels again.
As for the conditioner just so I understand....I should add it first and then the water? How long should I wait before putting my axies back in?

For partial water changes, most people leave their axolotl in the tank. This assumes that the water you are adding isn't very different in temperature than the water in the tank.

If you are changing water with buckets, put the conditioner in the bucket. If you are using a hose, consider using buckets until you get this all figured out, but I have never had problems just putting the conditioner in the tank before adding the tap water.

Test for ammonia in your tap water too. That could be adding to your confusion if your water is sanitized with choramine (ammonia and chlorine combined). Test before and after you add some water conditioner.

What gallon tank is your filter rated for?

It's a Fluval Aqua Clear 30-50 gallon filter. The kind where you replace each filter media at a different time so it doesn't destroy the good bacteria. Though I'm probably killing it since I was adding water to the filter basket without first conditioning it.

I use buckets to add water back into the tank. So I just need to add the conditioner to one bucket of water or each bucket of water? It usually takes 8 full buckets to refill the tank.

You could add a little bit to each bucket or add it all to the first bucket. Just be sure not to overdose or underdose. The former would be safer, but I've always found it hard to reliably measure small amounts of conditioner.

I suspect you are over cleaning your tank then as discussed adding the water without conditioning it first.
Water dechlorinators tend to be 'instant' in that you would fill up your bucket, add the required amount (e.g mine is 1ml per 10 litres) then stir and add the bucket to your tank.

You just need to syphon any 'gunk' out of your tank, you dont need to remove and scrub every item in there as 'good bacteria' grows on surfaces.


I would try leaving your axies in the tank and whilst you cycle the tank but this will mean daily water changes of 20-50% until the cycle is complete. You will need your test kit to determine the readings.
You would be best getting a siphon (just an air syphon will do, i got mine off ebay for £4)
Then once you get your cycle established you should be able to just do 20% weekly water changes which will be easier for you than 8 buckets every week!

I do own a siphon and remove any poop the moment I see it. But my tank gets really cloudy and very thick mucus slime on the glass and starts to clog the filter tubing.

I did my weekly water change yesterday and tested once again tonight. (I heard to wait 24 hours to test.)

Nitrate: 0.50 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Ammonia: 4.0 ppm

At least this time the ammonia reading was an actual color on the chart and not blue like before. I also went ahead and did an ammonia test on my tap water and also on my crawfish tank.

Tap Water Ammonia: 1.0 ppm
Crawfish Ammonia: 0 ppm

I'm still not sure why the axolotl ammonia is so high. Wouldn't there already be negative results to their health? Should I add a moss ball to my tank? I heard those help with clearer waters and ammonia. How do I get rid of that nasty thick slime?

I'm not sure how this would work for you but for slime or algae issues on the tank walls I use a rubber blade scraper and scrape the tank walls while I siphon the gunk out. To lower the ammonia I would just do more frequent water changes until it's done, maybe like 25-50% daily until it reads 0 ammonia.

Cacique said:

I'm not sure how this would work for you but for slime or algae issues on the tank walls I use a rubber blade scraper and scrape the tank walls while I siphon the gunk out. .

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Great idea! Thanks. I will have to try that.

In addition to what the others have suggested, I'd strongly recommend you NOT replace the ceramic media in the Aquaclear despite the manufacturer recommending to do so. I've used that brand of filters for years. They're excellent filters, but I can't, for the life of me, imagine why they would recommend changing the one part of the filtration process that should virtually NEVER be changed. Change the sponge and the carbon, but not the ceramic media.

Cole

Cole Grover said:

Change the sponge and the carbon, but not the ceramic media.

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Hmm I never thought about that. I haven't had to change it yet but I was going to buy a new one so glad I read this in time.