Cycling with axies

Hi all,

So glad to be part of this now and rely hoping for some advice to keep my little lotls happy.

So the lady I was getting them from gave me a weeks notice that she needed them gone so I am having to cycle with them in (2 of them, Thunder and Storm).

They have been in for over a week and so far so good, I have an API master test kit and am testing for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph daily (sometimes twice). I have done hours of research on axies and their care but I am getting conflicting info with regards to acceptable ammonia levels. I have been keeping them below 1ppm by doing water changes daily and always dechlorinating the water (which is another thing that I have had conflicting info on)! I just want some peace of mind that what Im doing is ok, although they both seem very happy and have very healthy appetites.

So my ammonia is always under 1, my nitrite occassionally sees 0.25ppm and then goes away and my nitrate was 5.00ppm (same as my tap water) amd is now about 7ppm so something good is finally happening. Should I just keep doing what Im doing? Im cleaning up after food and poohs. The tank is 55 gallons so plenty of room for my little guys and they seems really healthy, really fluffy pink gills.

I know the cycling will be slower due to the small bioload in there but my ammonia is definitely creeping up daily. Do I need to keep it under 1ppm? The person I got it from said not to even worry as they are really hardy and wont have a problem so I dont know whethere Im being over cautious or not as leaving the ammonia slightly higher would maybe aid in establishing the cycle?

Any help would be massively appreciated.

Thanks Leanne

Always dechlorinate your water. Chlorine kills bacteria. A dechlorinator that removes chlorines, chloramines, and heavy metals is good. You can never use too much dechlorinator.

The lower your ammonia levels, the better, although it might make the cycle develop slower.

If you can, do a fishless cycle in a seperate, un chilled tank and it should develop faster. you can then use that media to seed your cycle in the axie tank & speed the process.

When doing a fish in cycle with Axies, I would beware of saprolegnia & other diseases that can be introduced by plants, driftwood, and decorations from other tanks with critters.
I don't know if my axie just had a poor immune system or what, but my cycle crashed and I got behind on my water changes. I noticed he had some kind of ailment but tea was all I had so I used a tea bath and did a 100% water change on his tank.
He seemed fine after that but the disease came back again and with a vengeance. By the time I realized it was Saprolegnia and rushed out to get aquarium salt, he was dead.
So just bleach, boil, or salt any used decor or plants/driftwood you decide you want to use, because I'm thinking that ammonia compromised his immune system since the driftwood the Saprolegnia came on had been in there for a while.