Filterless Test Results

Hi all,

I have a small bare bottom setup with one 4 inch axie, one moss ball, no filter and which I have been vacuuming daily with an aquarium cleaner along with water changes of approx 2 litres of matured tap water every 2 days.

It has been one week since I set up and my ph tested between 7.6 - 7.8. Nitrites and nitrates were 0ppm but ammonia was higher than I had hoped for.

I took photos of the results then tested ammonia again after a water change. It was still approaching 1.0ppm. Is this an acceptable level?

Sorry, attached is ammonia test after two litre water change

Ammonia is still too high. Why do you not have a filter? A properly cycled filter will process the ammonia to less toxic nitrate.

Your currently cycling your tank using your Axolotl as the source of ammonia. Doing this is harmful to your Axolotl and not advised. Ammonia is toxic. You'd be better to put your Axolotl in a large container with 100% water changes daily while you cycle your tank using either degrading food or liquid ammonia.

IF you were cycling without your axolotl in the tank then 1.0ppm would be fine, beneficial bacteria will now begin to colonise your tanks surfaces and feed on the ammonia, so keep an eye out for your Nitrite rising in the coming weeks, after the 1.0ppm of ammonia has been converted to Nitrite you will want to increase your dose of ammonia to 2.0ppm preferably using liquid ammonia and then wait for that to be converted into nitrite. Continue dosing your ammonia up by an additional 1.0ppm each time it is converted into nitrite, do this to a maximum of 4.0ppm, this gradual increase in ammonia helps to build strong colonies of bacteria in your tank in case you ever have an ammonia spike in the future. During cycling another beneficial bacteria will colonise your tanks surfaces and will feed on the nitrite converting it to nitrAte, you will see the nitrAte increasing, this is the last stage of your cycle, once you can make a full conversion of ammonia to nitrite, and nitrite to nitrAte you know your tank is cycled. You'll be looking for your maximum dose of 4.0ppm ammonia to be able to be fully converted to nitrAte.

Liquid ammonia is very strong, you will only need a drop to increase the level of ammonia to 1.0+ppm, its best to run a test on a separate container of water so you can find out exactly how much liquid ammonia you need to add to increase your ammonia by 1.0ppm.

Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling
Caudata Culture Articles - Water Quality

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-beginner-newt-salamander-axolotl-help-topics/f48-axolotls-ambystoma-mexicanum/105507-new-owner-cycling-help.html#post461143

Thankyou for taking the time to reply.

I am not sure if it is worth cycling this tank because it is too small to use long term.

I could do 100% daily water changes but had been doing more like 20% in the belief it would be less stressful than a complete change.

So two questions:

Is there ANY level of ammonia that is considered safe or am I basically aiming for 0ppm ?

Would 100% water changes be stressful for my Axolotl?

The tank

0.25ppm ammonia is potentially acceptable, but as I said you should cycle without your Axolotl in the tank. Cycling with such low readings of ammonia will create a weak cycle as well as taking ages to cycle fully. You need to be dosing your ammonia to higher levels in order to create a strong cycle, which is why you should cycle without your Axolotl in the tank.

100% water changes will be okay, but is just laborious and potentially stressful to the Axolotl depending on the method you take to perform the water changes.

I would be tempted to cycle this tank and use it as a learning curve for any future tanks you acquire, you could also use items from this tank when cycled to seed your new tank, helping to get the new cycle going faster since you can transfer the beneficial bacteria on ornaments/filter media.

Your tank has hardly anything in it, without surfaces in the tank the bacteria that is colonising it has nothing to attach itself to. This is another reason why a filter is beneficial as it will hold a huge portion of the bacteria that feeds on ammonia and nitrite. You should look at finding more hides, real plants, fake plants, large pebbles, anything that beneficial bacteria can attach itself to. It would be best to fill your tank with more water as well since larger volumes of water buffer ammonia, nitrite, and nitrAte making them weaker. A larger volume of water would also stay cooler for longer.

Also, I'm not a fan of the hide you are using, I have seen them in aquatic stores before, they are made of a very coarse ruff material which I think does not agree with Axolotls delicate skin. If your Axolotl was to swim frantically round the tank (which they often do) and hit this hide or scrape against it, it could do some damage.

Great tips, many thanks Indeed.

I do have cycling experience with tropical tanks but am by no means an expert! Always grateful for pointers.

I too thought the hide might be too rough but there was no alternative choice at the time of purchasing. Will endeavour to find something more suitable since s/he doesn't use it and only hides behind it anyway.

I have decided to pinch something from my cycled fishtank to use as a seed for a new axolotl tank since I need a bigger setup soon anyway.

Looking forward to my axolotl results looking more like my attached fish results!