Cycle crash?

Hello all,

I have had my axolotl for about 3 weeks now. The tank was cycled before he/she was added to the tank. I've done daily water quality checks and weekly water changes since adding the axolotl to the tank, and haven't had any problems. Ammonia and nitrite have been 0, Nitrate has been 5ppm, and pH had been constant around 6.8 (the pH of the tap water here). The temperature also has been a steady 19 C. The axolotl is young and is fed bloodworms each day and all food is removed from the tank after about 15 minutes. Waste is removed when seen with a turkey baster. I use API stress coat to treat the water.

Friday afternoon when I got home from work I noticed the tank was cloudy. I tested the water and had the normal readings stated above, only the pH had dropped to almost 6.0! I did a 20% water change that night and again Saturday morning, and rinsed all the live plants the best I could to see if any decaying plant matter was the problem. Saturday night the tank was still cloudy and the pH dropped again, so I thought it might be a bacteria bloom and did another water change and rinsed the filter media in some tank water. This morning the tank was very cloudy again, and the pH was 7.2, Ammonia 0, Nitrites were 2ppm, and Nitrates were 40ppm! I removed the axolotl into clean water with API stress coat into a bowl and did a couple of 20% water changes over the last 2 hours and have acceptable readings now, but I'm pretty sure my cycle has crashed and I'm not sure what to do!

Any help would be appreciated! I'm looking at possibly getting seachem prime and perhaps TSS? Should I get new filter medium as well? Thank you

Update:

Any recommendations would still be really appreciated, but I am planning to make rearrangements to fridge my axolotl until the tank can re-establish the cycle. If this is a good idea, any cycling tips or axolotl care while in the fridge would be again, really appreciated.

Thanks, and hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

You can keep your axolotl at room temperature (as long as it is appropriate) with 100% daily water changes (with declorinated water) on his temporaryle you tank cycles.

Do you know why your tank crashed? Is there anything in your tank (decor, substrate, rocks. etc) that could be causing the cloudiness or changing the pH?

Donna001 said:

You can keep your axolotl at room temperature (as long as it is appropriate) with 100% daily water changes (with declorinated water) on his temporaryle you tank cycles.

Do you know why your tank crashed? Is there anything in your tank (decor, substrate, rocks. etc) that could be causing the cloudiness or changing the pH?

Click to expand...

I have no idea, I have two fake plants, two live java ferns and 3 small marimo balls, some rocks, sand and a rock cave, I'm not sure if any of that would cause a problem with the cycle? It never caused problems while the tank was cycling and since he has been introduced to the tank. I tried to clean it thoroughly to see if any plant matter or waste was collecting somewhere and causing a spike that crashed the cycle, but I couldn't see anything.

I can't think of anything in your tank that could cause a crash.
Cloudy water/bacterial bloom can also happen if the tank/substrate/filter media have been cleaned rather vigerously, as this can unbalance the bacteria in the tank.
I would suggest keeping the old media and re-establishing the tank cycle while your little one is in a temporary container. Test the water frequently, make sure you have an appropriate source of ammonia to continue the cycling, and get your main tank back on track. You'll probably find that the tank will sort itself out fairly quickly.
Best of luck.

I have pure ammonia safe for aquarium use to try and get the tank back on cycle. I'm thinking that you're correct and that when I cleaned off the filter, I was too rough and threw off the balance of the tank. I'm kind of new to this so I'm probably making a lot of mistakes. I've switched to seachem prime, and the little one is in the fridge until I can guarantee his tank is safe. It is too hot to keep him at room temperature in a container.

I really appreciate your help, I will keep your advice in mind during this whole process.

Best

I think that I was lucky to have quite a few fish tanks prior to considering axolotls. I learned a lot about tank cycling, cleaning etc. with the fish, and with the help of a good fish forum, so between that experience, this forum and a couple of other sites I started with my axolotls with a limited amount of useful knowledge. It still doesn't stop me from worrying about my gang, but the people on this forum have been great.
I hope that your tank finishes it's mini-cycle quickly so you can get your little one back into his tank soon.
:happy: