Treating water

Hey there,

I was just wondering whether it is ok to add aquarium salt to the water? The product that I have at the moment is called Aqua Master- Aquarium salt. Apparently it adds electrolytes such as sodium, calcium, magnesium, and chloride to fresh aquarium water.

Jay.

no need to add aquarium salt to the water. Keep the aquarium salt though, just in case you need to do saltbaths in the future if your axolotl gets a fungal infection, it's always handy to have!

water quality

Amphibians do need trace amounts of sodium, calcium and magnesium in their water. But most water sources have enough. Having too much could be harmful, so I don't think you need to add any.

Thanks for your replies. I've been testing my water rather frequently and I always seem to have a trace amount of ammonia- about 0.15ppm. I know that I shouldn't use ammo-lock but desperate times call for desperate measures (and my axie doesn't seem to mind). I've also got zeolite in my internal filter...I don't know how else to eliminate the ammonia. Water changes don't seem to be doing much neither. Oh, and my nitrite and nitrate levels are both 0 which is really good.
-How do I eliminate the ammonia?
-How do you treat the tap water prior to adding it to the tank? (exlcuding the obvious, such as dechlorinating and adjusting the temperature)

Jay.

I add a dechlorinating solution ( from my local super store) to the water that is being added to the tank.
To eliminate the ammonai build up you need to do regular spot cleaning of left over food and axy poo. Initially when I had this problem I did daily 20% water changes, it will seem like it goes on for ever ( mine took 5 weeks which is on the longer side), but eventually the readings did drop to the correct levels. I initially used the 5 in 1 tests but found the readings erratic so now use test kits for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates and then ph, it was mind boggling at first but now I do a full test every 3 weeks or so and an ammonia and nitrite after every water change.
Out of interest what else do you have in the tank with your axolotl?

Oh yeah, that seems like the best option. I didn't think the daily water changes would drag out for so long, but it's all worth it in the end XD I don't have any other fish with my axie, she's all by herself but that's because I don't think I'll be able to look after anymore fish...I'm that experienced just as yet. How about you? Do you keep any other fish/salamanders apart from the axolotl?
Just quickly, I've read that it is possible for the axie's to ingest the gravel . I have rocks in my tank as my substrate. The rocks are about 1.5cm on average...will she ingest these rocks? And if she does (which I pray that she doesn't!) how will I know whether she has? And how do I expell the rocks from her digestive tract?

Jay

Jay you can't expel the rocks! If you put them in the fridge or bare tank floor you may find pieces of gravel will appear over a period of months.

The easiest thing is no gravel or rocks.

One of ours died about a month ago after trying to poo out a piece of pebble, just a bit bigger than 2cm (one of those round glass ones). This was one of our adults, which we'd had for 18months and during that time had only been on sand but pooed out numerous bits of gravel and pebbles, she had been raised on gravel/pebbles by their original owner for 3 years.

I'm sorry for your loss Kapo. I also know what it is like to lose an axie...absolutely tragic
I'm really worried about the rocks now. How will I know if she has ingested some rocks? Are there obvious symptoms/signs? I thought that it they wouldn't ingest rocks that are greater than the size of a pea (according www.axolotl.org) but you're telling me that yours ingested one that was 2 cm! I am tempted to change to sand now but I don't have anywhere else to keep her...any ideas?

Jay

Don't forget they grow, they have large heads/mouths so when they open their mouths to snuffle/suck in food they invariably suck in whatever's in the surrounding vicinity.

We were amazed when we first brought our adult axolotls home and found pieces of gravel, and especially the glass pebbles appearing in the sand! Talk about wincing at the thought!

Our original ones, which we still have, were just juveniles at the time and had only been raised, by the breeder, on bare substrate so no chance of ever ingesting gravel.

You can actually put her in a bucket, put some of the tankwater in and remove the gravel completely, then place her back in the tank and put her tankwater back into the tank.

Keep it bare for a few weeks and see how you go, it is by far easier to clean and for feeding livefood (worms can't bury themselves in substrate). We have sand in a few tanks and bare tank floor in others. Ideally I'd remove sand from them completely as it makes for easier tank maintenance, but husband would object as he did all the work cleaning the sand when we originally set our first tanks up. You also have to stir the sand weekly to make sure pockets of gas don't buildup plus make sure waste doesn't get trapped/embedded in sand which can cause a water quality problem if you don't check it.

Yeah that seems like a really good. But on the downside, I have a undergravel filter-UGF (just the the plate though, I use an internal filter now) because my mum use to keep goldfish. Anyway, I'm thinking that the sand might become lodged under the UGF and prove to be a difficult task while cleaning the tank. However, if I leave the tank bare, I still have the UGF there which seems worse if you ask me. Can't I just use slates to cover over the rocks that I have in my tank now? And then when I it comes to cleaning the tank, just remove the slates and siphon through the rocks?

Jay

You'd do better removing the under gravel filter. Gunk also falls beneath the plate, so even if you put the slate down, lifted them for cleaning to siphon the rocks you wouldn't get the gunk below the plate, which leads to an ongoing water quality problem.

Morning!
I haven't yet had my coffee so this might be a bit of a dim question from me...but how about removing the underground filter all together, and just use the internal one?

My tank at present contains 1 large male in one section and in a smaller divided section 5 of his super fast growing offspring ( there are another 5 in a smaller tank). In his side he has mainly glass substrate with a cave, about 5 or six clumps of mainly plastic plants in terracotta pots with sand around them and a few rocks to hold the plants down.He has a java moss ball that he moves about plus a couple of very large marbles for decoration..he pushes those against the pots/ glass . He also has a long air stone with him that he places various parts of his body on. The hooligans next door have circular air stone that they like to swim through...and then pretend to be scared!!!. I also have one filter that hangs inside the tank.
The problem with putting something over your rocks is that it will be a really effective way of trapping left over food and other axolotl gunk ( my rocks and plants do this and you need to be very aware that its there and is removed quickly before it fowls the water).

Yeah, but that would mean that I would have to transfer my axie into a bucket, and possibly cause her to sustain another injury (as she did last time) not to mention stress her out. Also, I would have to take out most of the water which means going through another cycle. I don't think my axie will like too much for doing that. I understand that the UGF is problematic but I'm trying to outweigh which process would be more stressful for my axie:
1). Leave the tank as it as with the UGF
2). Remove the UGF and do all of the above
Currently with option 1, I am starting to notice some ammonia build-up- the reading is 1ppm at the moment. However, I'm sure with regular water changes I should be able to maintain the ammonia at a safe level. Furthermore, my pH is at 6.5 which is suffciently low, hence the ammonia shouldn't be too harmful to my axie. All other parameters are at 0 (nitrite and nitrate). I will do another water change tomorrow to bring the ammonia levels down. Thanks for your help Kapo.

Jay

Jay

I can understand your concerns - when we first got ours we got entirely frustrated and more than a bit stressed, probably more so than our axolotls, chasing them round the tank trying to catch them with a net. Invariably they did get slight damage.

We soon learned the easiest way is to coax or herd them into a container using another one, scooping water up along the way. If need be use two icecream containers or a large plastic jug on its side and another one. If you find s/hes getting a bit stressed then leave it and try again in a few hours. You can then leave it in the container, place something over it.

The main reason I said to remove some of the water is so you can get the rocks/filter plate out. If you have a couple of buckets, and once your axolotl is out of the way then siphon majority of the water into the buckets (keep the water don't toss it!). Then remove any plants, caves and decos, place them in one of the buckets of tankwater. You may need to use a plastic container or jug to start removing the gravel (obviously have something for gravel to go into), then remove the filter plate. Siphon any remaining waste out of the tank. Once that's done replace the decos and pour the tankwater back in the tank. Last but not least return your axie to the tank.

Your tank is still in the early stages of cycling, so it will really be minimal disturbance to the cycling process.

Thanks. I am going to continue using my tank with the UGF and see how I go with controlling the water parameters, if it gets to the point where it's too difficult to maintain then I will most certainly take you up on your very helpful suggestions.
Also, just wondering how you go about bringing the ammonia levels down to 0ppm and maintaining it at that level?

Jay

You actually need the ammonia to rise, as part of the nitrogen cycle. The waterchanges, albeit time consuming, will keep the toxins down for your axolotl to reside somewhat safely as long as you don't leave it for a week to change your water (some people think leaving it a week and doing a large water change 50% or more will help but it doesn't).

Your ammonia will continue to rise and then will peak, as it starts coming down you'll notice the nitrite levels will start to rise and continue along the same lines.

Once your tank is cycled your ammonia and nitrite levels will be at 0, nitrate levels will be higher (anything from 10-40ppm), thereafter you can do weekly waterchanges and weekly or fortnightly water testing to check the parameters are ok. My longest cycle on a tank took 8 weeks, my shortest 3 weeks (another australian owner's tank took 10.5 weeks to cycle)

Ohh...that makes a lot more sense now I thought my ammonia levels were just going up because my axie was being grubby or it was because of the UGF. I was quite baffled to find that my nitrite and nitrate levels were at 0ppm..started to make me think that the nitrogen cycle was not working properly within my tank. Given everything that you just mentioned Kapo, does this mean that I did not cycle my tank properly prior to getting my axolotl?

Jay

I think you basically answered your own question!

How did you start the "cycle" in your tank?

Usually adding an axolotl or goldfish to a tank, if it hasn't been cycled will start the cycling process, ie: ammonia from food and waste.

Well, I ran the tank for about 5 weeks or so, and did weekly water changes. I was also checking the water parameters and my ammonia was always about 0.15ppm, nitrite and nitrate were always 0ppm. I think my main problem was adding the prodcut 'Cycle'. Do you think that would've affected my nitrogen cycle? If so, what should I do now? I've been doing daily water changes to try and reduce the ammonia level which is at 1ppm, and I've also been adding Ammo-Lock (which I know I shouldn't) but I don't want her to get ammonia poisoning. I have however, stop using 'Cycle'.

Jay