The fridge and Nitrate.

My axolotl of two years, Loki, died yesterday.
He wasnt eating, and was getting very thin. I thought it was just his colour, but it seems we had fungus all over him, but i didnt notice until his last days

His tankmate, who I just call "little loki" isnt eating much either.
He's snapped at a falling pellet, but didnt get it.
I've offered him raw meat, earthworms, mealworms and pellets.
He'll seem interested, come over to me, but is alot more interested in my hand than the food.
And if i use a skewer or tweezer he'll just stand there, but wont try to eat it.

I've done water tests, and everything if fine expet for nitrate. which is 60-70, i can understand this because i forgot to remove some pellets from the water.
How can I clean up the bottom, without completely changing the water.
Its just nitrate thats a problem, and I dont want to mess pH, ammonia and nitrite up with water changes.


He's healthy besides the not eating part. He isnt as thin as Loki was, and has no signs of fungi on his body. He walks around happily, coming for air from time to time, and no floating at all.

Its been a bit hot too, so Im going to put him int he fridge. What kind of container should I use?
is an ice-cream container alright? should the water just cover him even though he's not floating?
does it need to be big enough for him to swim? or just big enough for his body?
should I try to feed him while he's in there?

oh! and also, should I use the water from his fistank for the fridge container? or should I use dechlorinated tap-water?
thanks in advance!

taelliejade said:

I've done water tests, and everything if fine expet for nitrate. which is 60-70, i can understand this because i forgot to remove some pellets from the water.
How can I clean up the bottom, without completely changing the water.
Its just nitrate thats a problem, and I dont want to mess pH, ammonia and nitrite up with water changes.

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Those nitrate levels are really high. That's the sort of level that can cause sickness in your animals with long term exposure. To get uneaten food and whatnot out of the tank you can use a turkey baster or a gravel siphon. Siphon's look like this.

I think you need a siphon because you really do need to perform water changes. It appears your tank is cycled by the lack of nitrite and ammonia so you are getting a buildup of the cycle's end product, nitrate. The only way to remove nitrate is to remove some of the water and replace it with fresh dechlorinated water. If you only remove 20-30% of the water from your tank then you shouldn't have any problems with the tank recycling. I would recommend you do several 20-30% water changes over the next couple of days until your nitrate is closer to 0-10ppm. You normally don't want the nitrate to top 20-40ppm.

Its been a bit hot too, so Im going to put him int he fridge. What kind of container should I use? is an ice-cream container alright? should the water just cover him even though he's not floating?
does it need to be big enough for him to swim? or just big enough for his body?
should I try to feed him while he's in there?

Click to expand...

It should be at least as big as him. An ice cream pail should be fine. I think you can put some extra water in there, but you have to make sure that you keep a bottle of water in the fridge so that when you change his water it will be the same temperature. The water in his bucket should be changed every day. The bucket should be wrapped in a towel so that the blinking of the fridge light doesn't stress him out.

I think you should still feed him in the fridge, just less often than normal. Hopefully someone will correct me there if I'm wrong.

oh! and also, should I use the water from his fistank for the fridge container? or should I use dechlorinated tap-water?
thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Yes, use fresh dechlorinated tap water.

To add to what Abrahm has said: Your tank does seem properly cycled. To keep it that way and to prevent it from crashing, it's probably a good idea to tip the old contents of the ice cream tub into your tank each day to keep the cycle going. Saves creating a problem whilst trying to fix another.

Just make sure your fridge temperature is 5 degrees Celcius or above before placing him in there. If you're not sure of temperature, place a thermometer in a glass of water and place in the fridge (check it after 20minutes). Our juveniles would eat at 5 degrees Celcius but our adults wouldn't. If your fridge temperature is higher (round 8-10 degrees Celcius) he may eat.