Cloudy water..

Hi I purchased 2 axolotls on Saturday approx 1.5 years. After letting the water cycle for a few hours I put them in (was given no advice on setting up a tank from the pet store) I also added a water ager supplement and have a filter approiate for tank siz. The water and the axolotls were fine for 24 hours then the water became cloudy but the axolotls were still bright and alert. I spoke to a vet whom recommened emptying about 90% of the water and letting it cycle for longer im also going to by a pH testing kit and a water dechloriniser supplement for the water. any other advise?

Yep, read that link. Cycling (establishing bacteria to convert ammonia from waste into nitrate) takes a least a few weeks. This site explains it all, but you'll have to test your water daily and do 20% water changes every day or every second day until you've got ammonia and nitrite readings of zero until your tank is cycled. The cloudiness could well be ammonia. Test kits of the test tube variety are available at pet shops, cityfarmers etc and absolutely essential. And a thermometer. There's no advantage in larger water changes, in fact they can delay or prevent your tank cycling and result in big fluctuation in water parameters which are stressful for your axies. Don't know what advise the petshop gave you, if any, about substrate, but gravel is no good. Bare floor, sand or bare tank floor and a few large ie 5cm plus diameter stones are your best options. As they're adults, and assuming their weight is ok, they'll only need to eat a couple of times a week. Overfeeding can also cause water cloudiness and high ammonia as the axies produce more waste and excess food fouls the water. Clean up any uneaten food after an hour or so to prevent that. Once it's all cycled, there's a lot less maintenance involved, and you'll only need to do weekly water changes of about 20% to keep things ticking over. Good luck.

As Lisa said, ignore what the vet said. Stick to 20% water changes. Doing 90% water changes will prolong the time it takes for your tank to cycle. The cloudiness is more than likely to be the bacteria from the tank beginning to cycle. Here is an article that explains the process in more detail: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml

It can take many weeks for your tank to cycle so just make sure you monitor the water regularly for ammonia (this is the most important test) and then nitrate and nitrite. Cycled tanks should have readings:
Ammonia 0
NirtrIte 0
NitrAte 10-40

PH testing kit is also a good idea as you mentioned you were getting a kit. Anything between 6.5-8 is fine. So if it is towards the upper or lower end of these, don't try to change it, especially with chemicals, as a stable PH is very important. And yes, you do need to use water agers so keep that up

Other advice I would give would be to monitor your temperature also. Try to keep the tank under 20C ideally, and never over 24C.

Thanks for all your advice I tested the water before even before doing a 20% change and the ph is 7.1 so is fine also the cloudiness has improved since last nite. The guy at the pet store which is also a fish specialist store said to feed them every 2 days but may change to every 3 days as there is a lot of food waste, is this ok? I am now going to clean up everyday with a turkey baster the food and excrement waste from the bottom of the tank as it seems to work a charm. I will test other levels too e.g ammiona, nitrate etc..

Oh and it's heading into autumn in New Zealand so keeping the tank under 20C is easy as they are also in a dark bedroom in a old villa.