Help with tank reading please

I thought my new tank was cycled . But my tank reading are nitrate 10 pmm nitrite 0 ppm ammonia .50 ppm. I set up the new tank cycled it and got 3 new axolotls. When they grow bigger I will put them in the big tank. They are under 3 inches long right now and in a 20 gal. long. All the readings were fine till i put them. Is it that they put to much bio load in the tank to fast? I have been doing water changes every day to try and keep the levels down. It is a bare bottom tank. I clean up all the left over food and poo. Temp is around 60 deg. I'am also going to get some live plants. Any help or ideas would be great.

When you say your tank was cycled what were your readings then? This level of ammonia isn't a drastic change, I don't think. I'm no expert but I would say keep on with the 20% changes every day and keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrate levels. To me it seems you haven't a very high nitrate level, perhaps this is because you have only just finished cycling the tank so the nitrate hasn't built up. Perhaps putting the axolotls in such a freshly cycled tank just tipped the balance.

If I thinking right they were Ammonia was 0 nitrite was 0 and nitrate was vary low if not 0. Have have grow up with fish tanks all my life. I was thinking they just tipped the balance. i was do ing 50% every day. Is that to much? Do you think the live plant's will help?

Hi kclinton,

I am inclined to think your tank has cycled or is very near the end of cycling due to the presence of nitrates.

I am not surprised that you would have some ammonia reading upon placing your axolotls in the tank. They excrete nitrogenous wastes not only via the cloaca (poop) but also via their gills and skin. Furthermore, three axolotls at once would be like a factory churning out wastes constantly.

It is fantastic you are performing water changes and siphoning out visible wastes. Follow Kerry's advice on performing 20% water changes and monitor your water parameters frequently. Do you use a dechlorinator each time? Have you tried testing your tap water directly (some places use chloramines and can give a positive ammonia reading)?

Two things which i also thought you did well and worth mentioning are keeping the tank cool and plans to add live plants. Live plants can act as a buffer against ammonia spikes as they preferentially use ammonia and nitrites as plant food before nitrates. However, you would need to ensure they get some light per day otherwise if the plants die, they would just contribute to the bioload as they rot.

Ammonia in water exists in two forms: unionized ammonia (UIA); and ionized ammonia (IA). UIA is considered much more toxic than IA. Most test kits measure total ammonia nitrogen (TAN). TAN is the sum of the two forms (UIA and IA). As temperature or pH increase, so does the proportion of UIA. Therefore, keeping your tank cool is also a way to reduce ammonia toxicity.

And yes, i think 50% water change is way too much! Sticking to the 20% water change would be much more effective and safer for your axies too.

Cheers

Thanks I will start doing 20% today. What I do is feed them about and hour later i do the water change to make sure I get all the left over food out. I have had my adult Axolotl for about 4 years. He love the live plant's. I don't have light on the tank But the room they are in gets alot of light.

I just tested the tap water It dose have a ammonia reading of about .25 ppm.

Hi Karrie,

kclinton said:

I just tested the tap water It dose have a ammonia reading of about .25 ppm.

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If you have ammonia in your tap water this indicates that your water supplier is using chloromine.

An extract from Jennifer Macke's article 'Water Quality for Aquatic Caudates':

"About half of the waterworks in the U.S. now use chloramine, not chlorine. Letting your tap water sit out overnight will NOT get rid of chloramine, you must use a treatment product. After treating, it is still a good idea to let the water sit overnight also, to allow dissolved gasses to dissipate, and for the temperature to equilibrate to match your tank. How do you know for sure if your waterworks is using chloramine? Do an ammonia test on your tapwater. If you have ammonia there, it means your waterworks uses chloramine. Even if your waterworks doesn’t use chloramine today, it may switch over (and they might not tell you when they do!). Get used to the idea of chloramine, and use an appropriate product to get rid of it.

You may be surprised to learn that aging water overnight does not entirely get rid of chlorine either. Depending on the temperature and the size/shape of the container, it can take over a week for chlorine to dissipate from tap water. Again, even if you have just chlorine, you probably need to use an appropriate water conditioner to treat the water before use."

A link to the article for futher information: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/waterquality.shtml

Even after using a dechlorinator to neutralize the chlorine/chloromine, you may find that the test kit will still detect the presence of Ammonia in your tap water. When this water is poured into the tank, the bacteria will break this trace of ammonia down just like any other waste.

You probably already know this, but I would check the water conditioner you are using to ensure it does get rid of chloromines as well as chlorine - it should be clearly marked on the label.

That good to know. I was letting the water sit over night. I have some stuff called prime that I add to the water after a water change in my tropical tank. It takes out chloramine , Can I add some to the axolotl tank? Would that be the same as treating it before you put the water in the tank?

Me again

kclinton said:

That good to know. I was letting the water sit over night. I have some stuff called prime that I add to the water after a water change in my tropical tank. It takes out chloramine , Can I add some to the axolotl tank? Would that be the same as treating it before you put the water in the tank?

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The water needs to be treated for chlorine/chloromine before being put into the tank.

If you add the tap water to the aquarium without being treated first, the chlorine/chloromine will wipe out all bacteria in the tank effectively killing the cycle.

When doing water changes, it's best to add the conditioner to the bucket of fresh tap water and then pour this treated water into the tank to preserve your bacterias. This also ensures the water volume is receiving the correct dosage of conditioner to neutralize the chlorine/chloromine.

Hi kclinton,

Just to chip in that the product you are using "Prime" is a really high quality one. It effectively gets rid of chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals and even detoxifies ammonia and nitrite as long as you follow the instructions and use the right amounts.

I just thought it would be nice to have a bit of consolation with all the worries of the ammonia level.

Cheers.

Thanks for all the help. I will treat the water before I put it in the tank. I have used alot of different products for the tanks . I really like the prime the best. It is the only one I use now. It cost more but worth it in the long run.

So when I got up this morning I notice that my little guys were more active than normal. I tested the water again Ammonia .25 ppm Nitrite .25 ppm Nitrate 10. Is this a mini cycle maybe? I use a drip test.

Hi kclinton,

The water parameters are getting better compared to the very first readings in your first post. Just contine to monitor your water parameters and perform 20% water change regularly and very soon your tank will be fully cycled.

Cheers