Question: Cycling with axolotls - is our tank safe?

Hello,

This might be a little long, but we could really do with some advice...

We have a 3ft tank with about 100 litres of water in it, and 2 axies. We got them about 3 weeks ago, and are cycling with tank with the axolotls in it (I know this is not ideal).

We have been doing water tests every day (using API drop test kits), and also doing daily water changes, varying in size from about 25%-70%, depending on how high the ammonia has been.

Over the last couple of days the ammonia and nitrite levels seem to have spiked despite big water changes. Today levels are roughly as follows:

Nitrite: 0.5 ppm
Ammonia: 0.5 ppm (this was 1 ppm yesterday before a massive water change)

We're not yet testing for nitrate, as we figured there won't really be much yet.

I have also tested the tap water with dechlorinator in it as a control, and this showed no ammonia or nitrite.

We're a bit worried that these levels might be stressful for the axies, but I'm not sure what else we can do to improve things for them. Can anyone offer any advice? Am I worrying unnecessarily, or are these levels dangerous?

The tank has sand on the bottom, a couple of plastic plants, some big glass pebbles, a couple of ornaments, and 2 hidey houses. We have an internal power filter. The temperature is 20 degrees C (room temperature). Should I take out the ornaments and clean them, or will this remove the bacteria? Would some live plants help the cycling process?

Any advice would be much appreciated, we don't want our axies to be unhappy!

Thanks.

live plants would help the cycling process, but you would need a fair amount for you to actually notice any difference. You would also need proper lighting for them, which you may or may not already have.
But the good news is .5 ppm's of ammonia is not in the danger zone. To keep the tank parameters ideal, I'd try to keep it at .5 ppm's or below, but if the ammonia reaches 1 ppm by the end of the day, so long as you do a decent waterchange your axolotls will not be harmed.
I've always been advised to make sure nitrite doesn't go above 3 ppm's while cycling, so I don't think you have anything to worry about with only .5 ppm's.
Do not take out ornaments and clean the bacteria off of them, this would only harm the cycling process. The beneficial bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite to nitrate lives on surfaces like your ornaments, and if you take them all out and clean them you will lose a decent amount, and need to do even more waterchanges.

carsona246 said:

live plants would help the cycling process, but you would need a fair amount for you to actually notice any difference. You would also need proper lighting for them, which you may or may not already have.
But the good news is .5 ppm's of ammonia is not in the danger zone. To keep the tank parameters ideal, I'd try to keep it at .5 ppm's or below, but if the ammonia reaches 1 ppm by the end of the day, so long as you do a decent waterchange your axolotls will not be harmed.
I've always been advised to make sure nitrite doesn't go above 3 ppm's while cycling, so I don't think you have anything to worry about with only .5 ppm's.
Do not take out ornaments and clean the bacteria off of them, this would only harm the cycling process. The beneficial bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite to nitrate lives on surfaces like your ornaments, and if you take them all out and clean them you will lose a decent amount, and need to do even more waterchanges.

Click to expand...

That's really helpful, thanks! We've been pretty diligent with water changes and so far not got above 1ppm ammonia (it's only got to this once or twice) and 1ppm nitrite, and done a water change sharpish when it has, so we'll keep going as we are... just wanted to check the guys are OK with the levels we're getting