Urgent Advice Needed Re New Tank

Hi All! I'm a first-time axolotl owner and 3 days in I think I've got a problem. As no amount of Googling has given me the answers I need, I'm hoping that you guys can give me some advice.

After doing my research on the cycling process, I opted to use Tetra Safe Start in order to speed things up as a lot of people seem to have had great success with the product. I followed the instructions to the letter, adding the TSS 24 hours after dechlorinating my tank water and introducing my new axolotl friend, Boo, to the tank within an hour (after letting him/her acclimate). Yesterday I came home from work to find that the water had gone slightly cloudy, which I understand is likely to be a bacterial bloom.

What concerns me is that it doesn't seem to say anywhere on the internet whether this is normal when using TSS - generally, TSS is prescribed to help clear bacterial blooms. Therefore, I'm wondering whether the cloudiness I've got is a sign that the TSS hasn't worked, or whether it's just the beneficial bacteria having multiplied and not settled in the filter and substrate yet.

Even though the general consensus when using TSS is not to test for the first week, I have been testing the water every day to keep an eye out for spikes that might be harmful to little Boo. The ammonia levels have been hovering around 1ppm, which Tetra say is normal for the first week after using TSS, the nitrItes have stayed at 0pmm, and the nitrAtes have stayed at just over 20ppm (which is the same as my ordinary tap water). The only change that coincided with the appearance of the cloudiness was a rise in pH from the approx 7.9 of my tap water to 8.2. I've kept the tank at a stable 19.5C throughout.

Overall, Boo seems to be quite active and content and is eating well. As the bacteria will likely be using a lot of the oxygen in the water I've increased aeration as much as I dare without causing a strong current from the filter, but s/he does still swim to the surface quite a lot for little gulps of air - I don't have experience enough to know how often s/he would do this anyway under "normal" conditions. Boo's health and wellbeing is my main consideration, so I'm trying to decide between the following courses of action:

1. Wait out the TSS for a full week and continue to monitor the water quality.
2. Add more TSS to the current water to see if that helps the problem. (I bought two bottles, just in case.)
3. Do a large water change and start again with the TSS.
4. Scrap the TSS entirely and start doing daily water changes.

On the subject of water changes, what's the best way of keeping the temperature in the tank reasonably constant when topping up with fresh water? My cold tap water is only a few degrees above freezing at this time of year - would it be ok to use some from the hot tap (or kettle) to get the temperature up a bit?

Thanks in advance. :happy:

Hi there where abouts are you?

With the cloudiness i would (and im no expert) recommend daily water changes of about 20% especially as you have an ammonia reading of that.. Keep testing your water n soon enough you should see a reduction,

As for keeping the water warm when i do water changes because the water cools my heater comes on until it get bk up to 18•c im not surewhat other people do, hope some of this can help and in addition other people help good luck xx

P.s keep using dechlorinater i use tetra aqua safe dont know if this is same thing as what u use and have you put anything in your tank hides plants ect? x

Hi Moobear and thanks for the advice. =) I'm in Northamptonshire, how about you?

As I'm using Tetra Safe Start for cycling my tank, if I start doing water changes before the treatment runs its course (assuming it is working) I'll disrupt the process and definitely be in for the long slog of getting my tank cycled with axolotl in. It's a tricky decision to make without knowing for sure whether the bloom is normal when using this product - if anyone else here has had this then please let me know what the outcome was!

I've got a selection of fake plants and a hide in the tank along with a fine sand substrate. So far I've just used the sachet of dechlorinator that came with my tank originally (I think it was Aquamel Plus), but I've got a bottle of Tetra Aqua Safe for ongoing use. I've also got a heater to keep the temperature stable but it took the best part of a day to get the tank from 3C to 19C when I first filled it so if I do end up doing daily water changes I was hoping to avoid lots of temperature yo-yoing (and crazy high electricity bills ).

Sounds to me like it is a bacterial bloom trying to gain surface..
Pretty much, you got all this bacteria and no where for it to sit
You might try adding a moss ball (I added a marimo moss ball to my tank) and it cleared my tank up clearer than it had ever been.
That or some plants, or substrate, etc.

I've used Safe Start once but it is normal to see cloudiness in newly started aquariums regardless of product or method.

Now I am confused as to where you've read to not test the water the first week while using Safe Start? What if things start going wrong? I am confused by this a bit.

Tanks typically take 3-6 weeks to cycle even with the use of the bacterial starter(I've started many aquariums using different products and 3 weeks is usually the minimum time length I've ever gotten). If you're Ammonia levels are 1.0ppm I would suggest small water changes, 25% at LEAST every 2-3 days, to help alleviate the issue. If its only been 3 days and its already 1.0 then its rising pretty rapidly. I would monitor feeding and remove any uneaten food after about 10min to make sure no food is decaying in the aquarium.

And regards to your water temp issue from your tap. I typically run both my hot and cold water at the same time and get the water temp about the same and use a dechlorinator. Other thing you could do is have already prepared water waiting to be used that has gotten to room temp.

Hi, I'm in the Chilterns so have hard water which has high nitrates too, I didn't use TSS just Aquasafe and did daily water changes, its not quick but at least you know the levels will be safe. I've been doing daily changes for some time as previously they were in an uncycled tank so I've become very quick at doing it and use a siphon to take water out and prefil 5l bottles with Aquasafe the previous day so they come to room temperature and they're ready to go.

If your ammonia is 1ppm you need to do regular water changes. This will dilute the ammonia, otherwise your axolotl may suffer from ammonia burn.

I put my axolotl in an uncycled tank. I did water changes daily of about 20 - 25%. It might take longer to cycle, but it's much better on your axies health and well being! If you want to continue without doing water changes you need to take the axolotl out of the tank. He can stay in a small plastic container, but you must do 100% water changes in that daily to keep it fresh and clean.

It's not advised to run hot water for tanks as it may add copper into the water from the pipes. I have a bucket which i put cold water in and leave to sit over night to warm up to around room temperature. That way I'm not adding really cold water into the tank. Make sure you add tap safe dechlorinator to every water change, otherwise the metals in the tap water can also cause harm. - Also a heater is not necessary. The axolotls prefer cooler water. Mine is quite happy at around 16c and it saves on electricity.

Axolotls often swim to the surface to get more oxygen. Mine used to swim up a lot when I first got him. His gills are growing now so he spends less time swimming to the surface for breaths. It's perfectly normal though :happy:

Thanks for the helpful responses, guys.

Re not doing tests for a week, Tetra say not to test for 48hrs as the Safe Start can produce some anomalous results. The not testing for a week is an internet word of wisdom - I guess many people have panicked and failed with this product due to adding other chemicals that adversely affected the bacteria.

It says on one of Tetra's FAQs that ammonia levels of 1-1.5ppm are normal to start out with as the bacteria are stored in a stabilised ammonia solution, which of course is added along with the bacterial culture. The ammonia levels spiked immediately after I added the TSS and have stayed stable since, to be honest the test colour doesn't quite correspond to 1ppm but I play safe/pessimist and round up. I feed Boo by hand and have cleaned up all the waste I've found, so I know there's nothing hanging around and going nasty.

I like the idea of leaving the PWC water overnight to get to room temperature, I'll prepare some dechlorinated water ready for tomorrow to take the edge off the ammonia levels if they haven't started to budge by then already.

PS - My house (Victorian, single glazed...-_-) is double-jumper freezing in the wintertime, the heater is mainly to keep the tank at a stable compromise temperature between the 20C recommended for TSS and optimal axolotl temperatures. :happy:

EJgraydon said:

Sounds to me like it is a bacterial bloom trying to gain surface..
Pretty much, you got all this bacteria and no where for it to sit
You might try adding a moss ball (I added a marimo moss ball to my tank) and it cleared my tank up clearer than it had ever been.
That or some plants, or substrate, etc.

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Just to quote if u do get a moss ball they must be cleaned as the suck up all gunk but leave a nasty smell if not washed out all u do is put in a bowl o your fish tank water (in a bowl not the tank) and squeeze like squeezing the water from a sponge just a tip incase u do x

BooChan said:

Hi Moobear and thanks for the advice. =) I'm in Northamptonshire, how about you?
).

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Im in west yorkshire , sorry forgot to reply to this earlier x

Just to join in here.... Looks like the starter product needs to be used in the tank without the axolotls present and without water changes. Your bacteria need the ammonia but your axolotls need to be without it; amphibians are very sensitive to bad water conditions. Starting a new tank is tricky for that reason. Best way is to use your starter product in the tank and grow your bacteria colonies without the axolotls in it. Keep them in a bare tank and do daily water changes of maybe 50% to keep any ammonia down to undetectable levels. Just give them somewhere for shade and maybe a large handful of Java moss to sit on or under. Less stressful for you and for the axolotls.

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wandering said:

Just to join in here.... Looks like the starter product needs to be used in the tank without the axolotls present and without water changes. Your bacteria need the ammonia but your axolotls need to be without it; amphibians are very sensitive to bad water conditions. Starting a new tank is tricky for that reason. Best way is to use your starter product in the tank and grow your bacteria colonies without the axolotls in it. Keep them in a bare tank and do daily water changes of maybe 50% to keep any ammonia down to undetectable levels. Just give them somewhere for shade and maybe a large handful of Java moss to sit on or under. Less stressful for you and for the axolotls.

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If you haven't done a water change yet I would highly recommend removing the axolotl from the tank or immediate water change of 50%. The bacteria colonize in the filter, so removing the water shouldn't make too much difference.

wandering said:

Just to join in here.... Looks like the starter product needs to be used in the tank without the axolotls present and without water changes.

Click to expand...

Actually, Tetra Safe Start is marketed as a fish in cycling product - part of its appeal is not having an empty tank for weeks, although that may have been the better option after all. =/

I did a 20% water change this morning, which has got the ammonia down to a smidge over 0.25 judging by the colour of the test water (I must definitely have been pessimistic about the previous results), and I'll keep doing PWCs to keep the ammonia under control. The water's still cloudy but hopefully that'll settle soon.