Illness/Sickness: Help me lower my nitrates!

This weekend I had an incredible scare. The tip of Yanti's tail turned while and sloughed off! After a few frantic calls, i raced to the pet stores for a test of my water parameters. (While there, I purchased my own test kit, to save me the drive in the future and to be able to keep a closer eye on my tank.) As it turns out, my nitrite and ammonia levels are fine, as is my pH, but my nitrate level is sky high (160 ppm). Taking the pet store's advice, I have changed the charcoal in my filter, done a 30% water change and added the recommended dosage of "Special Blend Microbe-Lift", a product designed to boost my bacterial population.
How can I proceed from here? How far can I go to lower my nitrates with water changes before I stress my axolotl out more than it may have been with the high levels? Were nitrate levels actually what caused the tip of her tail to fall off? (Eating habits are fine, gills are fine, activity level is normal.)
Finally, I seek advice on one of my thoughts for aiding in keeping long-term nitrate levels down. Currently, I have a sandy tank bottom, with lots of nooks and crannies under rocks and plants. As nitrate levels are influenced by the amount of detritus, I worry that the architecture of my tank is providing too much space for waste to collect unseen and fester. Should I remove my sand, the better to be able to see waste and remove it promptly? Will this help or hurt my efforts to lower nitrate levels? If it helps, how can I get the sand out with minimal stress to my poor axie?

I would remove your axie and put him in a small tub with fresh dechlorinated water. In the tub his water would need changing daily. You could also put some tea in to sooth his skin from being irritated by the nitrate.

Tea bath for axolotls
Contributed by Daniel Weiner, August 2007.

I mainly use teabaths for minor skin problems. It may also be used with fungal problems but on that account I prefer salt baths. Tea has a slightly antifungal and antibacterial effect (resulting from tannins) and additionally it closes the pores in the skin a little bit (mainly resulting from tannin and caffeine). The skin tightens and gets some kind of protective layer, making it harder for fungi and bacteria to intrude the body. On the other hand it makes it harder for salt or medicine to reach pathogens which are already inside the body - that is the reason I do not use it on fungal infections, although a tea bath is sometimes recommended as a cure for fungal infections by some people.

The medication is as follows: I take one bag of black tea without any additional aroma (it is important to use black tea because this kind of tea is fermented and so it has tannins) for every 10 litres of water (preferably used in a quarantine tank). This tea gets dashed with boiling water in a seperate bowl - I leave it there for at least 10 to 15 minutes so the tannins are resolved into the water. The tea has to cool down and is finally added to the quarantine water. After a week I make a bigger change of water (60% at least), the rest of the tea is removed over time by normal water changes. If you have to make more regular water changes (f.i. in a small bowl or tank) the tea concentration can be refilled. As far as I know there are no negative effects even for long term treatment.

A similar effect (although not as strong) may have the addition of dried oak or beech leafs now and then as a precaution.


To lower your nitrates you probably need to do some small water changes. How often do you clean the tank and do a partial water changes? The sand could be holding waste, but it could also be harboring the bacteria which is good for your tank.

The only efficient way to remove nitrAtes is doing water changes. Adding more bacteria won't do much since it's the last waste product from the breakdown of ammonia so it's what's produced by the bacteria at the end of the nitrogen cycle. The only thing you can ADD to the tank that will help remove SOME would be live plants, but you'll still have to do water changes to help keep it down.

As far as cleaning the waste, the most I can recommend is seeing how well you can remove the decor to clean underneath and just make sure you spot-clean as you see waste appear.

I'll try the tea bath. How long should I leave Yanti in the small tub? until the nitrate levels are lower?
I clean the tank about once a month, with a siphon and sponge for the algae glass. I usually add more water weekly, though I do lose much to evaporation, so it generally just replaces that. In the future, I think I should go for about a 20-25% water change weekly.
I do have live plants in the tank, though I fear the java moss traps more waste than it removes. Are there any plants you would recommend to remove large amounts of nitrate?

Have you checked the water from the tap to see if your tap water is actually contributing to your nitrate problem?

I don't know if this would be smart or not, but would it help to 'acclimate' the axie to fresh clean water by slowly diluting tank water with fresh? Axie newb, don't really have a clue on this but couldn't she get really stressed by the change...even if it's a change from bad to good? I really don't know what it would do to just plop her in a tub of fresh water with or without a tea bath...but maybe someone else does?

Back when I had a pleco on sand, I'd vacuum up all the visible poo and then actually remove or relocate a piece of decoration so I could get underneath it. You probably shouldn't remove each one each time because you could disrupt your bacteria though. (This was a weekly thing.)

As knyptozoologist said, plants will help with your nitrates. But that's also dependent on the types of plants (floaters, root feeders, etc) and the number of plants you have. I've never actually tried using only plants to control my nitrates, but some people construct HOBs with Pothos plants to help control nitrates. New DIY Nitrate filter started om my 210 tank

And I reread your post and saw that you already have plants, so you probably already knew about that stuff. :/

EDIT: Duckweed and floating plants (frogbit, water lettuce) are very good nitrate removers in the tank. But people kind of get annoyed with duckweed because it's tiny and gets everywhere. Oh and it would probably help a lot to suck up visible waste with a turkey baster as you see it, if possible. That way it doesn't have time to degrade into nitrate in your water column.

I'd keep him in the tub until the nitrates are at a safe level (40ppm or under is considered safe). Nitrate is considered the safer of all the toxins in a tank, but a reading that high will most likely be doing damage as it's still a toxin.

You might want to do more regular water changes, taking 20 - 25% each week will help to keep the nitrates diluted. Just adding new water won't be removing the nitrates, you need to physically remove dirty tank water and keep waste in the bottom of the tank minimal. For now I'd do regular water changes, over the next week to try drop the nitrate level.

Plants will soak up your nitrates good and proper, and two of the easiest plants are Moss Balls and Java Fern/Moss. They don't require a lot of light and can be installed immediately, although Java Fern/Moss will need anchoring using string to a mainstay like a piece of bogwood or an ornament. Water changes will also help to get your levels down, and I would keep your axxie separate in a tub or spare (small!) tank, doing 100% water changes until your nitrate levels are 40 ppm (like Beks said). You can use dechlorinated water that's been left to age for optimum results, and that should keep your little guy fresh and healthy until your tank's sorted. You can also try PolyFilter, which I've bought recently. VERY expensive (£15 for the large block I have) but it does remove a lot of contaminants.

Sometimes axxies do just shed, but the nitrate levels are definetely the cause in this case. I hope this helps you out!

I have java moss, a large marimo, a sword plant, and two other small plants in there. Today, I installed several spider plants with their roots in the water too. In tandem with the water changes, I hope this will help...
I'm going to be away from home tomorrow night, so should I start Yanti in the "clean" tank as soon as possible, or wait until I will be around to monitor her?