Time for playsand cloudiness to go away

I've been prepping my tank and picked up some play sand for the bottom. I spent a good 20ish minutes rinsing it til the water ran clear. The first day I expected it to be a bit cloudy but on day two it cleared up perfectly for two days and now I found that it is cloudy again. Ive been doing 20 % water changes every day to try and get some fresh water in but its still a bit cloudy. Its not terrible Im just trying to figure out long it usually takes to clear up. I havent added any dechlorinator or anything yet since Ive just been running it to make sure my chiller and canister filter combo works before the return time ends. My axloltls should arrive mid next week so I am planning on doing a 50% water change tomorrow and add my dechlorinator.

My water test kit is scheduled to arrive tomorrow so I can start monitoring the water.

I'm also boiling some drift wood I got from the aquarium store to add as well as some plants.

If you haven't dechlorianted your tank, you've killed any beneficial bacteria that were possibly in it with chlorine, and crashed your cycle. If you had one.

It's imperative you cycle your tank BEFORE getting your Axolotls - or the Axolotls will be subjected to spikes of ammonia/ nitrite that could kill them.

There's a link in my signature about tank cycling.

The cloudiness will go away on it's own, usually happens when doing water changes because the water stirs up the sand particles. I used aquarium sand which isn't quite as fine as play sand so I'm not 100% on that but it should be clear up.

Set your tank up all the way, add your sand, fake plants, caves, filters etc. Let your tank run with the filter for a few days, chlorine will evaporate within a day or two. Then go get some feeder fish from petsmart for like 10 cents a piece, get like 3 or 4, put them in the tank and let them hang out in your tank for about a week. They'll probably live, they lived when I did it. Get some purigen off of amazon, it's a little packet of stuff that will balance your water out extremely well and it's like $7 very good deal. You just put that packet in your filter and it works. But yeah after about a week your tank should be fine to add other stuff. Moss balls are great to have as well. Then make sure you have your seachem prime or tap water conditioner (both good dechlorinators, seachem prime is widely thought to be the best on the market and is the same price really so may as well get that.) and when doing water changes just have two buckets, fill one with tap water and put some of your prime in it(a capful), then use a siphon to get anywhere from 20%-50% of your tank's water in it, dump that and then fill your tank back up (slowly) with your primed water.

Unfortunately my tank is big (40 gal) and since my house is very warm (Over 80 degrees) I have to take care of them inside it because its attached to the chiller. So I am going to have to do constant water changes and maintenance until they are big enough to keep the bacteria fed.

I was talking with other people here about it and was told it was ok since my tank is so big: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...eing-told-i-dont-need-cycle-tank-axolotl.html

ClockworkParrot said:

Unfortunately my tank is big (40 gal) and since my house is very warm (Over 80 degrees) I have to take care of them inside it because its attached to the chiller. So I am going to have to do constant water changes and maintenance until they are big enough to keep the bacteria fed.

I was talking with other people here about it and was told it was ok since my tank is so big: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...eing-told-i-dont-need-cycle-tank-axolotl.html

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If you get a couple feeder fish and toss them in there they'll take care of it, they're dirty little fishies. For a 40 gallon get like 7 or 8 of them. They're super cheap and great for getting your tank started. You can get some live plants as well that will be good for getting the tank going, but they might die and they are more expensive than feeder fish. Let them marinate in there for a week before adding your axolotls and it should be fine.

Jonjey said:

If you get a couple feeder fish and toss them in there they'll take care of it, they're dirty little fishies. For a 40 gallon get like 7 or 8 of them. They're super cheap and great for getting your tank started. You can get some live plants as well that will be good for getting the tank going, but they might die and they are more expensive than feeder fish. Let them marinate in there for a week before adding your axolotls and it should be fine.

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I know that at least one of them will be here by Wednesday and keeping its water while its in a tub cool has me worried ...

ClockworkParrot said:

I know that at least one of them will be here by Tuesday and keeping its water while its in a tub cool has me worried ...

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I just use a bigger tub and put some crushed ice in it then put the tub holding the young axolotl in the bigger tub. You'll have to replace the ice pretty often.

Jonjey said:

If you get a couple feeder fish and toss them in there they'll take care of it, they're dirty little fishies. For a 40 gallon get like 7 or 8 of them. They're super cheap and great for getting your tank started. You can get some live plants as well that will be good for getting the tank going, but they might die and they are more expensive than feeder fish. Let them marinate in there for a week before adding your axolotls and it should be fine.

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I'm going to disagree with this. I really wish you would stop suggesting people use 'feeder' fish to cycle a tank.

'they might die but oh well'

Do you hear yourself? What makes their lives worth less than your Axolotls? I think it's rather horrible to use an animal as a means to an end (cycling) and for what, for the benefit of another animal? Again what makes the fishes' lives worth less? It's exceedingly cruel to use FISH as an ammonia source for cycling when you could just use pure ammonia without risking the life of anything.

By the way, 'feeder' goldfish can live for 20 years, grow to around 10 inches, and make great pets when properly taken care of.


Also there are some other inconsistencies/false information within your posts that could be harmful to someone's animal.

- leaving a tank sit for a few days will not remove all the chlorine and certainly won't remove the other harmful additives (heavy metals etc)

- Cycling takes longer than a week and is a process you have to continually monitor - your tank will not 'be fine' after simply letting it sit for a week.

Feeder fish are very hearty and unless they are sick they won't be dying in your uncycled aquarium... And yeah, the fish that is bred specifically to be eaten by another fish is worth less to me than my axolotl. Sorry for being insensitive. Chlorine will evaporate from the water after a day or two. Other things will not. Cycling is a process that you continually monitor and you pretend like your axolotl will die immediately if your water isn't absolutely perfect. I said that introducing feeder fish will start the tank off on the right foot, and that within a week or two it would be fine to introduce an axolotl if you've put the right equipment and right practice to use.

The ammonia/nitrite spiking during cycling will permanently burn their gills. And what do people do with them after? kill them?

I just don't know why in the world you buy an animal simply to use it as a means to an end when again, you could just use pure ammonia and nothing would have to be hurt to facilitate your cycle. (which by the way will not 'be on the right foot' in a week - in one week there will still be high spikes of ammonia/ nitrite and I would definitely not introduce an Axolotl to the tank IN THE MIDDLE of cycling as Axolotls are very sensitive to water quality. Cycling takes at the very least three weeks and your tank should be fully cycled before you add the animal.)

--You may not agree with me on the worth of the fish, and that's fine, agree to disagree; but I only ask that you suggest pure ammonia to people first, as it is a much better option. --

Oh not to mention the fish could carry a whole host of diseases and if you just 'throw them in the tank' you're risking introducing disease to the tank that could be passed on to the Axolotl.

I did say that it would be fine with the right equipment and process. Purigen, moss balls, good filtration and seachem prime will have your tank axolotl-ready in no time!
Also my feeder fish were living in the tank for a month before I got axolotl's for it, so the general rule states that they were fine.

Hey Clock just wondering what kind of Axolotl did you get?
How is it fairing?


I am sorry you were told not to cycle your tank, I've been in the fish industry for several years and have a hard time not cringing when someone says you don't need to cycle. Even worse when you are told a cycle consists of just letting it sit out for an undetermined amount of time. Yes Chlorine does gas out eventually but Chloramine which is more prevalent in tap water these days does not. And is far more harmful.

Ammonia is your Cheapest and safest bet for cycling, if you want to play it on the safest route possible that is. As for me personally, I do, just because Axolotl's here are already hard to come by and to top it off super expensive.

I am sure all is doing well and look forward to your update.