Urgent: Advice Needed

Happy New Year...and thank you for taking the time to read my post today. Here goes...

I've seriously messed up. I failed to cycle my aquarium long enough prior to adding my axolotl. Please don't be too harsh with me--I'm being extremely hard enough on myself as it is. I thought I had educated myself pretty thoroughly about axolotls prior to getting Mortimer, but I missed one of the most important things regarding cycling the aquarium.

Anyway, I've had Mortimer in his aquarium for a couple months. The ammonia levels have always been low (0.25) but never zero. The pet store guy said that that was okay, but now I'm realizing it wasn't. It gets worse. I was out of town for a couple weeks, and I paid someone to stay at my apartment and feed him and check the water temperature while I was gone. I don't know what happened while I was gone....if Mortimer was drastically overfed or if the aquarium is finally just cycling as it normally would. When I got home, I checked the water parameters immediately and...the ammonia levels were at 4.0. Since then (five days ago), I've been doing 50% water changes every day. I used AmQuel Plus Ammonia Detoxifier that the pet store owner recommended, but now I am reading that that might not be okay for axolotls.

With each water change, the ammonia decreases a bit (as would be expected), but then it jumps up again by the time I check it each morning. This morning, it was 2.0. I have no idea what to do. I know how bad this is for him.

Oddly enough, he isn't acting unusually or showing signs of stress that I am aware of. He has a voracious appetite and has been just as active as usual. I know he can only last so long in these horrible water conditions, though.

Here are other details that may be helpful (or maybe not, since you already know that the ammonia levels are fatally high):

--pH: 7.5 (Between Neutral & Alkaline, according to testing kit...is this okay?)
--Alkalinity: 120ppm (Ideal, according to testing kit)
--Hardness: 150ppm (Hard, according to testing kit...is this okay?)
--Nitrite: 0ppm
--Nitrate: 0ppm
--Ammonia: 2ppm

He is in a 20 gallon (30" long) aquarium by himself. Sand substrate. Hiding places. Hanging waterfall filter (with carbon in the filter) on lowest setting. Wall of air bubbles in the back of the aquarium (which he likes to play in).

The water temperature in his aquarium is 65 degrees Fahrenheit / 18.33 degrees Celsius.

Please, please, please let me know what I should do. I know I've messed up in a bad way. One thing I've been thinking about doing is taking him to the pet store tomorrow. The pet store owner said that he watches axolotls when people go out of town. I'm guessing the water quality (should) be better. BUT I don't want to further stress him out by moving him. If I can figure out a way to keep him here, I would rather do that.

Thank you for your help.

Sharon

Don't worry. He was probably overfeed while you were gone. This would cause they ammonia to spike. An established tank should bounce back pretty fast. Continue to do some water changes with dechlorinator and keep the tank cool. Chances are you are giving the animal better care than the pet store would.

Thank you. I'll keep doing the water changes and keep a really close eye on him.

Your set up is still quite new and had not reached a zero ammonia test result. Your zero reading for nitrate does not indicate an established tank. Perhaps you did not give the second nitrate test bottle a really good shake to loosen the solids? Or maybe you have only tested it after several water changes. You would also expect to have a nitrite reading if your ammonia is being processed.

If you have any friends who keep fish you might be able to get some more primed filter media to speed up the process. (In a sock, preferably in the filter outflow to move your water through it)

Aquatic plants use ammonia directly and can help to mop up some of your ammonia. I am currently running ten 15 litre tanks each with a 4" axolotl in with no filters at all. I rely on the plants, my trusty turkey baster used daily to remove poop and other detritus, and 50% water changes every other day. Plants used are Java moss, Indian fern, and other odd scraps. All just floating in a heap. Nothing else in the tanks. Only had one ( with 2 axies in) that showed a nitrite reading. No ammonia registering in any tank. Only telling you in case you would prefer to take your axolotl out while your tank rights itself.

We all have these things happen once in a while, so don't feel bad. And you did make sure your axie had someone to care for it while you were away. You could not have done more.



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Another thing you can do to get your ammonia down is to stop feeding for a few days. Not as cruel as it sounds!

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wandering said:

Your set up is still quite new and had not reached a zero ammonia test result. Your zero reading for nitrate does not indicate an established tank. Perhaps you did not give the second nitrate test bottle a really good shake to loosen the solids? Or maybe you have only tested it after several water changes. You would also expect to have a nitrite reading if your ammonia is being processed.

If you have any friends who keep fish you might be able to get some more primed filter media to speed up the process. (In a sock, preferably in the filter outflow to move your water through it)

Aquatic plants use ammonia directly and can help to mop up some of your ammonia. I am currently running ten 15 litre tanks each with a 4" axolotl in with no filters at all. I rely on the plants, my trusty turkey baster used daily to remove poop and other detritus, and 50% water changes every other day. Plants used are Java moss, Indian fern, and other odd scraps. All just floating in a heap. Nothing else in the tanks. Only had one ( with 2 axies in) that showed a nitrite reading. No ammonia registering in any tank. Only telling you in case you would prefer to take your axolotl out while your tank rights itself.

We all have these things happen once in a while, so don't feel bad. And you did make sure your axie had someone to care for it while you were away. You could not have done more.



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Thank you! The ammonia test kit I'm using is API's Ammonia NH3/NH4+ Test Kit (with a test tube and two bottles of ammonia), but the other test kit (that tests everything else) uses litmus strips. I've heard that the litmus tests are far less reliable/valid, so I'm going to buy the other type tomorrow for nitrates/nitrites. Now that I'm looking at the ammonia test results, it looks like the test kit is saying ammonia is nitrate plus nitrite (???) but the results are for ammonia. That doesn't seem right, does it? You had mentioned that maybe the nitrite level was at zero because maybe I had only done a few water changes, but I've done one a week for two months and one daily for the past six days now.

If I put him in a different tank while his straightens out, would he be okay in just treated water that isn't established? I have a smaller aquarium that I could put him in, but it would just have dechlorinated tap water in it. I just don't want to stress him out anymore than I already have. The other aquarium is smaller, and when he was in it before he would just pace back and forth and run into the sides. It was sad. But it's better than him getting really sick or something else because of ammonia poisoning.

I just did another 50% water change, and the ammonia (or whatever I've been measuring that I thought was ammonia) level is down to somewhere between 0.5ppm and 1.0ppm. Still not good, but better.

My next door neighbor/friend has an established aquarium, and I'd thought about doing what you suggested. When you say "more primed filter media," does that mean part of his filter that he's been using for a while? I was concerned about using something from his aquarium because I didn't want to introduce any weird bacteria to my aquarium that my axolotl hasn't been exposed to. (And all of his fish died randomly about six months ago due to a temperature spike while he was out of town...I know that's not related to anything, but he doesn't ever check his water parameters and it worries me that his water might not be that great. But maybe that doesn't affect the filter. I have no idea.)

Tomorrow I will try to find some plants for the aquarium. It's funny--almost everything that people I've spoken to that say they know about axolotls (mostly at pet stores) has been totally off from what I've learned on this site. They said not to put plants with him.

Thank you so much for your response! It was very helpful.

Sharon

Hello again,
Where to start.
NH3 and NH4+ are ammonium and ammonia. Simply put (about all I can cope with!), bacteria in your filter covert these to nitrite NO2-. Then other bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate NO3-.
So if you have had a high ammonia reading and your bacteria are active there should be at least a trace of nitrite. Similarly there should be nitrate as this is the end product.
Unless your recent water changes have diluted the nitrite and nitrate to unreadable levels. (This is what I was referring to)
But you have now pointed out that you are using test strips. When you use liquid tests I would be very surprised if you do not get some readings for nitrate (end product) and a bit surprised if you do not get nitrite after getting such a high ammonia reading.
As stated you will need to give the second bottle of the nitrate test a good shaking as it relies on a solid being suspended in the liquid and this will be firmly stuck in the bottom of the bottle when new. Anything up to 20ppm is acceptable for nitrate, although I would not worry if it is up to 40, but is an indication for a water change. Ammonia and nitrite need to be zero as they are both toxic.

You may not need to do anything else (other than what you are already doing) if your readings are looking better tomorrow with your new test kit.

Otherwise

Unless your neighbour has had new fish recently, or has lost anything from parasites or disease, I would be inclined to ask for some gravel to put in a nylon stocking, or a chunk of his filter foam if he is really generous!

I would leave him (axie not neighbour lol) in the tank if you think its going to be OK in a day or two.

A bare tank is a scary place if you have no cover. That's another reason to have a mass of leaves in the tank.

And plants are great, just make sure there are no dead leaves rotting and producing ammonia!!

My personal favourite is Java moss. Brilliant ammonia mopper upper, can be dumped in the tank in a clump so axie can hide under or sit on top of or get right inside. Also can be tied to wood, stones etc. Indian fern floats on top and gives shade. Hygrophila can be left drifting but is usually planted, makes great cuttings. All are fast growing and ammonia sucking....

Fingers crossed for good test readings tomorrow.


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Of course, you could take a sample of your neighbours tank water if you do decide to ask for some gravel or sponge, and test it when you get home so you know you're adding a working product. Just for your own peace of mind. You can say you are testing your new test kit.

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I just realized that I never posted what happened on here. I did everything that was suggested, and the ammonia level was staying around 0.5. I couldn't get it to go down (and stay down) no matter what, so I ended up buying a canister filter and within two days the ammonia level was at 0. I was so relieved.....

Since then, the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels have been perfect. I'm guessing that if I had waited a few days after doing everything else, the ammonia might have gone done to 0 on its own....but I'm happy either way. And now I have a nice canister filter that will supposedly last me "forever." We'll see....

Thank all of you for your advice and support! I was really freaking out.

I love a happy ending

Thanks for the update!



<3 >o_o< <3

Nikki71 said:

I love a happy ending

Thanks for the update!



<3 >o_o< <3

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Nikki, I thought it was a happy ending.....but yesterday it went out of whack again. I'm posting something in the setup section now.......