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You can use tap water for your Axolotl... Discuss!

KEU131

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I have come across this being said a lot in my online research before i get an Axy.

people saying if your tap water is safe for you to drink its safe for your Axy to live in.

also to do water changes every week up to 100% better to change more water than not enough. and they are talking about using straight tap water.

i have read people saying that when their Axy is sick they put them in a smaller container and change 100% water every day..

i am curious how this helps when most people on this forum and the information provided strongly stands buy cycling your water, which can take weeks! do i need to have cleaned cycled water on stand by incase my Axy gets sick??? or is tap water not so bad for a short time??

i find things very confusing when there is so much information out there which may be contradicting to something you read five minutes ago :D
 

lea

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I use tap water but i also put prime in (prime takes out all the nasties) and with water changes, I do 20 - 30% water change fortnightly(i have a 5ft tank with 1 axie).
When the axie is sick and you do 100% water changes that is because they are in a smaller container and since they are grubby monsters the water needs to be changed daily.
 

KEU131

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so you don't cycle your tank before introducing them?
how old is your axy? must be nice n happy in that huge tank :D
 

tusken raider

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Your tank should be cycled to build up the bacteria which breaks down the nasties in the tank, changing water is then done weekly or fortnightly depending on your own tank conditions. I do 25% water changes for my 54L (15g) tank, just treat your tap water with dechlorinater
 

Chirple

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Not cycling your tank just makes it everything more stressful for you and for the axolotl.

Yes, tapwater is perfectly okay to use as long you as dechlorinate it if necessary.

If you don't cycle the tank, you're letting the axolotl sit in its own waste day after day. Even if you clean it out with a turkey baster daily (which you should) - some will still dissolve in the water.

Cycling your tank gives you a colony of beneficial bacteria that helps remove this waste that is toxic and deadly to the axolotl. Doing this, you only need to do 20% change a week depending on the water volume you're working with and how much waste is produced.

Unless you're planning on doing tubs and daily 100% water changes, it's irresponsible and abusive not to cycle your tank. Check out the "sick" forum and otherwise - plenty of threads about injured, dying, or dead axolotls because people thought it wasn't necessary to run a filtered and cycled tank.

It's okay to put an axolotl in a small container and do 100% water changes with dechlorinated water on a daily basis because although you have no beneficial bacteria, you're taking care of it daily and a sick axolotl in the fridge has a slowed metabolism and isn't going to produce waste at the rate a healthy and comparatively warmer one is.



Check out ANY reputable fish forum. Cycling isn't just a "thing" people here do. It's a thing that's necessary and important to anyone keeping an aquarium with live creatures in it who don't want the stress of doing daily 100% water changes. Daily 100% water changes should only be done if you have a good reason - such as being a breeder and having your stock in many, many tubs - breeding is a LOT of work.

Extra chemicals like Prime are, unfortunately, not recommended. Axolotls do not benefit from "stress coat" products and bottled products are not any good at removing harmful chemicals from your water. Like another user said, it's like putting a band-aid on a broken leg. You're actually making more problems for yourself in the long run. You're preventing your tank from cycling, and if it *is* cycled and you're using those products, you're just throwing money away and potentially adding harmful chemicals to your water.


The best way to cycle a tank is with "fishless cycling" - using a bottled ammonia product to cycle. While you can cycle with fish or the axolotl - you can also kill them that way. Part of cycling is an ammonia spike - and if you don't have a test kit and you're not paying the utmost attention - this can kill them. Axolotls are especially sensitive since they have soft skin that is easily permeated by chemicals, unlike fish. This is another reason why many fish chemical products are not suitable for axoltols.

Sure, cycling can take weeks. But would you rather spend that time or do 100% water changes every day ? Because if you don't do either, you'll be back here with issues of soiled water, ammonia burns, poor health or death of the axolotl. Spending the time to properly cycle your tank saves you time, money, and stress - and the lives of whatever's in the tank.

And tap water, unless there's something very wrong with the local water, is always okay as long as you use a dechlorinating product as necessary. It's a good idea to have your water tested before making a choice. The vast majority of people use treated tape water, but it is always good to be safe and know what your "baseline" is - for instance, if ammonia is present in your water at baseline. :)
 

KEU131

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ok excellent!! thank you a lot!!!!!!!

so,

what dechlorinator do you recommend?

what are the levels i am looking for before i put an Axy in the tank?

i am so sorry for my dull wittedness but cycling really confuses the heck out of me for some reason!! haha
 

jessicaanne

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what are the levels i am looking for before i put an Axy in the tank?

A fully cycled tank should show 0 Ammonia, 0 NitrIte and some level of NitrAte. If the NitrAte goes above 40 you should do a water change though. With this being said, you should wait until the tank is cycled before you introduce an axy :happy:

Also, do i do water changes while it cycles???

As people have previously said on this thread, you DO need to change water while cycling but the amount you have to change will depend on how high your readings are. I'm not sure if this is different with fishless cyling but because I'm cycling with my axy in the tank, I change about 25% every 2-3 days as the ammonia never goes above 0.5
 

imzunicorn

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With fishless cycling, you do not need to change any of the water. If there are fish in there, you do need to change at least 30% of the water starting everyday and then gradually reducing. If you choose to do a fishless cycle, you'll need a source of ammonia. You can bring the ammonia up by putting food in it everyday or using pure ammonia.

However, if the ammonia is above 4ppm, it will start to kill off the good bacteria you're working for. If you're doing a fishless cycle and the ammonia gets above 4, you need to change water to get it down.

The dechlorinator you use doesn't really matter. They all do the same thing.

I also should mention that if you do decide to cycle using fish, it takes a lot longer because you have to keep ammonia levels very low and have to change the water often. A fishless cycle can be done in as little as 2 weeks. A cycle using fish can take months. And no matter what the ammonia causes damage to the animal's gills. Even a small amount of ammonia poisoning causes the animal to suffer and have difficulty breathing for the rest of it's life.
 

JessKB

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Extra chemicals like Prime are, unfortunately, not recommended. Axolotls do not benefit from "stress coat" products and bottled products are not any good at removing harmful chemicals from your water. Like another user said, it's like putting a band-aid on a broken leg. You're actually making more problems for yourself in the long run. You're preventing your tank from cycling, and if it *is* cycled and you're using those products, you're just throwing money away and potentially adding harmful chemicals to your water.

I don't understand this. Prime is a dechlorinator, and the only one I use. Most fish hobbiests use it, and it's a very dependable product. It won't affect your cycle or you animals. Are you mistaking it for something else?
 

Chirple

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^ I've only heard of it in relation to a stress coat product, my bad. :wacko:

I'm lucky, my water doesn't have chlorine / chloramine added so I've never had to worry about that.
 

xxianxx

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Extra chemicals like Prime are, unfortunately, not recommended. Axolotls do not benefit from "stress coat" products and bottled products are not any good at removing harmful chemicals from your water. Like another user said, it's like putting a band-aid on a broken leg. You're actually making more problems for yourself in the long run. You're preventing your tank from cycling, and if it *is* cycled and you're using those products, you're just throwing money away and potentially adding harmful chemicals to your water.

I was about to post that you are mistaken de chlorinator removes chlorine, chloramines and heavy metals from the water prior to adding it to a tank. However Prime ( Seachem. Prime ) actually binds with ammonia , nitrite and nitrate . This could intefere the with bacterial colonies which you wish to promote in your tank by removing their food source, if you wish to cycle a tank with an axolotl in it may be a good idea to use another de chlorinator which doesn't do this. I have regularly cycled tanks with axolotls in but i would not recommend it for beginners or those doing it from scratch with a new tank. I use old substrate and old filter pads to kick start a new tank.
 

JessKB

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I was about to post that you are mistaken de chlorinator removes chlorine, chloramines and heavy metals from the water prior to adding it to a tank. However Prime ( Seachem. Prime ) actually binds with ammonia , nitrite and nitrate . This could intefere the with bacterial colonies which you wish to promote in your tank by removing their food source, if you wish to cycle a tank with an axolotl in it may be a good idea to use another de chlorinator which doesn't do this. I have regularly cycled tanks with axolotls in but i would not recommend it for beginners or those doing it from scratch with a new tank. I use old substrate and old filter pads to kick start a new tank.

Hey I'm a Prime fanboy so I feel I have to defend

Actually Prime will not interfere with your cycle. I've cycled 20+ tanks in the last few years and have never used anything else. Prime doesn't bond ammonia, it converts it to ammonium, which is not toxic to your fish/salamander/ect (in any reasonable amount) but is still consumed by your biological filter. That effect lasts about 24 hrs (determined on PH) and then any ammonium that was converted will change back to Ammonia.


Here's a detailed explanation stolen from another forum:

Chemical reactions in the water dont stay the same way for long, Natural ammonia is NH3 While ammonium is NH4 (H+ + :NH3 → NH+4) The degree to which ammonia forms the ammonium ion depends on the pH of the solution. If the pH is low (there is a high concentration of hydronium ions), the equilibrium shifts to the right: more ammonia molecules are protonated into ammonium ions. If the pH is high (the concentration of hydronium ions is low), the equilibrium shifts to the left: the hydroxide ion abstracts a proton from the ammonium ion, generating ammonia. So Prime basicly has a high level of Brønsted bases Which add more hydronium ions into the water a Brønsted base is anything that donates protons to change the ammonia into ammonium by makeing the hydronium which causes the reaction but hydronium ions are not stable and once those break the ammonium is converted back to ammonia. Which judging from the Prime corp that time is roughly 24 hours.
 

xxianxx

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Actually Prime will not interfere with your cycle. I've cycled 20+ tanks in the last few years and have never used anything else. Prime doesn't bond ammonia, it converts it to ammonium, which is not toxic to your fish/salamander/ect (in any reasonable amount) but is still consumed by your biological filter. That effect lasts about 24 hrs (determined on PH) and then any ammonium that was converted will change back to Ammonia.
.

Just checked this 100% correct
 

KEU131

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wow! you all know a lot of what your talking about! haha i feel like its my first day at school and i am the new kid sitting in the back of the classroom going "what the? what are they talking about???" haha.

but no, i am starting to get it, fish less cycle is the way i am going, i use a dechlorinator when ifirst mix the water into the tank, i do not need to change the water, just check the chemical levels and wait for spikes in ammonia and nitrite and then for them to settle back to 0.0....

my remaining questions,

can i use fish food to create the bacteria? if so, how much do i use?

can i have plants in the tank while it is cycling? will this help or hinder?

is it an absolute must to have some kind of bubbling stone or ornament in the tank with Axies? does this need to be in there while cycling the tank?

thank you all very much :D
 

JessKB

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Keeping aquariums is something that your knowledge just builds and builds. I remember getting into tanks when my goldfish died. (I kept him in a bowl, it was terrible.) You can use fishfood to start the cycle, put some in a new pantyhose that's never seen soap and sink it to the bottom with a rock or decoration. Just a couple pinches will be fine to start. You can use live plants when you cycle, just be aware that the plants are going to be eating the same chemicals that your bacteria are growing on. You should have some sort of bubbler or filter that will create some surface movement, this will add oxygen to your tank for your axolotl and the bacteria.
 

imzunicorn

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wow! you all know a lot of what your talking about! haha i feel like its my first day at school and i am the new kid sitting in the back of the classroom going "what the? what are they talking about???" haha.

but no, i am starting to get it, fish less cycle is the way i am going, i use a dechlorinator when ifirst mix the water into the tank, i do not need to change the water, just check the chemical levels and wait for spikes in ammonia and nitrite and then for them to settle back to 0.0....

my remaining questions,

can i use fish food to create the bacteria? if so, how much do i use?

can i have plants in the tank while it is cycling? will this help or hinder?

is it an absolute must to have some kind of bubbling stone or ornament in the tank with Axies? does this need to be in there while cycling the tank?

thank you all very much :D
Be sure that when you do water changes, to dechlorinate the water before putting it in. Adding water that has chlorine in it can kill the biological filter too.

Fish food doesn't create or help the process of building up bacteria, it just helps boost the ammonia that the bacteria eats.

You can have plants while it's cycling, it won't really matter, but plants do use ammonia as fuel. This is why it's helpful to have plants in a tank to help and/or prevent ammonia spikes. Although, I don't think they use so much that it makes a huge impact like remove the ammonia, just dent the amount and somewhat control it. A water change is much more effective for ammonia spikes than having plants though.

I don't have a bubbling stone in my tank. The water in my tank gets oxygen from the plants and surface agitation from the fan constantly blowing in it. The bubbler will also not help in growing beneficial bacteria.
 

KEU131

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does the chlorine leave water when it has sat overnight? i have heard this before but have never understood how it could work.. i went to the LFS and bought all my water testers and forgot the darn water dechlorinator, so back i go tomorrow!! hahaha
 

imzunicorn

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Yeah, the chlorine evaporates after a day, but chloramine doesn't evaporate, that's why you need the dechlorinator. That is, if your tap water has chloramine in it.

I actually had to call various water companies in our city to find out what they use in our water and what not. I never really got all the answers I was looking for, but I got the jist. I guess that city also got their water from another city. I've yet to called about the one we just moved to, but just tested for ammonia, nitrate and nitrites and just use dechlorinator during water changes.
 

KEU131

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OK, so i have finally started cycling my tank. the water has been in there for over a week now just running throughout the filter while i was flat out busy!! today i tested the levels and ammonia, nitrate and nitrite were all at 0.0. i added some of my daughters tropical fish flakes to ad natural bacteria as i am doing a fish less cycle. now all i have to do is wait yes??? how often do i test the levels?
 
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