Sky High Ammonia Levels, please help!

We got our Axolotls on Saturday from someone who kept a lot of them outdoors in a pond.

We did our readings on our water, and made sure it was the same temperature as the pond water we collected them in. All was fine, they settled in well. They were both really active, and eating well.

Now the temperature is stuck at 20 degrees, we have been using freezer packs to try and cool it down with no joy, and yesterday on doing another reading found that the water had really high ammonia levels. We did a 30% water change yesterday, and all seemed fine again. Got rid of some of the rocks at the bottom to try and prevent waste building up. We make sure any uneaten food is removed straight away, but today it is sky high again.

Jules is now in the process of another water change. This time a 50% one to see if this helps.

Could it be anything to do with the pond weeds we have in the tank. The guy gave them to us from his pond, and Ren & Stumpy love hiding, and generally hanging out in them. Could this be the problem at all? They are starting to yellow a bit now, but overall look ok. The man said to weigh them down and they would take.

We are at a loss as to what to do. We thought water changes only needed to be done every couple of weeks, and then only 30%. Surely this can't be right. We don't want to stress the guys out anymore, they are not so active now, and spend more time hiding. Are still eating though.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

OK, 20 degrees is fine for your axolotls, stop stressing about that ok. The ammonia is your biggest problem. Daily 20% water changes will bring it down. It may seem like its taking forever but it will come down.
How big is the tank you have your axolotls in?
How big are the axolotls?
Did you cycle your tank before you added your axolotls?
Try to resist the urge to carry out 50% water changes , otherwise you are constantly recycling your tank and the levels will never settle.
The pond weed shouldnt really make a difference. Axolotls produce quite a lot of waste hence the high ammonia and also make sure there is no uneaten food left in the tank after feeding them.

I carry out small water changes every 2-3 days on my 125 litre tank. I have never had any water problems and this allows me to clean any hidden waste on a regular basis without it being left to rot away. Good luck and don't worry it will sort itself out with a bit of work and attention on your part...good luck.

These are adult sized, right? If that is the case, cut WAY back on feeding immediately. Yes, they'll eat every day if you offer it. But they will produce much less ammonia (and much less risk of uneaten food in the tank) if you only feed them a small amount twice per week until the tank cycling period is over. They can easily get by with this.

What size is the tank? Get rid of most (or all) of the rocks so you can keep the bottom clean. Are you 100% sure that the axies couldn't swallow the rocks - this is a serious risk.

If the pond weeds are dieing, they could be contributing to the ammonia. Keep any plant debris cleaned up, and remove the plants if they look like they are dieing back. Most pond plants need much more light than what you will be able to provide in an indoor tank, so it's likely they won't last long, and they'll make water problems worse as go.

I disagree just a little bit with Becky - if the ammonia is high, go ahead and do 50% water changes to get it down. If you cannot keep the ammonia down with this, you can remove the axolotls into buckets or small tanks and maintain them for a few weeks using the "fish bowl method" (100% water change daily). Meanwhile, the tank will cycle and be fine for them.

Hi Vicster1979,

There are three scenarios that I can think of (vide infra):

1. The tank did not go through a complete nitrification "cycle" and adding axolotls will invariably raise the ammonia level because axolotls produce a lot of waste.

2. The pond plants, especially because they are decaying. Personally, I see no need for plants because as with all plants, they require a light source which is a nusiance for the axolotl. Light can also contribute towards an algae problem, in particular light sources with wavelengths around 450 nanometres. Plants also compete with nitrifying bacteria for ammonium, subsequently slowing down the nitrification "cycle". This will hold more relevancy if the pH of the tank is on the acidic side (i.e. less than 7)

3. The test results are false-postive because the water was tested straight after a water change. I'm presuming that you are adding a dechlorinating solution to expel the chlorine and chloramine. These dechlorinating solutions contain sodium thiosulphate which react with the chloride in the test reagents (that is, reagents from the ammonia test kit), thus giving incorrect results. This is why it's always good idea to wait at least 24 hours before testing the water after a water change has taken place.

Jay.

Yes they are adults. The tank is 3 foot by 1 foot, and we have it full. The water was decholiranted (sorry cant spell it!), and the water stood for atleast a week before the guys went in.

Ok, we will do a reading again tonight and see how it is then. We did a PH reading last night, and that was 7.1, which looking at the info on the axolotl site seems to be ok.

Well we try and keep things as dark as possible for the guys, so maybe that's why the plants aren't liking it. Just seems a shame when they love the plants so much. We have 2 plant pots in there for them to hide in. They seem to feel safe hiding in, or behind the plants, and like just hanging in them!

Something else is we have a slight flow of air bubbles in the tank. It is turned right down, and they seem to like standing over it and having the bubbles go under their chin. I know they don't like water flow, and the pump is connected to a spray bar directed at the back of the tank.

We will continue to do small daily water changes if that's the right thing to do.

When we got them they guy said to put a handful of rock salt in the water which we did. He said we should continue to do this. Is this the right thing to do, and is rock salt the correct sort to use?

Thank you ever so much for your advice. Will keep you posted :happy:

Sorry, forgot to say, the rocks we have in there are pebbles from the beach. Definitely can't be swallowed, too big. We boiled them, and had them standing weeks before going in the tank.

Also we haven't been feeding them on a daily basis, were told every 2-3 days. So hopefully that's not a bad thing. Hopefully we are feeding them enough!

Vicster1979 said:

Yes they are adults. The tank is 3 foot by 1 foot, and we have it full. The water was decholiranted (sorry cant spell it!), and the water stood for atleast a week before the guys went in.

When we got them they guy said to put a handful of rock salt in the water which we did. He said we should continue to do this. Is this the right thing to do, and is rock salt the correct sort to use?

Click to expand...

Does this mean that you only had the tank "cycling" for a week before you added the axolotls? Because this could be the issue at hand. The tank did not go through a complete nitrification "cycle", and by adding the axolotls, you have effectively started the "cycling" process. Hence, the high ammonia reading.

Any salt whether it be aquarium salt, rock salt or iodised salt should never be used in this amount if the axolotl is not suffering from a fungal infection. You can a small amount of salt to your tank to increase the general hardness (GH) of the water but that's about it.

Vicster1979 said:

Sorry, forgot to say, the rocks we have in there are pebbles from the beach. Definitely can't be swallowed, too big. We boiled them, and had them standing weeks before going in the tank.

Click to expand...

These beach rocks are most likely composed of carbonates which will raise the pH of your tank and can potentially cause pH problems in the future.

Jay.

Hi, just an update. The water levels have levelled out now, and the guys are doing well. We have got rid of most of the pebbles in there, and substituted the plants for fake ones. The water changes were done how you advised. Ren & Stumpy are back to their active selves. Thanks very much for all of your help x Have attached some pics of old and new set up.

Well done, the tank looks much easier to maintain. Keep checking the water quality and doing the weekly water changes.

Thank you so much to everyone that gave us advice. The tank levels are now spot on since we changed to a sand base. Let's hope our stumpy likes his new home! x

The new tank looks great. I think you could have kept some of the live plants by rooting them in shallow pots. But overall, this looks better, and easier to keep clean.