Question: ammonia, don't know what's wrong?

HI all, i have been doing daily 20% water changes for five weeks, the ammonia is still there. The tank has been cycled for a long time, it has 4 axies in there, 4ft tank, sand, no plants, lots of places to hide. I clean up asap. Feed them 3 times per week. I haven't had any problems before, so i don't understand wht this is happening. All other readings are o. AMMONIA IS O.5, It never changes. I don't know what else to do, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!. Thank you.

Hi Tara,

If the Ammonia is reading as 0.5, Nitrite is 0 and the Nitrate is 0 - I would say the tank has not fully cycled or may have been thrown into a mini cycle by a changed condition in the tank which may have caused a disruption to the beneficial bacteria colonies such as:

Are any of the four axolotls new additions to the tank?

Have you cleaned anything in the tank?

Have you removed or added any ornaments to the tank?

Do you use a filter? What sort do you use?

As you have a lot of hides, do you check all of them for wastes left by the axies?

If all the other readings apart from ammonia are "0", I would say that the cycling did not even start yet (what is weird because of the time the tank is already running).

Are you sure that your testing kit is still working? Did you test your tap water / the water that you use to refill the tank? The reading should at least change right after a water change. Did you test that?

The tank has been cycled for 10 months, there has been nothing added or taken out of the tank, i check all the places for poo, as soon as i see it i remove it. All the axies have been in there for months, no new ones added. BOUGHT TWO TEST KITS, SAME RESULT. tHANKS.

Hmmmmm.

Have you tried testing just the tap water itself?

Hello Tara,

With no nitrate reading, the tank is no where cycled unless you have a large selection or plants living in the tank. If you don't, maybe you need some more oxygen in the tank for the beneficial bacteria to be created and live. I was in a similar situation as you Tara, when i was cycling my tank..... Took ages, without anything happening, then i put in a air pump, and my tank completed the cycle within two weeks.

Also....I think is was Jay (cant find thread so correct me if i am wrong), who not so long ago mentioned that water agers/conditioners may affect the accuracy of ammonia readings. You should wait 24 hours after a water change for accurate results, or you can alternatively leave the water outside for the Chlorine and Chloramine to dissolve.

Just a few ideas... but like mentioned above, you really need to check your tap water first, to see if it ammonia is present.

Moony

Thank you, i will test the tap water, nitrate is 40 sorry.

Tap water has no ammonia, any other ideas? could the tank be going through a mini cycle?

What type of filter are you using?

If you are using an undergravel filter, this sort of filter is a menace as the grot accumulates, gets trapped which means it never leaves the water and this affects the water quality.

If you are using a canister filter with sponges, try giving the sponges a clean in a bucket of the tank water - do not use tap water.

Do you use any of the so called chemical fixers (ammonia balls/Ammo Lock/PH Upper/PH Downer/etc)? If so, cease using them as axolotls are very sensitive to chemicals and these can knacker up your cycle.

If there's no new additions to the tank, didn't miss a previous water change, no left over food, faecal or decaying matter, then my guess would be to focus on your filter. Does you filter have any carbon elements to it, like carbon cartridges, etc? And when was the last time you cleaned it? Have you ever cleaned your filter with tap water?

I had the exact same problem with my tank (however I knew it hadn't cycled yet), where even if I did daily 30% water changes, the ammonia reading the next day would still be 0.5. I discovered that the source of my problem was with my filter's carbon cartridges. Basically, after a while, a carbon cartridge will 'expire' (typically after 3 weeks), for lack of a better word, and start to actually pump out toxins back into the tank. I got rid of the carbon cartridge and replaced it with just filter wool, did another water change, and the next day my ammonia was finally 0.

As for cycling, once the ammonia problem has been solved, you may have some problems getting the tank back in order. The reason being is, just like other aquatic animals, the species of bacteria that converts nitrite to nitrate cannot survive in the presence of ammonia. So because of your high ammonia readings, that bacteria colony may not exist, or it would take some time for it to do its job again due to low numbers.

I have a cannister filter, i cleaned it 2 weeks ago with the tank water, i never use tap water. I will clean it again, as i am at a loss as to why this is ongoing. I did a 30% water change 30 minutes ago the ammonia reading never changed, its still o.5. Maybe i need to change all the beads(don't know what else to call them) inside the cannister filter????. They are about 10 months old. Any ideas???. Thankyou.