Smelly tank water

Hey everyone

I have a 80cm by 40cm tank it holds about 150 litres of water. it has 3 smallish axies in it that fit comfortably. I feed my axies every fourth day but i ahve noticed the water smells really bad, sort of like dog roll. Im in new zealand and my town is regulary sitting on temperatures of 30 degrees plus. could this be the reason. im not over feeding as they eat every pellet.
thanks

Hi Ranger,

How many pellets are you throwing in? A rough guide is to put in enough that the axolotls will eat within 15 minutes. If there are any left over pellets after the 15 minutes, remove them.

If pellets are remaining in the tank, they will disolve into the water and make it smell.

Another thought:

What sort of filter are you using? If the water is not being sufficiently aerated this can make the water stagnate.

You may wish to consider putting in an airstone to help the filter aerate the tank.

Hi Ranger,

Just really curious but when you say your town sits around 30 degrees, do you mean farenheit or celsius?

If its around 30 degrees celsius, your water temperature would be fatally too high and you really need to get it down to at least around 20 degrees celsius. The high temperature would also cause uneaten food to decompose faster. Axolotls would also eat more and poop more at this high temperature. They become very stressed and prone to diseases at this high temperature.

If you refer to 30 degrees farenheit, it would be like -1 degree celsius equivalent and that is really too cold for many axolotls to even want to feed. So nontheless, you would still want to aim for temperatures around 16-20 degree celsius.

Ideally a chiller would help maintain your water temperature constant at a ideal temperature, however there are many other cooling methods you can look up. If you have difficulty cooling your tank, you might like to keep your axie in the fridge for the time being. The fridge temperature should read around 4 degree celsius.

Cheers

The temperature is about 30 degrees celsius, so yeah it is quite warm. every week we may have a cooler day sitting in the mid 20s. I will get a theomometre today from work to see how warm the water is. The tank sits in my room so last night i had to clean it out completely as the smell was so repellant. Could i put ice cubes of declorinated water into the tank to cool it down?

I dont really watch my axolotls feed but i do check if there are anymore left over, but they could have disintegrated so i'll keep a closer eye on them.

I have a aqua One Maxi 101F filter. It is suppose to clean 350 litres of water an hour. the water surface is always moving and the current moves the plants a little. im not sure if this is strong enough? I will put an air stone in the corner though to see if it works.

Ranger said:

The temperature is about 30 degrees celsius, so yeah it is quite warm. every week we may have a cooler day sitting in the mid 20s. I will get a theomometre today from work to see how warm the water is. The tank sits in my room so last night i had to clean it out completely as the smell was so repellant. Could i put ice cubes of declorinated water into the tank to cool it down?

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I think the ice cubes will melt too quickly during the day to be of any lasting benefit to cooling the tank, once melted the water will warm up again and these temperature fluctuations are likely to stress the axolotls.

A thermometre will give you a good idea of what's going on in the tank. Axolotls ideal temperature range is 14 - 20C, they will 'tolerate' temperatures of 20 - 24C. If the tank temperature is climbing above 24C however, then you will need to cool it. But if below 24C, having a steady temperature in the tolerated temp range is better than subjecting the axolotls to temperature fluctuations.

This article provides many helpful tactics on cooling an aquarium: "read me!"

Ice bottles also work very well, if you scroll down to the "Temperature and Cooling" section of the Axolotl Site the Ice bottle procedure is contained therein: "read me too!"

Ranger said:

I dont really watch my axolotls feed but i do check if there are anymore left over, but they could have disintegrated so i'll keep a closer eye on them.

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Yes, they are messy and are messy at all hours day and night - I feel as if mine are requesting "Room Service!" whenever they look at me lol. :happy:

What sort of substrate are you using and are you checking and cleaning underneath it?

Muck as well as accumulating out of sight and out of mind under the substrate will also sift into nooks and crannies of tank ornaments and plants - I give these cracks a blast with a turkey baster and then suck up the muck as it is blown out.

While vacuuming the sand with a syphon, I will put rocks and plants in a bucket of the tank water to preserve my bacterias and give them a shake to get rid of any determined muck that the baster missed.

Ranger said:

I have a aqua One Maxi 101F filter. It is suppose to clean 350 litres of water an hour. the water surface is always moving and the current moves the plants a little. im not sure if this is strong enough? I will put an air stone in the corner though to see if it works.

Click to expand...

I think the filter is providing enough aeration, an airstone won't hurt though. Some axies don't mind airstones and will even play with the bubbles, some however find them stressful and if this is the case it should be removed.

If the filter's outtake flow is moving plants however, then this is too strong a flow for the axolotls. You will need to either obstruct the flow (place something in front of it like a rock or tank ornament) or afix a spray bar to diffuse the current (with a little ingenuity you can make one yourself) or turn the outtake nozzle and direct the flow to the tank wall.

Axolotls find water movement to be highly stressful.

when i got my first axolotls 5 years ago everyone told me they were easy to look after and not stressful at all lol. I cleaned my tank out two nights ago and now it smells worse than before. i scrubbed everything including the sand. they havnt been fed since. the water temperature is sitting at an average 20 degrees. I had no idea that there was so much special care that axoltols needed XD I dont mind cleaning the tank and stuff but im really at a loss for what do do next.
thanks for all your help everyone

Hi Ranger,

Just a couple of suggestions:

Have you considered feeding earthworms to the axolotls rather than pellets? Earthworms make very little mess, make feeding easy, will stay alive under water for quite some time (allowing the axies to hunt ), and are nutritionally complete for an axie's diet.

Have you checked the filter for clogging? I would take it apart, take out its sponge media and give the canister and sponges a good shake in a bucket of the tank water (this will preserve your bacterias living in the filter) - do not run the filter sponges under tap water as the chlorine will kill the bacterias!

Um, I just thought that I would mention that if your tank is cycling, then you could have an ammonia build up and that can cause the smell. I advise that you check your water parameters and if needed, do daily particual water changes.

ohk thanks, the filter isnt clogged but i have been cleaning it under the tap so in future i will definatly clean it in a bucket of tank water. Earthworms? i shall have a dig around in the garden and see if i can find some thanks

And thaks for the advice i will do some partial water changes. thanks a heap

P.S. Ranger - axolotls really are low maintenance and high enjoyment. You just have to get the hang of them at first and that can take awhile because they are so different to fish (and dogs or cats). Six months from now you'll see how relaxing and amusing it is to watch them. Honest!

-Eva

I second that Ranger. I was so stressed out when I first got my axies last May, the constant water changes, water testing etc. Then my tank was cycled, and I relaxed a lot more, as did the axies! We are kind of used to each other now, they have me wrapped round their cute little fingers. I love them to bits and despite all the stress in the beginning I wouldn't ever want to have a home without axolotls now. It's a big learning curve for us newbies, but SO worth it! Keep at it, keep posting and you'll soon reap the rewards, happy axies and happy owner!

OK I believe you guys lol. I thought everything would be easier now that i have my big tank but i guess i need to read up a bit on this cycling XD thanks a heap everyone!

If you have been doing full water changes, then your tank will be going through a cycle...if I remember correctly mine went through a spell then of being rather ' aromatic'..in the end I used some carbon in the filter and the smell went ( never to return!).