Ammonia Level Still High :(

[Anubis]

I currently have a small axie in a 10 gallon tank (don't worry, I'll increase the tank size as she/he grows ). Whenever I do a water change, the ammonia is always around 0.5-1. I throw in double the amount of ammonia remover than the manufacturer says I should for my tank size and the ammonia only drops down to 0.25 and no lower. In fact, I did a 50% water change this morning at 8 am (I anticipated a high ammonia level due to what I've been getting), added 10 mls of my remover, and I just checked the ammonia level again (5:30pm) and it's still at 0.25. I've been doing daily 20% water changes and I have three small plants in the water, however I just can't get it to drop any further. The ammonia neutralizer I have is called Amquel Plus and I'm currently adding 10 mls to my 10 gallon tank when I do a 50% water change and about 2 mls when I do a 20% water change.

 

[Shizeric]

First of all...adding a higher recommended dose of anything is ALWAYS a bad idea...especially when dealing with chemicals and putting then in with an animal as sensitive as an axolotl....but how long have you been trying to establish a cycle?

 

[blackdog]

If you are using an ammonia remover you will be getting false readings from your test kit.

I'd stop using that product. It really should only be for emergencies.

Do water changes every day, monitor the parameters, and have patience, it will cycle

Bren

 

[dragonlady]

In addition to what the others have suggested/asked: Have you tested your tap water? Sometimes it can have a little present (mine does - .25).

How much are you feeding him/her? What is the substrate? Excess food can seep down into crevices and raise the ammonia level too. For example, if you have large rocks, excess waste can seep down between the rocks, under ornaments, etc despite your best housekeeping efforts.

 

[Anubis]

First of all...adding a higher recommended dose of anything is ALWAYS a bad idea...especially when dealing with chemicals and putting then in with an animal as sensitive as an axolotl....but how long have you been trying to establish a cycle?

Ah...Ok, well I'm going to stop doing that now then. And about a month and a half. I recently moved to the Boston area over a month ago. Before the move, all of the parameters were fine, but now I'm having this ammonia problem that's left me really worried :\.

 

[Anubis]

In addition to what the others have suggested/asked: Have you tested your tap water? Sometimes it can have a little present (mine does - .25).

How much are you feeding him/her? What is the substrate? Excess food can seep down into crevices and raise the ammonia level too. For example, if you have large rocks, excess waste can seep down between the rocks, under ornaments, etc despite your best housekeeping efforts.

I haven't directly tested the tap water. However, before I put Roku in his/her tank I test it and that's when I get those really high readings. Could that affect the readings? I feed Roku two salmon pellets in the morning and two in the evening. I remove what they leave after about 10 minutes, so maybe a shorter time between adding the food and removing it would help? As for the substrate I use sand. When I clean our their tank, I swirl it around a few times to make sure I kick up a fair bit of excrement and food particles (at least that was what I was told to do, correct me if I'm wrong).

 

[Anubis]

@Shizeric: do you think the tank needs to build up a different kind of bacteria than what I had before to deal with the new ammonia levels?

 

[dragonlady]

Since you mentioned a recent move, it may be a good idea to get a copy of your water report from your local authority just to find out what you have in this new water source.

Test some water directly from the tap before adding it to the tank to see what kind of ammonia level you have - if any. If you have ammonia and the tank has ammonia, well, then there's a lot of ammonia. However, .25 is not devastating, but water changes could be proving ineffective as you are finding.

Make sure you are not missing any waste under any ornaments you have too. Salmon pellets can hide just about anywhere as can axie waste. Depending on the size of your axie, some of that ammonia could be from him/her, they are messy little buggers! If that the only thing you feed him/her? I would suggest to also try frozen bloodworms (in a jar) and/or some chopped earthworms.

 

[Anubis]

Since you mentioned a recent move, it may be a good idea to get a copy of your water report from your local authority just to find out what you have in this new water source.

Test some water directly from the tap before adding it to the tank to see what kind of ammonia level you have - if any. If you have ammonia and the tank has ammonia, well, then there's a lot of ammonia. However, .25 is not devastating, but water changes could be proving ineffective as you are finding.

Make sure you are not missing any waste under any ornaments you have too. Salmon pellets can hide just about anywhere as can axie waste. Depending on the size of your axie, some of that ammonia could be from him/her, they are messy little buggers! If that the only thing you feed him/her? I would suggest to also try frozen bloodworms (in a jar) and/or some chopped earthworms.

Ah! I forgot all about that! I'm giving Roku half a cube of bloodworms once a week (half because he won't eat the whole thing). I try to vacuum up the sand as well as I can (I stir it about 3 times before I let it settle, vacuum up what appears on top, then repeat it once or twice more depending on the amount of waste on top). Is that the best way to handle this?

I also just tested a sample of tap water and the ammonia level was 0.5 >.<. Besides regular water changes and live plants, is there anything else I can do? I don't want him/her to get sick .

 

[HappySkittles]

plants wont help get rid of the ammonia unless you have your tank full of em and the lighting to support them
and remember ammonia test kits will still show ammonia even if its in a non-toxic state (after you add chemicals)
so you could have 0 toxic ammonia in your tank. i dont think there are any tests that can tell the difference. same thing with your tap.

i used to have oscars and i had the same problem. and i would do MASSIVE water changes to try and get this down. they were perfectly healthy and fine the whole time even though i could never get the ammonia to zero. it was around .5 but it was always there because my tap would read with ammonia. i wouldnt worry too much about it at .25. but then again this is my years of fish keeping talking...i dont know if thats ok for an axie...i know my fish were ok but i also dont know what kind of ammonia i was picking up...ahh the limitations of test kits D:

the only way i think you could get rid of the ammonia completely is to let your tank fully cycle it away and to let your tap water cycle before you put it into your tank (since you say your tap has ammonia too) which would be time consuming.

 

[dragonlady]

Some axolotls are really sensitive to ammonia while others may tolerate it in trace amounts, however, I err on the side of caution, and follow the recommendations of this site. (Also keep in mind that the higher your pH is, the more toxic ammonia is)

What prompted me to take extra steps (like having a filter system installed in my home) was one of my axies had stopped eating, looked horrible, and just was not himself at all. When I got my ammonia down to 0 (finally!), he picked up eating again. This was on the heels of another that had stopped for several weeks!

I would recommend some live plants if you have a talent for that sort of thing (I don't). Java ferns and moss do well in low light. I use java moss and moss balls. That decision is up to you, more plant suggestions can be found at Axolotl Sactuary at the bottom of this page - Aquascaping.

I use AmQuel+ or Prime to neutralize the ammonia without actually eliminating it. This way, your tank can continue to cycle but your axie should be safe. Of course, you will read 0 Ammonia (or close to it) so don't let that fool you into believing that your tank is done cycling. You will still get nitrite and nitrate spikes during the cycle so you will still have to keep your tank closely monitored until you get through that (water changes will help manage those as well).

As far as feeding bloodworms, many use the jar method. They submerge a small jar on its side and then use a turkey baster to add thawed bloodworms to the jar. Once your axie gets the idea, this makes cleaning up the excess much simpler. (Note: in case you didn't know, it's a good idea to thaw your bloodworms out before adding them as the ice will contain extra proteins that can affect the balance of your tank as well)

You haven't mentioned temp or the other parameters, are those okay?

Lastly, I would suggest getting that bigger tank up and running as axies grow very quickly, also a larger tank would prove easier to keep stable.

 

[Anubis]

The other parameters are: ph: 7, nitrate: 0, nitrite: 0, temp: 68. Thanks for all the help everyone! I appreciate them all and if you all think of anything else let me know

 

[Anubis]

The ammonia level finally dropped . Thank you all so much for your help!

 

[bayhicoach]

Not to put too fine a point on this discussion but Ammonia is ammonia (NH3). If it is "neutralized" it's no longer ammonia. There are not types of ammonia as in some ammonias are okay and others are dangerous. Ammonia is anathema to aquatic environments but different species react differently to different levels of contamination. But, the products of ammonia break down are also toxic. Partial water changes help to reduce the load of these toxins in your tank.