Axolotl Tank Cycling

[grimxx]

I need some help, I'm not to sure what im doing wrong. I Have 1 axolotl in a 30 gallon tank. I've had him for 3 years and have never had any issues. About 2 months ago I moved into a new place and moving my tank was a little rough. A lot of sand got moved around, one of my filters broke ( Bought a new one and used the same filter media). Since moving I havn't been able to have my tank cycled properly. For a while I had a lot of ammonia spikes but in the last 2 weeks it had been at 0 with nitrites at 0 and nitrates at 5ppm. I was testing everyday and it was stable so I put my axolotl back in his tank and within 5 hours I had an ammonia spike again. Currently Ammonia is at 1.ppm Nitrite 0 Nitrate 5. Did I not wait long enough before putting him in? I'm not sure what is causing the ammonia to go up.

 

[JM29]

1 ppm Ammonia doesn't mean anything. We must know if it's total ammonia or free ammonia. It depends on your test kit.
If your axolotl looks healthy (first thing to check), it's probably total ammonia.

 

[grimxx]

1 ppm Ammonia doesn't mean anything. We must know if it's total ammonia or free ammonia. It depends on your test kit.
If your axolotl looks healthy (first thing to check), it's probably total ammonia.

I'm using the API Freshwater master test kit, I believe it tests for total ammonia. My axolotl was a bit stressed, his tail was starting to curl and he was acting pretty erratic (swimming up to the surface and smacking into the side of the tank.).

 

[AMurry24537]

Ammonia is considered toxic for aquatic creatures at 0.5 ppm. The API test kits do indeed test for total ammonia, but considering those signs of stress, I would guess that ammonia could definitely be at least part of the problem.

I need to ask, during the time that you didn't have your axolotl in the tank, were you artificially adding ammonia or not? Because if not, your cycle probably crashed. Your axolotl produces ammonia, which acts as food for the bacteria that convert it into nitrites, and then the same for nitrates. If you remove the source of ammonia and don't provide a substitute, you end up starving the bacteria and crashing the cycle.