Bacterial Bloom?

[Butterbut the great]

I have a 2 20 gallon tanks with one axolotl in each tank. (I have a male luestic Marshmallow, and a female golden albino Butterscotch.) I do 5 gallon water changes every week on Wednesday. I accidentally forgot on Wednesday and did it on thrusday instead.

Yesterday at noon I realized my tank was kinda cloudy. Just to be on the safe side I tested everything with my API Fresh Water Test Kit. Ammonia was 0ppm, Nitrite was 0ppm, Nitrate was 0ppm, and my ph was 7.2. I did add some seachem prime just to be on the safe side. I left and came back at 3:30. It was cloudier. I tested again and my ph was 7.8, ammonia was 0.50ppm. The instant I saw that my ammonia was higher than 0, I tubbed my axolotl. She is currently still in the tub. Her tank reading have since leveled out a bit (still 0.25ppm ammonia.) I have done 2 doses of seachem prime for the entire tank and since then the tank has cleared up. Should I do another water change and see if it will drop it?

 

[Butterbut the great]

It was just Butterscotch's tank that got cloudy. Marshmallow's tank is perfect.
I can't think of any reason there would have been a bacterial bloom because their tanks have been established for almost 2 years. I always de-chlorinate the water before adding it to the tank.

 

[EllieWind]

It looks like your tank's cycle has crashed. You made the right call to tub your axolotl when you noticed the ammonia spike, and you can either keep her tubbed or re-cycle the tank with her in it if you're careful. You mentioned that you have Prime which will be a huge help to you if you decide to cycle the tank with her in it.

You never want to have a reading of 0 across the board; a cycled tank should have ammonia at 0, nitrites 0, and nitrates between 20 (ideal) to 40 (time for a partial water change). Changing 5 gallons every week like you were doing should be just fine, but if your tank wasn't fully cycled to begin with or the cycle was off just enough to cause a bacterial bloom then you're just removing any beneficial bacteria before it can do its job.

So don't panic but keep an eye on your water parameters while you get your tank cycled. It may take a couple of weeks, but you can help the process along by adding some filter media from your other tank. I've also found that using a bacterial booster like API Quickstart can help as well, though it won't be an immediate solution.

 

[Butterbut the great]

Would the prime have made it read 0 because it neutralized the nitrates?

 

[EllieWind]

Would the prime have made it read 0 because it neutralized the nitrates?

Possibly, but Prime only neutralizes nitrites and nitrates for 12 hours. You can test again to be sure though.

 

[Butterbut the great]

Ok, I will.

 

[Calgarycoppers]

Your nitrate should never be zero

Safe range is 5-20 - 40 and above should trigger immediate water change.

I would up your water change to minimum 1/3 more ideally 1/2

When did you set the tanks up?
When and how did you cycle them?

Are you following the test instructions to the letter?

 

[Butterbut the great]

Ok, I set the tanks up going on 2 years ago, it will be 2 years in January. I cycled them with filter cartridges from some of my other tanks. I am following the test instructions exactly. I don't know if something is wrong with the test kit because it isn't reading right on my other tanks, which I know are right.
Should I do a 1/2 water change today instead of 1/4?

 

[Butterbut the great]

I did my regular water change today because nobody responded. Everything is still reading zero. I haven't had anymore ammonia spikes, or bacterial blooms. My ph is 7.4 and everything else it 0. I have been testing daily to make sure nothing is going wrong.

 

[Calgarycoppers]

If your nitrates are reading 0 you have an uncycled tank.

CYCLING HANDOUT

 

[Butterbut the great]

But my ammonia is 0 and has been for the past like 2 years except for the spike I mentioned which resolved itself.

 

[Calgarycoppers]

If your Nitrates are 0 and you only do small water changes then something is off. Your tests are old, you aren't testing properly, you aren;t shaking the bottles enough before testing?

Something isnt right

But my ammonia is 0 and has been for the past like 2 years except for the spike I mentioned which resolved itself.

 

[Butterbut the great]

I think I finally figured it out. My testing kit is fine. My nitrates are currently sitting between 20-40ppm. I think what happened was I may have acccidently added un-treated water that would have killed my cycle. They are both doing fine and their tanks are perfectly fine now.