Can I put my axxie in cloudy fresh sand water?

yonykins

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Hi everyone!

First post here! It's a bit of a long one for detail and clarity, but I have a TL;DR at the end.

I'm in a bit of a sticky situation here.

I did my reading around the internet and decided to get sand for my tank as I was worried sick about my dear Leviathan accidentally swallowing a rock.
I had taken out most of the small rocks from his tank, but I was still worried.
Also, he seems to be missing -all- of his toes except one, and I thought the rough gravel may be contributing to that, or at least to them not growing back.

I bought some sand, had a friend help me clean it out.

We used coffee filters in pasta straining bowls, and we ran water through them until they ran clean. When I was rinsing the last batch of sand, I noticed the edges of the sand were running cloudy even though the water running through the middle was clear.

I think the sand may not have been washed well enough. The tank is still murky even after being left for five hours, and having my filter running. It was improved, but it looks milky and I can't see through it to see any of the things placed in the tank.

I've been reading other posts about this on the forum, and re-washing the sand is recommended.
However, I don't have another tank to put my axxie in!
The poor guy has been in small tuber ware containers all day! I have two that I've been rotating out.

I'd like to minimize his stress. I really love him, you know?

TL;DR

My tank is cloudy after adding sand over five hours ago. It was rinsed, maybe not enough. I have my axolotl in a tubberware container, as I don't have an extra tank. Should I put him back in the murky tank, or leave him in the smaller container?
 
Cloudy water shouldn't harm him at all, the only real issue is that it looks messy and makes it hard to see things going on inside the tank. Particles like that can sometimes take a day or more to completely settle, so you have two options here: 1) Take the sand out and rewash it, or 2) Leave the tank to set for a day or so and allow the particles to settle. If you go with option 2, what you'll need to do is keep your axolotl in the container with cool, dechlorinated water in a darker and cooler place in the house. Also, it would help to turn the filter off during this period, as filtration will just move the particles around more and won't allow them to settle.
 
I had this problem when i first set up my tanks, i left it to settle for a day or so, but still had a bit of cloudiness for a few weeks, then over time, with your water changes in the tank, the water gets clearer and clearer :D
 
Your filter will gradually remove all the finer particles, but you'll need to clean your filter every few days. The other option is to do a few large water changes, until the water is clearer.

Fine sand in the water may have an abrasive effect on your axie and could irritate his gills - I would keep him in the tub until the water clears - somewhere cool with daily water changes is fine for a few days.
 
Thank you so much for your suggestions everyone!

I'm going to keep him in the smaller containers for now until I can clean out the sand.

Should I try to clean out the sand some more by removing it from the tank and washing it?

If so, how?

Can I scoop some up in a towel and wash it that way?

My towels have been washed with detergent, though, would it be harmful to have them in contact with what I'm putting in the tank? I'm guessing at low concentration it shouldn't be too much a problem, but I wouldn't want to risk it.
 
Had the same situation...DIDNT rince first at all...oops. Was fine for two days while cycling...got really cloudy by day 3. Did a full water change, and a day later it all settled fine.
 
Hello!

So I started doing 25-30 % water changes the first day, and after that didn't help, I decided to completely change the water and let it settle over night.

No change.

I removed all of the water from the tank, moved all of the sand around, and washed it until the water I was removing was clear for five times, moving the sand between each time.

It's still very cloudy.

I put my filter in and ran it, but the water coming from the filter doesn't seem much clearer. It's been days now and my axolotl hasn't been back in the tank.

It's incredibly time consuming to do all of these water changes. I think I should just let it settle at this point.
 
Leave it for a day or so, and if it doesn't settle, you may want to look into getting a different kind of sand, or going with a different substrate altogether. I have some fossil slate in my tank right now, and it works just fine. Same texture as sand, same amount of grip, and easier to clean. Plus, if you live near a river, you can get it for free! :D That's just my two cents though.
 
I was actually browsing the "axolotl sanctuary" site and read that marine sand will raise the pH and is not ideal. Turns out what I have is aragonite, coral, and will indeed raise the pH.

It also tends to be very cloudy and milky. I'll grab a kit and see if I can get the right pH.
I think I'll keep a close eye on the pH until I can get different sand.
 
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