Question: Cloudy Axolotl Water

[Emma18]

Ok, so I have had my axie for almost half a year. I got a small filter that did great when he was little but as he got bigger my water got cloudy. I used seachem stabilizer in the past and it was amazing at clearing up cloudiness. But it got worse... so I bought a new filter, that was much bigger. These were both sponge filters. And it is still cloudy. I am thinking it is bacteria or algae so I wanted to get a snail(you may have seen my previous post. Obviously a snail won't clear up a 20 gallon tank though. My axie is doing great, swimming, resting, eating. He is a good weight not too skinny or fat. Anyway I did a big water change and washed everything but the filter and filled the tank up. Still cloudy, so I filled it up again. This was a very long process. I noticed my fake log was falling apart, so I looked up reviews and found that it had killed other fish. I took that out. It was a zoo med log. It is three days later, and cloudy again! I am getting a new filter. Aqua Clear 30 power filter. I will leave my sponge filter in to help cycle, but I am lost here. What should I do?

 

[jamessamlev]

Probably something to do with the filter, do you change the sponge? Ive put my newts in there new tank for 3 days and its already cloudy. Sometimes its just ment to be

 

[Emma18]

The sponge is relatively new, like a month new. It started getting cloudy before I got a new one, and now it is still cloudy. I don't get it this sponge looks clean and it is much larger. For the first few months after I got him the water was normal. I only had to do weekly water changes. Now it is three days and I am probably going to do another one today Like I said I am getting another filter, this one a cartridge, but I have tried so many things, I am not sure what to do. I can try to clean the sponge, but the filter is coming tomorrow so it is not much use.

 

[Emma18]

Actually the filter is coming on thursday. Do you think I should clean the sponge? If so, how?

 

[tammyaxie]

Is it silty or milky? I read that algae blooms make the water milky but I thought a good cleaning is all that would be necessary to get rid of it. I could be wrong then. Do u have substrate and what type? Are u feeding pellets?

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[Emma18]

I have large river rocks and the last few times have been a very good cleaning, the rocks and everything. Yesterday I just rinsed every thing off and put water in. It is usually clear for a few days and cloudy again. It looks milky but it actually has this weird white stuff floating in it sometimes. It looks like slime or gunk. And yes I feed axolotl pellets.

 

[tammyaxie]

Ur cycle could have crashed causing a bacterial bloom that uneaten pellets can be contributing to. The water quality could be a result of overfeeding.

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[Emma18]

That makes sense, I did get a new filter, my other filter was dirty and needed to be replaced though. So what should I do? I am leaving this filter in for a month or so so that my new filter can cycle.