Question: Cloudy Water?

[Gimpdiggity]

Hi everyone.

I got my first axolotl this past week from a breeder near my house. It's a juvenile, probably about 3.5" long.

I've got (I'm just going to call it a him for ease of discussion) in a 10 gallon tank set up in my basement.

It's got several hiding spots in it, a sponge filter, tiles on the bottom so he can move easily, and an air pump rated for a 5-10 gallon tank. I went with the smaller air pump to try to limit the actual flow of the water as much as I can.

Before I got him, I did a lot of looking into cycling the tank and found a couple of people suggesting that I not worry too much about cycling because he was so small he might not be able to support the bacteria, and I would probably end up with a crash anyway. I talked to the breeder and he suggested I make sure the temperature is correct, monitor my water conditions daily until it's stable, and make water changes when necessary.

So, I've been testing the water every night when I get home from work. I've been showing colors below the .25 PPT on ammonia, and this is after waiting long enough for the Prime that I'm using to condition the water to work it's way out of the way of the test. I did a water change yesterday, and today the ammonia was showing basically 0...it looked just straight yellow to me, the same color as the tap water I tested tonight just for the fun of it.

I have some Stability to use if things start to get out of whack, and an extra 10 gallon tank to put Europa (that's his name) in if I need to go back to square one and cycle from scratch...however, the water monitoring isn't bothering me...it's actually giving me something to do to relax after a long day at work. :happy:

The question I have is this...the water seems to be a bit cloudy. It was nice and clear when I first put him in there, for the whole day, and after I fed him the first time the water seems to have been cloudy.

I've got a gravel vac that I used to change the water, so I made sure to get ALL of the little bits of junk out of the bottom when I did the water change, and I also have a baster that I'm using to suck up any leftover food after he's clearly done eating, and to grab any little bits of anything I see at any other point in time. So, I believe that I'm doing a pretty good job of making sure that there's nothing just sitting in the water for any length of time.

I'm feeding frozen blood worms right now, because that's what he was being fed by the breeder. I'm going to get some worms this weekend from the store and see if he likes those, because I think that would be easier for me to feed than the bloodworms.

I've read a few examples on different various aquarium sites about the liquid that they use to freeze bloodworms and brine shrimp and other things can end up causing a bit of cloudy water, so I started making sure to thaw the bloodworms then drain the water out, then put a bit of water from the tank in and use that to baste up the bloodworms.

I've also read that cloudy water can just be a result of a new tank being set up and it's not really anything to worry too much about.

Is there anything else that I should be checking on regarding this? The tank has been
set up for five days now, with one water change yesterday, and one coming tomorrow.

My ammonia is between 0-.25ppt
I am showing no nitrates or nitrites on my test.
Temperature is at 64-65 degrees.

I'm using the API Master Test kit with the liquid, no strips or anything.

Just looking for some suggestions.

Europa eats and moves around and seems to be plenty healthy...he doesn't seem stressed by the filter I"ve got in there, as the surface gets a TAD bit agitated by the air bubbles, but there's not enough flow to move anything on the bottom at all, so I think it's pretty good regarding those issues.

Thanks in advance,
Jeff

 

[Gimpdiggity]

Woke up this morning and the water is looking MUCH more clear.

I guess I'll just keep doing what I've been doing.


Jeff

 

[Gimpdiggity]

The water is pretty much crystal clear now.

I'm still showing less than .25 ammonia, so I think I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping up on the tank.

Axolotl continues to eat and be...well...an axolotl I guess. It seems to be doing pretty good.

Certainly an interesting little beast.

 

[AxolotlChris]

Looks like your heading in the right direction.

Doesn't seem like your cycle has taken off yet since you have no readings of Nitrites or NitrAtes.

The cycling process can take from 3-6 weeks. For your tank to be cycled, the beneficial bacteria needs to be present to break down the Ammonia and Nitrites into Nitrates. You can tell when your cycle has begun when you notice the rise of Nitrites and then eventually Nitrates.

Use these links for information on the cycling process:
Caudata Culture Articles - Water Quality
Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling

 

[Gimpdiggity]

Thanks Wrangler.


I'm showing a little bit more ammonia, but still not even near .5 PPM. My wife seems to think it still looks basically yellow, I feel it looks a LITTLE tiny bit green.

The creature continues to eat, and he's been a bit more active. I find him hanging out in the fake plant/driftwood thing that's in his aquarium a lot more often the last few days than I did the first few days.

It's amazing to me how well it can hide...I've had two times now where I convinced myself that somehow one of my cats had gotten the aquarium open and gotten him...only to find him basically right in front of my nose!!!!

It seems like the axolotl has gotten slightly bigger, and I can tell that three of his legs and feet are growing in...when we first got him, he had one that looked pretty developed and then three just kind of nubs...but the nubs are starting to look like legs. My guess is he got bit a few times by another one his size before we got him.

I'm becoming a bit less nervous about all of it, and just focusing on making sure the water's ammonia is under control. Once the cycle starts to kick in, I don't think I'll really ever worry about the whole thing. The water is crystal clear now, and with the tile on the bottom of the tank it's really easy to clean up the messes that are left behind...so I've been doing water changes every three days, taking out about 20% and putting about 25% back in (I lose a bit when I use my baster to suck out the debris left behind by food).

Overall, I think things are definitely going in the right direction!!!

Here's a picture I snapped of him with my phone while I was cleaning the tank a bit tonight. Axolotl was just kind of lurking in the fake plants...