Could the sand making the water yellow?

[PixieFinn]

Hi there,

I've just done a big water change on Mabel's tank after the ammonia levels shot right up and have been shocked by the colour of the water. I last did a 25% change on Thursday evening and noticed a slight yellow tint to the water which I put down to possibly tannins from the wood but this evening the water is nearly fluresant (sp) :/
Other thoughts are that maybe it is the sand? I have removed three quarters of it as I'm worried I may have the wrong type of sand now after reading a thread earlier today (reptile sand) so anyway, there's a pic of a sample of the water below, clear but definitely yellow

 

[Boomsloth]

How new is the wood? How old is the sand? It's possible it's tannins or both. Do your axolotls seem stressed?


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[PixieFinn]

Both the wood and sand are a fortnight, the wood was soaked separately for a week and the sand washed about 15 times before adding to the tank. Axi is a leucistic and has a definite pink tint to the body which wasn't apparent before. She has now totally fallen out with me and squished herself right up to the back of her cave so I doubt I'll manage a pic of her this evening. Before that she was feeding well on earthworms and flat refusing any other food type which also will have contributed to the ammonia as I have been trying to suck up uneaten frozen bloodworms without huge success and ignored pellets. Her poo isn't so formed since she switched to the earthworms though..most likely coincidental. I'm feeling like a neurotic axi mummy!!

 

[Boomsloth]

It could definitely be the wood. Idk enough about the sand to say whether that would cause it or any other problems but as long as the ammonia/nitrite stay at 0ppm you should be okay. Monitor your axolotl and if you see any issues come up then it might be the sand causing something. wood can leach tannins for a very long time (months) keep up with water changes but tannins are harmless.

 

[PixieFinn]

Lovely, thank you. I shall sleep a bit easier tonight for not stressing over the yellow! I'm sure Mabel will be back to demanding ALL the earthworms tomorrow, at least they are less messy than the bloodworms
Hopefully the levels will be acceptable again very soon, lots of water changes until then.
Thanks again