Question: Cycling with and without axolotl and levels

[MaddyAndBilly]

YAY last night I put 2 medium sized worms and 2 tiny worms in the fridge tank. This morming Billy had eaten the 2 medium worms and had left the 2 small worms - which were still alive. YAY:grin:

One more question... How long should I leave live worms in the tank?

 

[Kaysie]

As long as they're alive, you can leave them in there. Take them out if they start to look 'off'.

 

[FX1C]

YAY last night I put 2 medium sized worms and 2 tiny worms in the fridge tank. This morming Billy had eaten the 2 medium worms and had left the 2 small worms - which were still alive. YAY:grin:

One more question... How long should I leave live worms in the tank?

Great news



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[MaddyAndBilly]

thanks for that info Kaysie. I was really surprised to see the little worms still alive in the morning. I did throw them out and replaced them with fresher big worms. Hopefully Billy will be enticed to eat some more. fingers crossed.

 

[MaddyAndBilly]

Today's update.

Billy didn't eat any more worms overnight but that isn't really a surprise as he ate 3.5 worms yesterday.

We only changed his water this morning and put him back in the fridge with a couple of worms. When we pulled him out to do a salt bath this evening (I think this will be the last one) we were REALLY amazed at how much poop was in the water. Perhaps he did have a little blockage. I couln't see anything that would cause it but the sheer volume would indicate to me (not that I have any experience other than my own children) that something had blocked him up. He didn't eat any of the worms, but perhaps he will tonight.

 

[Olivia97]

That's great to hear, i bet youve never been so excited to see so much poop

 

[MaddyAndBilly]

Latest update.

Billy will be transitioned into the tank today. He isn't eating as much as I would like but I figure that it due to be in the fridge. Hopefully he will eat more in the coming days.

Have now got a fan on the tank and it seems to be doing a good job at keeping the tank at about 19 degrees C.

wish me luck

 

[FX1C]

Good to hear

Glad billy is on his way back to the
big house - I'm sure it's a relief



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[MaddyAndBilly]

Billy has been back in his tank for over a week now. He is eating up a storm. Every time I go in to check on him he appears to be begging for food as if he hadn't been feed for days. He is now eating 2-3 worms a day and is putting on weight.

The temperature of the tank is now a fairly constant 19 degrees C but I am still struggling with the amonia, etc. The PH is fine but the amonia and nitrate refuse to get down to 0. They are hovering around 1. We have had the first the nitrite reading yesterday so not sure how this will affect the levels over the next few days.

We are doing water testing and 30% water changes every day. Any suggestions?

 

[wandering]

Don't expect the nitrate to go down to 0. Nitrate (at higher level than your tap water) is a good sign because it is the end product of your cycle.
You get ammonia from your axolotls and rotting food etc. The bacteria (when you have enough) remove the ammonia and produce nitrite. So you will get a nitrite reading. Nitrite needs to be 0 to be safe as well. Only when you have some nitrite can the other bacteria start to reproduce and replace the nitrite with relatively harmless nitrate. This is why it takes around 6 weeks; you have to grow your populations of these two types of bacteria, one after the other, on surfaces and from very low starting populations.

Maybe you could take your axolotl out if you have some other cool tank to keep it in while your colonies grow. ( I have some in bare tanks with plants and no filters temporarily and doing big water changes. But its quite cool here in the UK!).

Or feed your axie less to put less load on your still small bacteria colonies. Although I take your point about him needing feeding up.

Or put another filter in from an established tank. Any fishkeeping friends? Would they let you have a piece of their filter sponge or some cycled media to put in a stocking in your filter outflow?

Hope that helps.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Kaysie]

Have you tested your source water to get a baseline reading? What kind of test kit are you using?

Ammonia of 1ppm is deadly, and nitrate of 1ppm is extremely low (it's usually closer to 40). That doesn't really make much sense, when you're doing daily water changes.

 

[MaddyAndBilly]

Yay,

Billy's water levels are sorted. He is so much happier.

Lately I realesed 12 'Neon Tetras' into the tank, for him to eat and chase. So far he has eaten 3.

I would like to thank the countless people who have helped Billy and I with all our beginner mistakes and problems.

Thank you.

From MaddyandBilly