First time setting up axolotl tank

Kaini said:
No it's a valid question! Haha. And it confuses many. It naturally occurs all around us - in the water, in dust spores in the air, etc. So basically wizardry LOL
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I too am in favor of saying it is Wizardry. You're a Wizard, Harry Kaini. XD It really does make you wonder though, doesn't it?

Your tank is very awesome, by the way. I would say I wished I had a 75 gallon like that, but then I would be shot by my significant other for wanting another tank :kill:
 
Haha, thanks. My hubby's dad used to keep saltwater tanks so he was down with the idea of getting a big tank... We bought it with the intention of having a planted tank, and we just never had the money to plant enough/set it up right at the time.

Finally decided to do it right this time so we didn't end up with an underplanted algae garden. We also wanted to do 'fishless cycling' this time, too, since fish-in cycling never worked well for us in the past, and from what I read here axolotls don't like fish tank mates much anyway.

Speaking of which... I can't find the right kind of ammonia anywhere. Went to two hardware stores at lunch, neither carried it. Called the Ace Hardware that is about 15 miles away from my work, and they don't have it either. You'd think it'd be easy to find, right?

Where did you guys get yours?

edit: NVM, found some on ebay, gave up on finding it locally.
 
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Weird, our ammonia arrived so I checked the parameters before adding some, and the pH is still high (8.2). I tested the water straight from the tap and it's only 7.4. What gives?
 
pennyroyals said:
Weird, our ammonia arrived so I checked the parameters before adding some, and the pH is still high (8.2). I tested the water straight from the tap and it's only 7.4. What gives?
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It's something in your tank doing it. Is the substrate PH neutral? Could it be the wood?
 
From what I can find online, driftwood should if anything lower the pH. The substrate is sand, and is petco's brand of aquarium sand, and I suppose if it's not silica based it could be raising the pH... But by almost a whole point? IDK.

The only other thing in there that's made of rock are the hides. The turtle shell looking one was, I believe, exo terra brand, and was in the aquarium section. I DID do the white vinegar test on a chipped portion of it and it didn't bubble or react, and the white hides are (I forget the brand) marketed as aquarium hides for fish like cichlids.

I'm going to test the water I just put in our 10g I set up tonight that's also cycling - it's bare bottom and empty at the moment, so I guess I can use it as my control group to see what's causing the pH spike. I'll also do a WC tommorow and test again in the big tank - if that doesn't bring it down, I guess I'll have to start moving things into the smaller tank one at a time and see if I can isolate what's causing the problem. :(


...Actually, I am mighty suspicious of those cichlid hides. They need higher pH naturally, don't they? I tested the 10g (it's at 7.4) and have now moved one of those hides into it. I'll give it a few hours and retest.
 
It might be the sand, if it didn't explicitly say PH neutral on it. Though I've never used petco's aquarium sand, most aquarium sand SHOULD be neutral. If it's not it's **** sand lol.

Other than that I can't think of anything....
 
This is all it says on their website: "Petco aquarium sand is ideal for freshwater, and safe for marine aquariums. The sand is processed to remove potentially harmful debris and metals, and assists in breaking down waste. It will not affect the water's chemistry, nor harm any aquatic life (fish, invertebrates, or plants). By combining sand, plants, and decor, which provide cover and hiding places, you will create a healthy environment for your fish."

So... IDEK.

I retested the 10g's water with the cichlid hides in it though (although they were still wet from the other aquarium, I'd assume it wasn't enough water to significantly change the pH) and now the pH from that tank is reading 7.8. I'll give it longer though cause I know I kinda jumped the gun on testing it after only 30 mins.
 
I think the mystery is solved!

The cichilid hides are made from what I assume is some kind of polyresin - they have a somewhat coarse, sandlike texture. They're soaking wet at the moment from being in the aquarium so I'm not sure how much a white vinegar test would help me but the pH in the smaller aquarium is up to 8.0 today, so I'm guessing they're calcareous.

On other news, my duckweed came in and has made a dramatic difference in regard to the light level in the aquarium. It's still bright, but a lot softer now and no longer as harsh.

Can anyone reccomend a good brand of natural looking aquarium hides that's preferably plastic? Otherwise I guess I'll have to get some more driftwood. I think I'm done with rocks for the time being, lol.
 
Well, mystery solved!

I made one of my hides myself out of small slate tiles, and my other hide is a plastic aquarium thing from petsmart.
 
Wow that is really interesting. My pirate ship is made from resin :-/.

I have not noticed any rise in PH though (it has been stable at 7.5). The PH did rise though during the cycling process but I put that down to cycling at the time. Maybe it was the pirate ship but the PH dropped to 7.5 once it reached the point of being cycled and has maintained ever since. Maybe my pirate ship is made of a different type of resin?

Glad you solved the cause of the PH spike! :D
 
Well from what I understand not all polyresin are made from the same component materials. Alabastrite is a common type of polyresin that isn't aquarium safe, IIRC. But seeing as to how they were designed to be in tanks for fish which thrive in a high pH environment, it might have even been on purpose?

Whoops. Either way, I feel silly for buying them. I'll probably just use them out somewhere in the garden, lol.

I think I might stick the turtle shell into the small aquarium and do a WC/pH test just in case, before I throw them out, but I'm pretty positive they were the source of the problem.
 
Ok, I put ammonia in Friday and tested the water in the 10g and the 75g today, here are the results:

75 G
pH down to ~8.0 after a small WC & removal of those dumb decorations, we'll do a bigger WC soon.
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 10 or 20 ppm? It's hard to tell the color :/

So I guess I'll be adding more ammonia to that one tonight. I did start that one with old filter media so I guess it makes sense that it already has bacteria in it?

This one is weirder though.

10 G
pH- up to 8.4, so I dumped the last ornament as I think that pretty much confirms it.
Ammonia - 1.0 ppm
Nitrite 0.25 ppm
Nitrate ~40ppm??

The nitrates are...awfully high. I mean there's no fish in it so I guess it doesn't matter? I'm going to be doing a partial WC tonight then adding more ammonia. I'm not sure how it's already got nitrites/nitrates in it, we started that aquarium fresh with a brand new filter and everything... Although I think I added old tank water to it at some point, so that might be muddling the results.

Sorry for er, badgering. I'm just worried I'm doing something wrong.
 
Seems like the 75 gallon is almost there, the second stage of bacteria that takes care of the nitrites just has to catch up and you'll be golden.

I'm not sure where all the nitrates came from in the 10g myself o.0;? that's strange. It could be a faulty reading, the nitrate test can be funny sometimes. Just keep going with the cycling as if those weren't there and see if it still tests the same next time you test it. If it does then... well dang that's a fast cycle.
Are there maybe nitrates in your tap?
 
Huh. I actually don't remember if I tested for that in the tap.

Ok, just did- tap's at zero? o_o Like I said, I did put some old aquarium water in the small tank (this was before I reread the guide and realized old water doesn't help as much as old filter media). The water is probably just...nasty old water that needed to be changed, maybe? Although I could have sworn I tested that water too...

I'm guessing because it's such a small tank, the resulting effect was higher. Good job, me, lol. I'll do a 50% wc and retest and see if that fixes it. Sorry, I knew I had to have messed /something/ up.
 
It won't let me edit, but I retested and nitrates in that tank are still high. I know I had added some old water to the big tank and the nitrites/trates were still zero, so I'm not sure what I did different. I am using the 10g tank that I'd had the old filter running in before I set the 75g up again, so maybe it's because it was the tank I'd been running the filter on before.

Anyway, from what I read online, the big tank will be cycled when I can get it up to 4ppm in ammonia and after 12 hours have passed it goes down to 0, right?
 
pennyroyals said:
Anyway, from what I read online, the big tank will be cycled when I can get it up to 4ppm in ammonia and after 12 hours have passed it goes down to 0, right?
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And you will have 0 nitrite as well, yes, that is correct.
 
Ok, last two nights I added ammonia, and by the time I test it the next day it's at 0 so that part's working.

What worries me is that for the last two nights, nitrite (which I understand is the most toxic chemical in the process) has held steady at 5ppm, and nitrates are still only at 20ppm. I'm scared to add more ammonia for fear of, I don't know, overloading everything. Should I do a WC first or should I let the nitrites stay off the scale and keep feeding the other bacteria ammonia?
 
You can do a water change if you want, but you have to keep adding ammonia or the bacteria 'starve'. Water changes won't hurt your cycle, AS LONG AS there is still a source of ammonia for the bacteria to feed on.
 
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