rkarakorn
New member
Our 20 gallon aquarium with sand that houses one axolotl consistently has the following test results. Ammonia shoots up to .50ppm in a few days time after a 50% water change. Nitrite is always 0 ppm and Nitrate is always 5.0 ppm. We completely cycled the tank with Fritz Zyme live nitrifying bacteria and immediately after introducing our axolotl to the tank there was a very severe algae bloom. The algae was white/gray and very slimy. It was so bad that it would gunk up the filter and the filter would not work properly. We completely cleaned the filter, tank and all decorations a couple of times in an attempt to get rid of the algae. At the time we had live plants and a light for the plants. We even tried temporarily removing the plants and blacking out the tank (put him separate container) for 2 weeks to starve out the algae, once we put the plants back in and turned the lights on the algae came back. So, we no longer have plants and a light. That seems to have taken care of the algae.
However, we can't get control over the ammonia. I thought maybe we removed to much beneficial bacteria from deep cleaning when trying to get rid of the algae. So, we have taken him out of the tank and kept him in a separate container for weeks at a time in an attempt to encourage the tank to build up Nitrates. But the Nitrates never get higher than 5.0 ppm. As soon as we put him back in the tank with a reading of 0 ammonia it only takes a few days for the ammonia to shoot back up to .50 ppm.
We remove left over food within 30 minutes of feeding him and clean poop out immediately upon seeing it. We quit using tap water to do water changes and now only use spring water that is still treated with Ultimate.
We are new to this so I may be missing something very obvious. If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.
However, we can't get control over the ammonia. I thought maybe we removed to much beneficial bacteria from deep cleaning when trying to get rid of the algae. So, we have taken him out of the tank and kept him in a separate container for weeks at a time in an attempt to encourage the tank to build up Nitrates. But the Nitrates never get higher than 5.0 ppm. As soon as we put him back in the tank with a reading of 0 ammonia it only takes a few days for the ammonia to shoot back up to .50 ppm.
We remove left over food within 30 minutes of feeding him and clean poop out immediately upon seeing it. We quit using tap water to do water changes and now only use spring water that is still treated with Ultimate.
We are new to this so I may be missing something very obvious. If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.