How Quickly Can "Bad" Numbers Get Dangerous

[bigmamabird]

Hi all,

We don't have our Axolotl yet, we're currently in the process of getting his habitat ready to live in. But we are getting our water tested weekly at a great local pet shop. We plan on someday getting a testing kit of our own, but for now we just like being able to sit down and chat with someone who knows what they're doing. We're learning a lot from them!

My question is, is a weekly test enough? So far our numbers have been declared "great" by the man at the shop. But how quickly can numbers get dangerous?

Today's numbers were:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20
GH - 19
KH - 14
pH - 8.3

Is it possible for the numbers to be good on a Sunday but dangerous on, say, a Wednesday?

 

[Skudo09]

From those results it appears your tank is cycled and ready to go. I would suggest purchasing a liquid test kit as soon as you possibly can as it very valuable having your own to test with. In a cycled tank, weekly test is OK but I would not leave it longer than a week without testing. Have you read up on the cycling process? Have a read of the link below. A cycled tank will show results of zero ammonia and nitrite and some reading of nitrate. You will need to keep nitrate down below 40ppm by regular water changes to keep nitrate at safe levels.

Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling

 

[bigmamabird]

From those results it appears your tank is cycled and ready to go. I would suggest purchasing a liquid test kit as soon as you possibly can as it very valuable having your own to test with. In a cycled tank, weekly test is OK but I would not leave it longer than a week without testing. Have you read up on the cycling process? Have a read of the link below. A cycled tank will show results of zero ammonia and nitrite and some reading of nitrate. You will need to keep nitrate down below 40ppm by regular water changes to keep nitrate at safe levels.

Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling

Yes, we've done a fishless cycle. We're about a month in at this point. The staff at the shop says we're ready to go.

At this point we're just waiting for them to get some young Axolotls. They've got large 6-8" ones right now, but we'd really like to get a small one to watch it grow. The store had a HUGE batch of eggs a few weeks back so they should be old enough soon. It will be our son's and he's practically coming out of his skin with excitement!

 

[xxianxx]

It will take around 3 months to get them to 3", sure your boy can wait that long ? Lol

 

[AxolotlChris]

You could source an Axolotl of the size you would like from this forum.

Check out the sub-forum: For Sale, Give-Away or Trade - FS: USA at Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Portal

 

[bigmamabird]

We'd love to get him one now, but we originally told him May, so March/April will be a treat.

The staff at the shop has been so incredibly helpful, answering our endless questions, patiently teaching us how to cycle and testing our water, etc. We want to show our appreciation by purchasing from them. We were originally going to just get him one, he decided he wants a melanoid. But I fell in love with the Leucistic ones, so we'll probably get him one of each. The Wild Types are so cool too! I (half) jokingly told my husband we'll just have to set up another, bigger tank!