My axolotl a tank is cloudy what can I do

[Boseph]

I recently got my first axolotl and admittedly I didn’t do much research before hand I got him at an expo and they told me that he was very easy so I got him I wasn’t aware about the tank cycling at first but now I’ve been researching it and I tested it today and nitrite says 0 nitrate says 0 ammonia was at .25 and ph was at 8 I do about a 30-40% change every 2 or 3 days about because the ammonia was getting high but it’s started to go down but now his tank is cloudy I have a sponge filter as well inside a 10 gallon tank please help me I realize I should have done more research before hand but I’m committed to keeping him happy and healthy .I have been feeding him thawed out bloodworms and originally I was putting them in a container and putting it in there and letting him crawl in there and eat but the waste was a lot so I just started using the turkey baster and putting small amounts in front of him and waiting until he’s finished to put more then I stop and clean up the leftover after he looses interest in it here are some pictures of him and in one the most recent you can see the tank is getting cloudy. And today he has been going up to the surface of the water a lot it could be because I haven’t fed him yet today I usually feed him around 8 at night. I don’t know exactly what to do I could really use some experienced help

 

[Boseph]

Update I posted the last thread right after a 50% water change and after letting the tank settle retested and the ammonia is at 2. Very high and he is restless almost and keeps swimming near the surface he hasn’t actually breached the surface much tho hes swimming just near the top please someone help me I can even give you my phone number to get more accurate help he may be swimming around because he hasn’t eaten yet I will feed him and post an update after

 

[Axies1234]

Update I posted the last thread right after a 50% water change and after letting the tank settle retested and the ammonia is at 2. Very high and he is restless almost and keeps swimming near the surface he hasn’t actually breached the surface much tho hes swimming just near the top please someone help me I can even give you my phone number to get more accurate help he may be swimming around because he hasn’t eaten yet I will feed him and post an update after

 

[Axies1234]

Hi! Daunte looks okay from here although, I'm no expert. I have faith on others in this forum, and they have helped me tremendously! Quick question, do you dechlorinate the water before adding it to the tank? Also wondering if you rent out the sponges when you do the water changes?

 

[Axies1234]

Hi! Daunte looks okay from here although, I'm no expert. I have faith on others in this forum, and they have helped me tremendously! Quick question, do you dechlorinate the water before adding it to the tank? Also wondering if you rent out the sponges when you do the water changes?

*Rinse the sponges

 

[wolfen]

the cloudiness is bacteria in the water column, during cycling the bacteria is encouraged to colonise the filter media which then out compete any free floating bacteria for food ie.. ammonia, because the tank is uncycled and the bacteria that is removing the ammonia is free floating every time a water change is done you are removing bacteria and reducing the capacity to remove/reduce ammonia.
the best thing to do is remove and tub your axolotl whilst the tank is being cycled.
the size of your tank is a bit small for an axolotl, although it may seem fine right now it will be cramped for an adult.
also make sure the filtration is large enough, for a bare bones axolotl tank it need to be double tank capacity (filters are designed to be used in aquariums with substrate which holds a large amount of the bio-filtration where as axolotl tanks are minimal to zero substrate so the filter has to contain all the bio-filtration as well as removing the debris)