My tank finally cycled... but now what?

[Savvy1985]

So, after about 4 weeks, my 20gallon tank has finally finished it's cycle. I'm going to wait a few days before moving Murray into his home, but I was wondering if i should do a water change? I've noticed some of the decor (which is a bit old...) has flaked some paint off, and I'm thinking I want to replace the water once I replace the decor this weekend. Will that ruin my cycle, or is the filter good enough to handle the water changes now?

Thanks!

 

[Donna001]

Do a large water change (at least 75%) and don't clean the filter or anything else.
This is routine at the end of a cycle and before adding any animals.
The water change will ensure that any parlicles are removed and that the nitrates are as low as possible. Your beneficial bacteria will have colonised the filter media, substrate, decor etc, but very few will actually be in the water.
As you are replacing the decor make sure that you test the water daily to keep an eye on the parameters after adding Murray, because you will have removed a small amount of bacteria on the decor. As the bacteria will multiply quite rapidly it will not take long before everything settled down again.
Best of luck, I hope Murray enjoys his tank and please post lots of photos. :happy:

 

[Savvy1985]

Donna,

Thanks for the reply! Im probably going to replace a few pieces of decor slowly over time. To apease my budget, and I figured all new decor would totally throw everything off, and I don't want to start all over again. Plus, I'd like to find a way of cooling down the tank as well, before throwing him in. That seems to be my 2nd biggest battle, since it's 100s and above here in Phoenix daily.

 

[Donna001]

Replacing the decor slowly should have no effect on the nitrogen cycle in your tank. I've done it in my axolotl and fish tanks, and it seems to have worked out well.
As for your temperature issues, it's quite warm in the UK, but nothing like the temperatures that you are getting. I've not got a chiller (at the moment), but have done what I can to keep my tanks cool. Each thing only helps to keep the temperature down a degree or so, but it all adds up to comfortable axolotls.
I've got my axolotl tanks on the floor. The lower down they are the cooler it is. I don't have a basement, so on the floor in the most shaded part of the house (gets no direct sun) helps.
I also have a mesh lid on each tank, and run fans onto the surface of the water. This helps to increase evaporation, which will decrease temperatures.
Plastic water bottles (dechlorinated water, just in case of leaks) floating in the tanks help. Make sure that you have a large supply of frozen water botles as it take around 4 times longer to freeze the bottles than it does for them to defrost in the tank.
I have also had to do quite large/frequent water changes when we've had a mini heatwave. I used cold water, rather than letting it acclimatise to room temperature. How much water to change will depend on the size of your tank. Be careful to ensure that you don't have rapid cooling as that will stress your axie. I have 2 x 200L tanks, and on a warm day do a 50L water change which will drop the temperature by 1 or 2 degrees C. I have also stored dechlorinated water in the refrigerator overnight so that I can do smaller water changes and still get the temperature to drop slightly.
I don't have A/C, it is not common in the UK as we rarely have the weather for it, so keeping the gang comfortable is quite a lot of work when we do get warm weather.
I hope that this helps and please keep us posted on your progress. :happy:

 

[AmandaB]

Donna,



Thanks for the reply! Im probably going to replace a few pieces of decor slowly over time. To apease my budget, and I figured all new decor would totally throw everything off, and I don't want to start all over again. Plus, I'd like to find a way of cooling down the tank as well, before throwing him in. That seems to be my 2nd biggest battle, since it's 100s and above here in Phoenix daily.

I've had the same temperature battle with my tank for a while then I finally figured it out. I got one of those windshield overs for a car and measured and cut it to the size of my tank and stuck it to cardboard to make it sturdy. After I did that I noticed the cooling from the ice bottles lasted a lot longer since the shades are meant to trap the cold. I didn't think it would work but I've been pleasantly surprised! In Nova Scotia (Canada) we've had a rediculous summer plus with the humidity it's been about 35C.

Good luck!


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