Tank got too hot, will they be okay?

heheh I live in Jarrahdale.. we are lucky to have a post office here... our nearest reliable petshop is nearly an hour away, We just had our first blackout for the season....so first thing on the morrow i will be buying ice, and bits n bobs, a reliable test kit then coming home to care for my babies....

I have done so many water changes you would think my ammonia would be leveling out but it isnt.... the reading is the same before and after 50% change or 30%... I think my kit must be naff..especially with 2 filters running.. I've been using API... I either get -ve readings or v high readings... in all 4 tanks ( one has 4 axies 1 has 1 yabbie and an angelfish, another has 1 siamese fighter and the last has a guppy) the tank with yabbie and angel has a v high reading even with water changes too.... (2 ft tank with 2 filters running aswell.)
 
Dancas,

Are doing ammonia test immediately after you do the water changes?

By the way, I have no idea where Jarrahdale is :p lol. But yeah, your post office should sell polysterene.

Jay.
 
Hi all, clark rubber is where I got mine. Am hoping will find a stable temperature easier with a larger tank (only have an 18 inch at present).
 
we had that heat wave today, and believe it or not my tank stayed at 19 deg... why I wonder.... hmm maybe because the power was out for at least 4 hours and the filter was off!!!!!!
so I went and bought an external cannister filter and the temp has stayed the same....no ice... no fan... no helping hand.... lots of condensation on the exterior of the tank but the babies were cool.....
secondly having the bigger filtration system my ammonia problem should now get better....
heres hoping
 
axie

Hi dancas answer to your question is no my tank is still staying the same between 18-19 only time it goes up is when i do a water change but after awhile it comes back down. Which is truly surprising me as nearly everyone here in perth that have been on this site is having trouble. I have polystryene around three sides of my tank and a house fan sitting just above their tank leaving one side of the lids off. But this doesnt mean that i am an expert on the matter it just means that this is working for me and my axies even though at present i have a sick axie on my hands . Hope this helps

regards vicki
 
hmmmm... I fret about the weather, but i never had a problem in my other tank, the babies handled the heat fine... even when it did go over 20 cause it didnt stay there long... like a day at most... I freak out after reading posts here now... even though my babies have not shown any sign of being stressed in the heat, I am aiming to not keep their tank much below 20 during the heat, because if it does go over it wont be as much of a climate change, it will be more natural... then i help it drop a wee bit if it seems to be carrying on.
I had to do a 90% water change to get their ammonia down..... the new filter hasnt bred its goodies yet. I lost my colour chart but by memory i have under half the ammonia i had in there before thanks to the change, and the babies look happier for that... so tomorrow im aiming to do a 80% change, and cut back every day till we get the ammonia under control. The filter holds 3.5 litres of old water as i do the change so im not losing the bacteria, plus i propagate it with a bacteria supplement after each change.
Dans chiller arrangement works. but i will only use it when the temp gets extreme....i think... im leaning towards, if i can handle it okay they will be too ( i have heat related epileptic seizures, so if it gets too warm for me i will help them cool down) after all, their water is naturally cooler than the air..
 
What bacteria supplement are you using? These do not work unless you are using something called Biospira, which is a live bacteria that has to be kept in the fridge, which is as far as I know only available in the States. Anything called cycle contains dead bacteria and all you're doing is adding to the bioload in the tank. Your tank will fluctuate using this product.

By doing 80-90% waterchanges daily on your tank, your tank will not cycle. This is too large. Keeping it constant, 20=30% daily waterchanges are fine as long as you can ensure the tank temperature is below 20c.

Bacteria is not in the water; bacteria will grow on substrate, glass, filter media, decos, hides and plants.

If they, axololts, aren't in the tank, then just let the tank cycle without waterchanges. It needs ammonia to cycle. The reason your ammonia levels are high are due to tank temperatures over 20C (it speeds up)! Also, when you added your axolotls back to the tank, did you stagger them add them every few days or bung the lot back in one hit? Adding them one hit would have also increased the bioload. Staggering them every few days helps the tank to adjust/cope with each additional one.

How often are you feeding? Cutting back on the feeding will also help.

Axolotls can take a while to show stress; it doesn't happen overnight - by the time you do notice it they either usually have developed fungus or seem to "suddenly" have started floating oddly (looking ill), losing appetite or appearing very thin, possible gasping etc. In the case of white coloured ones, their skin reddens (tail and/or body pinkens/reddens a lot more than just through normal feeding/hunting activity).
 
I had to do a huge waterchange as the axies would have died in the ammonia... 20-30% waterchanges werent altering the ammonia. My temp is usually under 20.. right now 14... but occasionally goes above 20 in the heat......
In the fridge they were harming themselves aswell as the fridge being to inconsistent... I know the tank needs ammonia to cycle which is why i didnt change all the water... believe me, i really REALLY want to!!! my ammonia has always been high in this tank i feel it was due to insufficient filtering which has been adjusted now... ( even at constant temps of under 20 at the begining)

they get fed one piece of prawn each.. every other day.
I took out my river stones as i was worried about the waste hiding underneath causing the ammonia, And yes i know it can take a while to show stress which is why i check on them constantly all day..
I do 3 ammonia tests per day to keep track of the levels...I change the amount of their water depending on what the colour of the test is..
atm i am using aqua 18 but as soon as my husband gets in contact with a microbial bacteria scientist (today) that he has constant dealings with he will get me some fresh purpose bacteria.

my babies arnt gasping, normal play floating and diving, all eating with gusto, getting near perfect belly width, no white fungus or cotton clouds, hair growing beautifully, their tails were getting red till i changed the water now they are white but go pale pink occasionally during play time.
 
Hello all. My axie seems to be fine back in his tank. He's eating and likes his new log. Keeping temp to 19-20 degrees with ice bottles and polystyrene foam, but really need to get this new tank up and running and an external filter. Sounds like your tank is a lot better off Dancas. Will probably end up swapping my temperature issues for cycling ones.... my tank was partially cycled when my axie went in there as it had had a goldfish in it up until six weeks previously, so I had only a tiny ammonia and then nitrite issue and all is now stable. Do bigger tanks take longer to cycle?
 
mines taking forever..... i do ammonia tests before and after water changes so i know my levels... whereas a few days ago i was in the unreadable in ammonia (way too high, thank god for ammo lock) now since 90%change im prolly halfway to eeksville, but at coping stage... which i hope means the filter is starting to colonize little critters..... i put back in a few of my river stones to help provide homes for the bacteria so will see....
Lisa, is your baby in a small tank and youre going up to a bigger one?
 
What are your readings exactly, just curious as to what you are considering way too high? You shouldn't use things like ammolock as they make things worse. I think they fact that you are doing such large water changes is making your tank take longer to cycle and causing more stress to your axies. You should stick to 20% water changes each day if your ammonia is high.

If your ammonia is so high, it could be other problems with the tank. Usually ammonia in cycling is bearable for your axies as long as you change 20% of the water each day or every other day. Do you clean out waste immediately and stuff like that? Also how big is your tank and do you have just the two axies? Cos if you have a small tank it can foul very quickly.
 
hmmm i lost my colour card for ammonia, im going by memory, imagine that darkest colour then double it, thats what my ammonia was at..... even after water change, BUT now since i did that big change ( i clean out waste 2-3 times a day, we have 4 7" in a 145L tank big external filter and large platform filter) my ammonia is at half what it was.. and since i added some of my so called "not worth it" bacteria because it isnt from america, My water has now gone a tiniest bit cloudy which my husband has told me is the bacteria feeding on the ammonia... ( he deals with microbiologists and dabbles in microbiology on a regulaar occurance in his line of work)

my babies look very happy. right now i just have to worry about the bushfire in my backyard that started overnight.. damn lightening
 
If you are using a product for bacteria like Cycle, it is dead bacteria (essentially waste) so is likely be adding to your ammonia. The stuff from the US is live bacteria and as such I doubt you can have it shipped to Australia and it still be intact. That was the one kapo was referring to.

Your husband is right, usually cloudy water is a sign of cycling so I think you will just have to stick it out until it is finished. I really do think your large water changes are contributing to the problems you are having in cycling...

Hope you get the fire out! That is worrying. I am glad I am in the city now, no more summer bushfire evacuations!
 
Dancas, I have a 45cm long tank at present, and going up to a four foot one (and hopefully two more axies in time), external filter and light only for looking at them ie not on all day. Hope the fire situation is under control...
 
i was doing litle water changes and nothing was happening for over a month, ammonia was always BAD, but yes itis cycling now....ammonia isnt going up at all and the nitrate colour is darkening, not changing colour yet but darkening, which i take as a good sign...

Sorry iwas short yesterday....

the bacteria is freeze dried, the same as most medicines which gives it viability for longer rather than having dying cultures.... The stuff im using is Aqua18 and it really does work.

Fire went out quickly... everyone here knows we are staying during a fire anyways so calm and the fireys will always come here first,,,,so we dont get too stressed.....

Lisa have you seen the 3 port hub for LED lights...... I think with the hub and 3 lights it cost me about$70 and it means i can look at the babies without causing them stress... I have got 2 blue and 1 white led. it makes the tank look so surreal, I also have a 3ft plant freindly light i switch on during suck up changes so i can see what im sucking...
 
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