Tank Issues

[KirbyandMudkip11]

Hello! Recently, I’ve been having such a difficult time keeping my axos tanks clean (one 45 gal w one male axo and one 55 with 2 female). The axolotls themselves seem fine and their water quality is perfect (0ppm nitrate and nitrite, 0 ppm ammonia). I’ve been doing 25% water changes once a week and the debris keeps coming back after a few days. I believe the debris is mulm, and I feel like it may be caused by my fan. It’s unfortunately not allowing me to include images, but it’s been clear and brown colors. I’m not sure how to get it to stop at this point. Sorry for the low quality picture, my dad took it as I’m at college (I come home every week and do tank maintenance)
**He consumed the worm as well**
Any ideas?View attachment IMG_2505.jpeg

 

[Toothless_103]

Hello! Recently, I’ve been having such a difficult time keeping my axos tanks clean (one 45 gal w one male axo and one 55 with 2 female). The axolotls themselves seem fine and their water quality is perfect (0ppm nitrate and nitrite, 0 ppm ammonia). I’ve been doing 25% water changes once a week and the debris keeps coming back after a few days. I believe the debris is mulm, and I feel like it may be caused by my fan. It’s unfortunately not allowing me to include images, but it’s been clear and brown colors. I’m not sure how to get it to stop at this point. Sorry for the low quality picture, my dad took it as I’m at college (I come home every week and do tank maintenance)
**He consumed the worm as well**
Any ideas?View attachment 100046

I've had this same problem with all three of my tanks. Do you have a filter in there? Sometimes you need to clean out the filter(not completely clean it, but enough for it to work again) if it's really really dirty. If there isn't the filter could that be the problem?

 

[clover]

Is mulm actually harmful to axies? Admittedly I'm not an axolotl keeper but I haven't heard of mulm being harmful to other species like newts, shrimp, etc. Have you checked into whether you can put some cleanup crew in there if you don't have anything? Something like freshwater isopods or ramshorn snails (I don't believe ramshorns have an operculum so shouldn't be able to accidentally hurt your axolotl if it tried to eat it).

 

[minorhero]

Hello! Recently, I’ve been having such a difficult time keeping my axos tanks clean (one 45 gal w one male axo and one 55 with 2 female). The axolotls themselves seem fine and their water quality is perfect (0ppm nitrate and nitrite, 0 ppm ammonia). I’ve been doing 25% water changes once a week and the debris keeps coming back after a few days. I believe the debris is mulm, and I feel like it may be caused by my fan. It’s unfortunately not allowing me to include images, but it’s been clear and brown colors. I’m not sure how to get it to stop at this point. Sorry for the low quality picture, my dad took it as I’m at college (I come home every week and do tank maintenance)
**He consumed the worm as well**
Any ideas?View attachment 100046

It's mulm. Mulm is a combination of different decaying matter, typically poop, old food, bits of wood, and plants. It is not caused by fans. Tanks with strong current don't get as much buildup of mulm because it ends up in the filters. But newt/axolotl tanks have low current so its more of an issue. It is unsightly but not necessarily harmful (until it builds up too much). The best way to deal with it is to gently gravel vac above the substrate once a week. You can up your water change amounts as needed to accomplish this. If using a siphon and bucket, consider getting a proper water change system like a python (or one of the cheaper clones) since using buckets is miserable. Good luck.