Why is my tank so dirty???

[kim]

Ive had my axolotls for about 3 weeks now and the tank seems REALLY dirty?? The water is ok and clear but the rocks at the bottom have white stuff all over them? Are the axolotls shedding or something and should i be cleaning this asap?

They only eat live food so its not there food and as soon as we got all the rocks we cleaned them thoughourly?

Please help

 

[alex]

hi kim, have you cycled your tank?. this is very important if you havnt check out this site http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml that has a lot of info on cycling. gravel is not reccomended for axolotls as they will swallow the gravel by mistake and get very ill. what live food do you feed them?. gold fish may contain parasites and nip at your axolotls gills. worms are a great staple. the shedding could be something to do with not high ammonia levels. check all the water peremters and make sure they're fine. are your axolotls showing any signs of stress or illness at all?. the white stuff could well be one of your axies spermatephores. a picture would be helpful.

 

[jennifer]

Does the white stuff stick to the rocks, or is it loose? I've seen various forms of white gunk form in aquariums. It's probably some harmless growth. You could just take out the rocks and scrub it off.

Regarding cycling, yeah, you should be testing your ammonia and nitrite, ideally. If they are high, that could be contributing to the white stuff that is growing.

 

[sharn]

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>alex d. wrote on Monday, 09 January, 2006 - 13:19 :</font>

"the shedding could be something to do with not high ammonia levels"<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

i beleive you mean high ammonia levels alex- high ammonia can burn your axies...