Ammonia spike

[MyLittleComet]

Ive had my tank and axolotl for about a year now, and I discovered that what caused his gill loss was fungus! So for about a month I've been giving him salt baths and he's been in tubs this whole time. (His gills are nice and fluffy now ) I also bought another axolotl and kept him in a tub for a bit to be sure he was not sick. Once I was ready to put them in their tank (30 gallons), I noticed the ammonia levels have gone up! (Between .25 and .50 ppm. Nitrites were 0 and nitrates were 5.0 to 10ppm. Nitrates I had a problem with for a long time if that matters, but they've been low consistently for a while now) And I have no idea why? Since learning this I've done 25-50% water changes and I thought I'd brought it down, so I put them in. Only to find out the next day they're right back up again!
I dont know whats causing it? Its an established tank and filter (sponge filter) and they had not been in it for a month. I have 6 snails, but I dont think that could be the cause... does anyone know what could be causing this and what more I can do to keep the ammonia down? I checked the tap water and there is no ammonia in it. There's no dead snails in the tank or left over food, no waste either. Could it somehow be because I added sand? Even though I've vacuumed it every time I've done a water change?

 

[MyLittleComet]

It looks like my nitrogen cycle may have crashed somehow (I dont know how) because I just retested all the parameters and the nitrates are almost 0 (though not quite, I think its just from changing the water so much but I'm still concerned)!!! Should I tub my axolotls again? Or will they be fine?

 

[wolfen]

instead of removing the axies for salt baths, look into using holtfreters solution, when there is high amounts of ammonia it is a few things, ph too low, overfeeding, filter not large enough to cope. with high nitrates there are a few things that cause this, overfeeding, muck/waste build up in tank/filter, bio-load to high for tank size. for nitrates to suddenly disappear there are a few things aswell, plants, a build up of denitrifying bacteria (is there an egg smell), too many water changes.
for a crashed nitrogen cycle the ammonia levels would sky rocket.
1. make sure the ph is 7.4 - 7.6, if it is too low add bicarbonate of soda to gently bring it up, if it is to high citric acid/acetic acid (vinegar)/acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) can be add to gently bring it down. it is better to have a means to buffer, look into holtfreters or a modified solution
2. make sure there is enough dissolved oxygen in the water, adding 1 or more air stones are advisable.
3. go through the sand once per week with a fork before a water change to remove buried waste and allow oxygen circulation, also look for black/grey layer this will be the denitrifying bacteria, although useful for removing nitrates the nitrogen sulphide produced isn't very pleasant (smells, and in high enough amounts harmful) also look for bubbles coming from the substrate.

 

[MyLittleComet]

instead of removing the axies for salt baths, look into using holtfreters solution, when there is high amounts of ammonia it is a few things, ph too low, overfeeding, filter not large enough to cope. with high nitrates there are a few things that cause this, overfeeding, muck/waste build up in tank/filter, bio-load to high for tank size. for nitrates to suddenly disappear there are a few things aswell, plants, a build up of denitrifying bacteria (is there an egg smell), too many water changes.
for a crashed nitrogen cycle the ammonia levels would sky rocket.
1. make sure the ph is 7.4 - 7.6, if it is too low add bicarbonate of soda to gently bring it up, if it is to high citric acid/acetic acid (vinegar)/acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) can be add to gently bring it down. it is better to have a means to buffer, look into holtfreters or a modified solution
2. make sure there is enough dissolved oxygen in the water, adding 1 or more air stones are advisable.
3. go through the sand once per week with a fork before a water change to remove buried waste and allow oxygen circulation, also look for black/grey layer this will be the denitrifying bacteria, although useful for removing nitrates the nitrogen sulphide produced isn't very pleasant (smells, and in high enough amounts harmful) also look for bubbles coming from the substrate.

Im not giving him salt baths anymore, his fungus is gone, that was just explanation why he wasn't on his tank for a while. The pH is fine, there's been no overfeeding since I haven't fed them in the tank, and the filter has never had this problem before. How would I bring down ammonia without water changes? Should I tub my axolotls and wait for the cycle to fix itself if it can or will?

 

[wolfen]

the ammonia that is tested for is called TAN (total ammonia nitrogen) it is a measurement of two ammonia's 1. free ammonia (toxic) 2. ammonium (non toxic). free ammonia is consumed by nitrifying bacteria but ammonium is difficult for bacteria to break down. as bacteria consumes the free ammonia the ammonium release more free ammonia until all ammonia is at zero.
there are certain things that can increase and decrease the release of free ammonia 1. temperature, the warmer it is the more free ammonia. 2. ph the higher the free ammonia release.3. certain chemicals that lock/detoxify free ammonia making it into ammonium.
if your ph gets too low then the bacteria has difficulty reducing the ammonia's, the same with temperature low temperature equals poor ammonia reduction.
on the positive side this also means that even though axie tanks are normal ph because of the cold temperatures it means ammonia up to 2ppm is relatively harmless.
this is why I asked about the ph as I don't think the tank temperature could be the cause of the ammonia increase.
how are the axies fed if not in the tank?
was the tank cycled before and when you say high nitrate what are the levels.
the reason I said about holtfreters wasn't because I thought that he/she still had it, it was because axies are prone to skin problems and fungus because they are a light brackish moderate to hard water animal which was discovered very early on in labs which is why holfreters solution was invented.
if your tank wasn't cycled using the 4ppm ammonia method then it could be a case of filter to small.
also even if the axie aren't fed in the tank they will still defecate in the tank.
if the filter has been running a year then it would have built up muck in it and could probably do with being rinsed out in old tank water.
the easiest way to remove nitrate are water changes, 50% weekly, axies are tolerant to nitrates up to 110ppm.
please read Water Quality Explained: How It Can Affect Your Axolotl's Health - WSAVA 2015 Congress - VIN it will give you a better idea of what levels are safe and so on.

 

[MyLittleComet]

the ammonia that is tested for is called TAN (total ammonia nitrogen) it is a measurement of two ammonia's 1. free ammonia (toxic) 2. ammonium (non toxic). free ammonia is consumed by nitrifying bacteria but ammonium is difficult for bacteria to break down. as bacteria consumes the free ammonia the ammonium release more free ammonia until all ammonia is at zero.
there are certain things that can increase and decrease the release of free ammonia 1. temperature, the warmer it is the more free ammonia. 2. ph the higher the free ammonia release.3. certain chemicals that lock/detoxify free ammonia making it into ammonium.
if your ph gets too low then the bacteria has difficulty reducing the ammonia's, the same with temperature low temperature equals poor ammonia reduction.
on the positive side this also means that even though axie tanks are normal ph because of the cold temperatures it means ammonia up to 2ppm is relatively harmless.
this is why I asked about the ph as I don't think the tank temperature could be the cause of the ammonia increase.
how are the axies fed if not in the tank?
was the tank cycled before and when you say high nitrate what are the levels.
the reason I said about holtfreters wasn't because I thought that he/she still had it, it was because axies are prone to skin problems and fungus because they are a light brackish moderate to hard water animal which was discovered very early on in labs which is why holfreters solution was invented.
if your tank wasn't cycled using the 4ppm ammonia method then it could be a case of filter to small.
also even if the axie aren't fed in the tank they will still defecate in the tank.
if the filter has been running a year then it would have built up muck in it and could probably do with being rinsed out in old tank water.
the easiest way to remove nitrate are water changes, 50% weekly, axies are tolerant to nitrates up to 110ppm.
please read Water Quality Explained: How It Can Affect Your Axolotl's Health - WSAVA 2015 Congress - VIN it will give you a better idea of what levels are safe and so on.

Ah I see. I had only just put them back in their tank the night before I posted this, so they'd been fed in their little tubs. I tried feeding them and when they wouldn't eat, thats what lead me to look at the water again and find the ammonia was high again.
So the timeline was: owned axolotl for a year, found out he has fungus and tubbed him for a month with salt baths (not returning him to the tank during this time) during that year the nitrates had gotten up to about 80-100ppm, but before tubbing him they'd gone down to a 10-30 range. Ammonia and nitrites always at 0 during this time too (after initial cycling of the tank before buying him) before putting him and his new friend in the tank again I noticed the ammonia spike, thought I brought it down and put them in, and the next night (last night) noticed the ammonia was up again. They haven't eaten or defected in the tank since putting them in two nights ago. They had before I tubed them for that month, ofc, but the water parameters were still in fine range until now.
The temperature ranges from 60-68, right now at about 66⁰F. The filter is for a 40-60 Gallon i believe, and my tank is 30. The pH has always been 7.2-7.6. Thank you so much, I'm relieved to know they should be relatively fine.