Question: Axie H2O Problem ??

[Francesca]

I am having a problem with my water quality in my axie's tanks; was wondering if anyone could give me some tips on how to fit it?

I have two tanks; a small one 30x30x30 and a larger one which is 61.5x31x40 (LxBxH).

Originally I had both my axies in the larger tank, a male and a female. When they were both in the tank together, my ammonia levels were really high, (between 3.0-5.0); but my nitrite and nitrate were fine, at around 0.5 for nitrite and between 0 and 20 for nitrate ppm(mg/L). Ive been using the 'API' Test strips to measure water quality, usually every three days or so.

My female kept laying eggs every two weeks, so i had to move her to the smaller tank as she is smaller than the male. She seems fine in there. I cycled the water for a week before moving her.

However now I am getting the opposite readings for water quality. Low levels of ammonia, between 0 and 1. Whilst my nitrate and nitrite have increased significantly. The readings are now for nitrate are past 10 and for nitrite way up at 200 ppm (mg/L)??

I clean my tanks each week, when I do a partial water change. I scoop out all the **** each day. I only feed them every second day. I even added a suckerfish to each tank to try to get them to clean the inside of the tanks, however, my female ate hers; but my male lives very harmoniously with his little mate.

In order to detoxify the high levels of nitrite and nitrate I have added a product called 'Prime'; but this doesn't seem to fix the problem. When I do a water change I let it stand overnight and add a chlorine neutraliser. I have no idea what to do next? Ive been told by the aquarium to add 5x the amount of this Prime product as well as add more 'Stress Zyme+' which boosts the biological filtration. But it has never worked in the past. I just cant get the water in the big tank right. The small tank is fine. Any Suggestions Please

Ohh and by the way the tank is only about two months old.

 

[blackdog]

It sounds to me like your tank has not yet cycled (for whatever reason)

Please do a search here in the forum (or google) for info on the "nitrogen cycle" - it's really quite easy, but perhaps a little hard to get your head around at the start.

Re sucker fish - any type of sucker fish is a big no no for an axie tank - they are not compatible at all. Suckers can latch onto the axie and upset the axies natural slime coat - search for "mixing disasters" here.

My suggestion - get your head around the nitrogen cycle, don't rely on adding heaps of chemicals to ge it right

Bren

 

[Francesca]

It sounds to me like your tank has not yet cycled (for whatever reason)

Please do a search here in the forum (or google) for info on the "nitrogen cycle" - it's really quite easy, but perhaps a little hard to get your head around at the start.

Re sucker fish - any type of sucker fish is a big no no for an axie tank - they are not compatible at all. Suckers can latch onto the axie and upset the axies natural slime coat - search for "mixing disasters" here.

My suggestion - get your head around the nitrogen cycle, don't rely on adding heaps of chemicals to ge it right

Bren

Thanks Bren;

I have read those links especially those about the nitrogen cycle; but it is a little confusing; especially when I had no time to prepare for these little critters, they were given to me as a present, and it is true I have never had time to fully cycle the big tank. They just arrived with the axies in their respective bags and the tank components; so I had to just put them in, otherwise they would of died. Unfortunately for them it was rather irresponsible of the pet shop for not giving the proper care information; and the person who gave them to me, without doing their research first!! (But thats another issue)..
I have found a couple of second hand tanks, they just need to be fixed. So I think I should do that and start his tank from fresh. Also as I have about 7 babies about to hatch, they too will be need their own tank within a week.. So I guess it is rather urgent I get the nitrogen process right, I had better do that this weekend.

However, just getting back to the water issue, I tested my tap water and the results for this are as follows;
Ammonia = 0.5
Nitrate = 0
Nitrite = between 0 and 20
PH = 6 - 6.5 which is slightly low
H2O hardness = between 0 and 30 which I think is very low for axies, I have read they like their water harder, I think its between 60 and 120. Again using the API Test Strips.

Do you think maybe instead of adding these chemicals; just neutralise the tap water, when doing a water change? It seems the water out of the tap is close to ideal.

But I will do some further research on Google. Thank You for your help.. :talker:

 

[carsona246]

The nitrogen cycle will not happen over a weekend. it takes about 6 or so weeks.
I personally would also recommend you ditch the chemicals to neutralize ammonia, and just stick to good old fashioned waterchanges. Dechlorinate the water, but there is no reason to add conditioner to the tank other than to remove chlorine/chloramines.
Don't worry about your ph or water hardness, messing with water hardness/ph without knowing what you are doing usually causes more problems than they solve. Axolotls can adapt and be perfectly happy at most ph's/hardness'.
Do a water change whenever your ammonia is .5 ppm's or higher, and your nitrite is 3 ppm's or higher. If you're using dip stips, I recommend buying liquid drop test kits, as dip strips are notoriously inaccurate.

 

[Francesca]

The nitrogen cycle will not happen over a weekend. it takes about 6 or so weeks.
I personally would also recommend you ditch the chemicals to neutralize ammonia, and just stick to good old fashioned waterchanges. Dechlorinate the water, but there is no reason to add conditioner to the tank other than to remove chlorine/chloramines.
Don't worry about your ph or water hardness, messing with water hardness/ph without knowing what you are doing usually causes more problems than they solve. Axolotls can adapt and be perfectly happy at most ph's/hardness'.
Do a water change whenever your ammonia is .5 ppm's or higher, and your nitrite is 3 ppm's or higher. If you're using dip stips, I recommend buying liquid drop test kits, as dip strips are notoriously inaccurate.

Thanks Carson..
Your right, I should ditch the chemicals, and just use the tap water after letting it sit for a day or so.. I am just so scared they might be poisoned from the high nitrite and nitrate. I did some research yesterday and it is the consensus that it is best to not use chemicals, unless absolutely necessary. I have come to the belief that it the tank has not cycled properly yet. And they both seem to be healthy and happy, though my female is getting a bit cranky being in a smaller tank.
Yet because I am new to caring for my little friends, I guess I have been taking too much notice of the guys at my local aquarium, as their motives are to sell products.

So, I have been keeping a daily diary, and I did a partial water change yesterday, just using the tap water and the nitrite and nitrate has dropped slightly after 24hours.

This is why I love this site. It is the best resource I have found for help. Thanks again. x