back to the drawing board - tank parameters are starting to go wrong

[Kc0olm]

After a couple of months getting this tank set up - I posted in this forum about it - things finally leveled out, and I achieved good numbers. That has lasted for a couple of months.

But now seems like we are going the wrong way again. I don't now how this happens. but as of , went to the first picture attached below.

Did a 25% water change and the pH went down - but the rest stayed the same. Started dosing a capful of Stability each day. Nothing changed much.

Yesterday, I vacuumed all the debris out of the sand so it looks very clean, but, now nitrites are going up (second picture attached). I'm going to have a nervous breakdown if I have to fight this tank again!

Instead of Stability, I wonder if I should use a rapid-acting bacteria, like Dr. Tim's or the ATP one. I don't want to necessarily take the axolotl out of the tank, but I will if I need to.

 

[wolfen]

some of your biological filtration is in the sand, when it was disturbed nitrites which hadn't been converted were released.
with sand it is best to go through it with a fork weekly prior to a water change to reduce debris build up.
to protect from nitrites etc.. use 50% holtfreters, the chlorides (sodium, potassium, calcium) help protect against nitrite/nitrate spikes.
use pond bacteria if possible due to the temperature the the bacteria is suited for ie.. cold water verses warm.