Coudy tank issues round 3

[Boomsloth]

Snails are another issue thats cropping up. I checked the elodea before I brought it home, and had it growing outside the tank for a while, but of course I did not see snails until AFTER I put it in the tank. Now I have little ones growing. I remove all the ones I find but they must be multiplying because every day I find dozens more.

There also appear to be some very small flat worms mixed in, I've pulled a couple of those out too.

Your axolotl might realize that there are some snails in there and eat them like mine do but he might also ignore them as well. I add them occasionally to my axolotl tank. They sound like either pond, bladder or ramshorn which breed pretty quickly. They are tricky to remove entirely but are not that much of an issue if you keep their population in check (either manually removing or axolotl eating). Good job with the dechlorinated and hopefully within the next few weeks you notice a change.

 

[Covington]

Bloomsloth mentioned replacing carbon filters with sponge filters for better bacterial maintenance. If you are inclined, I'm interested in your experience with this. I assume carbon filters do not have a net negative impact on axolotls, but in your experience, a sponge filter is preferable?

 

[Boomsloth]

Activated carbon isn't terrible to use and will remove certain organics and metals from the water which essentially "filters" the water. Its actually what britta filters use but is not considered bio filtration which is the most important thing to aquarists. I prefer sponge pads or filters to carbon because its easier to maintain long term. Carbon disintegrates after a while and needs to be replaced but while also keeping the bacteria in the filter. Carbon is good to just have around in case you need to remove meds or any other nasties from the tank short term.