Cycling Nightmare

Oh right, I see. I can't hang my substrate next to my filter is they're very big beach pebbles however I can put them all in there and make sure there's a cluster around it? At the aquatic shop, a man suggested I run my old filter next to my new filter in the new tank to help it out. Is that a good idea? I've had bad advice in them from the past so I don't want to act on their advice alone!
Thank you for being patient with me!
 
You have two things going on here.

1. keeping your axolotls in clean ammonia free water.
2. Setting up and cycling your new tank.

You have two tanks.

This is how I would do it.

Put axies into clean water that you have put in you old tank with just a hide. No filter or rocks. Some real plants dropped into the tank if you have access to them (they will use up some of the ammonia). The aquatic mosses are good for this, or floating plants eg duckweed.

Set up your new tank with your sand rocks etc and put the water your axies are in now into your new tank with both filters running. The ammonia will feed the bacteria. You can follow the fishless cycle instructions for this tank (basically put a measured amount of ammonia in the tank daily to grow your bacteria colony). It might only take two or three weeks using your existing filter as a starter culture.

In your old tank with the axies, do 50% water changes every other day. Test your water daily for ammonia and nitrite in case you need to do it more often. Clean up uneaten food and poop within a couple of hours after feeds with your turkey baster. There is no attempt to cycle. Just keep removing ammonia in your water changes before it builds up. After two or three weeks when your cycle is complete in your new tank (fingers crossed) you can move them into their new home.

Others might give you a slightly different plan. Good luck whatever you decide to do.


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JLCoolJ said:
Oh right, I see. I can't hang my substrate next to my filter is they're very big beach pebbles however I can put them all in there and make sure there's a cluster around it? At the aquatic shop, a man suggested I run my old filter next to my new filter in the new tank to help it out. Is that a good idea? I've had bad advice in them from the past so I don't want to act on their advice alone!
Thank you for being patient with me!
Click to expand...

Yup you can run your old filter right next to your new one. You can put your beach pebbles in or leave them out, that's up to you. From then on it's just the same thing that you were doing with the other tank, checking water parameters and doing water changes accordingly. It makes more sense to just cycle the tank you are eventually going to use for them now, as it doesn't change anything really, and there's no point making water changes on two tanks. The post above mentioned getting some real plants to help with the ammonia. I agree with this. Anacharis/elodea, guppy grass/naja grass, and duckweed all suck up ammonia pretty well.
 
Update: I moved my axies into their new tank with lots of pebbles and plastic plants from their old tank, they seem to be enjoying themselves in there! I can't fit my old filter in to run next to my new filter because the old one is much bigger and has to be completely submerged whereas by new one needs to peek above the water. The current ammonia reading is 0.25 after originally being 0 yesterday and the nitrate level is 25 on a tetra test strip.
 
I'm worried that you're going to have the same issues with the ammonia in this new, uncycled tank. what kind of filter media do you have from the old filter? would the sponge fit, or perhaps a cartridge (I assume you're using an overflow/power filter) that you could put into the new filter? If you can't put substrate in a stocking in the filter like Kaysie suggested- perhaps cutting up strips of the old sponge and fiddling them into the new filter would provide a basis for a faster cycle.
 
Test strips aren't terribly accurate. You'll get much better results with a liquid reagent test kit.
 
The new filter has a cartridge with no way to get into it to the sponge so I can't really do any of that stuff. Tomorrow I'll see what I can do with putting the old sponge underneath the new filter. About the test kits, I haven't got much money at the minute so I'm having to scrimp on super good test kits. I've got to buy a new API ammonia kit soon too, I've almost ran out : ( I was hoping that this time might be different as I've spaced the beach pebbles out so dirt won't get trapped so easily and I'm avoiding bloodworms altogether.

ps. Happy new year :happy:
 
Is there any way you can get your old filter into the tank? If you dont put the old filter in there, you will be wasting all the bb in there and will basically be starting over.
 
You're right. I've spent all morning constructing a rock mount to keep my new filter up and putting more water in the tank to accommodate for the height of the old filter and editing my aquarium hood!
My filters are now running side by side.
Further good news, I got a little new years money and bought an [FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1]API Nitrite Test Kit.
[SIZE=-1]EVEN further good news for anyone who saw my other thread about my axie's injured leg[SIZE=-1], miraculously it seems to all of a sudden be working fine and the [SIZE=-1]tissue that was torn has dropped off. No[SIZE=-1]t even any fingers lost!
[SIZE=-1][/SIZE]
[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/FONT]
 
I'm glad you managed to get the other filter in there to help you cycle! :grin: and very good news about your little one! You'll have to post pictures once everything is settled :) !
 
Readings are still 0.25 for ammonia and 25 for nitrate on the test strip. Axies LOVE their new tank. What do you guys think? I'm thinking of getting 1 more axie, a golden one now I have plenty of space. Just waiting for the axies to settle in and for the tank to cycle properly : D x
 

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Ditch (bin) the test strips & get a proper liquid test kit - you'll get far more accurate readings than the strips which are notoriously inaccurate. Or take your water to LFS to get a comprehensive parameter check :)



<3 >o_o< <3
 
Personally I'd get rid of all the larger stones & either leave it bare or Playsand. As for plastic plants - living plants give you so much more life in the tank not to mention their ammonia & nitrite assistance.

Wait before getting another axie until your tank is stable for at least a month. It's not fair to be keeping them in the tank while still fighting ammonia issues.



<3 >o_o< <3
 
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