Question: High ammonia directly after water changes?

[SethTheMuffin]

Im extremely frustrated and cant figure out why i keep getting high ammonia from a brand new tank, not cycled yet (trying to get the process going), im doing daily 50-75% water changes. Directly after i do the water changes, im checking the ammonia and its still REALLY high!

I thought maybe it was the kit that expired, giving me wrong readings. Brand new kit, still getting really high readings (2-4ppm)

I just tested the tap water and its yellowish (a little darker yellow, but still decently yellow)

Side note: i know people dont like fish-in cycling, but my last fishless cycle was a continuous mess.
I have completely restarted with a brand new 20gallon i got from Petco. The axolotls were in bins with daily water changes too long. They were stressed from my recent mov. Since ive put them in the new tank they seem a lot happier... but this ammonia thing is concerning to say the least.

I also have tried Seachem Prime in the buckets before putting in the tank, and then Priming after putting water in tank. Same results.

 

[Dell]

Hey, not sure if this will help but I have having similar issues. Even when I do a 50% to 75% water change everyday I still get high readings. My little guy is in a 10g and I almost have to change 100% ( I do about 90%) every day. I think with the amount of waste these guys produce - that's just the way its going to be until my cycle kicks in.

 

[tipnatee]

Did you test your tap water? If your tap water doesn't contain ammonia the you need to check your filter cause it might contain large amount of solid that contain the high concentrations of ammonia and nitrates. Best to completely clean your filter and loaded it with new filter media then start over . I normally use API stress zyme to jump start the good bacteria in the new filter, then get a large fine pre-filter sponge to put where the filter suction begin to fillter all the solid before it goes in to the real filter. Your filter will last longer , and all you need to do is clean the sponge when it full and stop sucking. Your water will looks clearer too. Another thing is to add bubble bar or bubble stone in to the bottom of the tank to help good bacteria grow faster and add more oxygen for supporting axolotl gills health.

 

[tipnatee]

One more things that might help , get some easy plants like tall lucky bamboo or tall mangrove ( let the green grow out of the tank) it will help eat up ammonia . If not you can also try ammonia reducer product.

 

[ekocak]

If you're changing that much of the water that frequently you may not be giving the nitrogen-fixing bacteria enough time to actually propagate. Low bacteria means nothing there to convert the Ammonia to Nitrite and then Nitrate. Fish-less or not, the cycling usually needs at least a full 3 weeks of minimal disturbance to do its thing.

And PS: Plants are good, but they don't help with Ammonia, they help specifically with Nitrate, so you still need the bacteria established. Once they are, you can be a lot more aggressive with the water changes.

 

[SethTheMuffin]

Did you test your tap water? If your tap water doesn't contain ammonia the you need to check your filter cause it might contain large amount of solid that contain the high concentrations of ammonia and nitrates. Best to completely clean your filter and loaded it with new filter media then start over . I normally use API stress zyme to jump start the good bacteria in the new filter, then get a large fine pre-filter sponge to put where the filter suction begin to fillter all the solid before it goes in to the real filter. Your filter will last longer , and all you need to do is clean the sponge when it full and stop sucking. Your water will looks clearer too. Another thing is to add bubble bar or bubble stone in to the bottom of the tank to help good bacteria grow faster and add more oxygen for supporting axolotl gills health.

I did test the tap, it's almost at 0ppm.

I just did a deep clean of the filter, i saw there was some of my hair (ugh curly hair) stuck on the magnetic propeller (thing) ; but even after deep-cleaning the filter and doing a 90% water change i was getting a 0.5ppm reading...

I had read that perhaps Seachem Prime might be messing with the readings of the API Ammonia test ( https://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20131014222055AAWDbCN ) do you think this is the problem?

I will check out the API Stress Zyme.

As for Bubblers: I have 2 on each side of the tank (1 for every 10g!) but they're suction cupped to the glass (not directly at the bottom) so that i can have them at a higher setting and not mess around with the Axo's current. Is this fine?
I couldn't find any data saying that there's better circulation with having them at the bottom... so i figured it would be fine as long as they're in the tank?

 

[SethTheMuffin]

If you're changing that much of the water that frequently you may not be giving the nitrogen-fixing bacteria enough time to actually propagate. Low bacteria means nothing there to convert the Ammonia to Nitrite and then Nitrate. Fish-less or not, the cycling usually needs at least a full 3 weeks of minimal disturbance to do its thing.

And PS: Plants are good, but they don't help with Ammonia, they help specifically with Nitrate, so you still need the bacteria established. Once they are, you can be a lot more aggressive with the water changes.

As for the plants! The 2nd day i had the tank i got 2 stalks of straight water-Bamboo, along with a HUGE (seriously, it's the size of a softball!) Marimo Japanese Moss Ball to hopefully help with the cycling process... But several days later i'm still seeing these issues...

Though i haven't tested for Nitrate/Nitrite for a couple days because i've been doing such massive water-changes.

 

[ekocak]

honestly I would stop the water changes in the main tank. Let it complete the cycle. Put the axolotls in something else and continue the frequent changing in the alternate container if you want while you wait.

Also, you might as well not test for Nitrite/Nitrate if you're seeing Ammonia. Ammonia needs to spike then the bacteria will reach a level where they're able to convert it to Nitrite. You should then see Ammonia go down while Nitrite spikes. Then the same thing will happen with the Nitrite to Nitrate. Plants use nitrates and can convert some of it to nitrogen, but even in a fully planted tank, you typically still need to do water changes to remove the nitrate.

 

[Savvy1985]

I am quite new to Axols as well, but I'll offer the only advice I have... if you just let your tank filter do it's thing, it'll work itself out. I didn't do enough research when I got my Axol, and thought running my filter for 12-24 hours would be sufficient. Well, almost 4 weeks later, my ammonia levels are finally at a 0, or as close to a 0 as they can get. If you keep changing the water in the tank, the filter doesn't have enough time to build up bacteria to fight the ammonia. So, my suggestion is do what I did... just let it do it's thing. Murray was perfectly fine in his kritter keeper during the last 4 weeks, and hopefully this weekend, he will be in his tank!

 

[SethTheMuffin]

: ( i've been still doing the 20% water changes because the ammonia is so high and continues to raise... I got a chemical bloom, slime everywhere including my filter..... I had to wash the tank and do a 75% water change because it was so icky and the ammonia was soooo high... i had to wash my filter... and now i think i ruined the cycle again.... *slams head on desk*

 

[Donna001]

Unfortunately these things happen sometimes.
I'd strongly suggest that you keep your axolotl in a seperate container with 100% daily dechlorinated water changes and cycle your main tank fully before putting your axolotl back in. With your axie in a seperate container you can allow the ammonia and nitrites to build up without having to worry about harming your axolotl. This will make it easier to cycle your tank.
Best of luck and please keep us posted on your progress.