Nirtate and Nitrite Spike please help!

Waterchanges should be removing chemicals from your tank, unless the water you're putting in the tank have the same chemicals. If your tap water truly has no nitrites/ammonia your test kits might be off. For the record 50% waterchanges shouldn't be too harmful, I agree that you should be keeping your water parameters as close to stable as possible, but during the cycling process I've always done 50% waterchanges if my ammonia/nitrite was too high with no ill effects. I'd try and make a run to the petstore and see if you can't get your water tested with their test kit. Just for clarification are you testing right after a waterchange? If you test a day after you change your water, it may be that your tank just isn't big enough and your filter can't handle the bioload. If your axolotl is fully grown, then a 15 gallon tank may very well just be too small. I haven't done a tank without tons of plants for a long time, but if I remember right my moderatly stocked ten gallon guppy tank got pretty high nitrates in one week. Although I think 40-50 ppm's of nitrate a day seem pretty rediculous, even for a fully grown axolotl in a 15.

I'm not sure exactly what's going on with your tank, maybe the bioload's too high, and your just getting way too much ammonia for the beneficial bacteria to handle, and the water volume isn't big enough to disperse the nitrate so you get 40 ppm's a day. Maybe your test kits are off. Like blackdog said, if your axolotl doesn't seem too stressed it might just be something like a faulty test kit, and the water parameters will work themselves out. The only thing I'd be concerned about for your axolotls' immediate health is the 5 ppm's of nitrite. While having excessive nitrates in the water for long periods of time can be harmful, I've heard about people keeping fish in 100 ppm's of nitrate with no immediate health problems. I think as long as the nitrite doesn't do much damage your axolotl will be fine until you figure out what the problem is.
 
carsona246 said:
Waterchanges should be removing chemicals from your tank, unless the water you're putting in the tank have the same chemicals. If your tap water truly has no nitrites/ammonia your test kits might be off. For the record 50% waterchanges shouldn't be too harmful, I agree that you should be keeping your water parameters as close to stable as possible, but during the cycling process I've always done 50% waterchanges if my ammonia/nitrite was too high with no ill effects. I'd try and make a run to the petstore and see if you can't get your water tested with their test kit. Just for clarification are you testing right after a waterchange? If you test a day after you change your water, it may be that your tank just isn't big enough and your filter can't handle the bioload. If your axolotl is fully grown, then a 15 gallon tank may very well just be too small. I haven't done a tank without tons of plants for a long time, but if I remember right my moderatly stocked ten gallon guppy tank got pretty high nitrates in one week. Although I think 40-50 ppm's of nitrate a day seem pretty rediculous, even for a fully grown axolotl in a 15.

I'm not sure exactly what's going on with your tank, maybe the bioload's too high, and your just getting way too much ammonia for the beneficial bacteria to handle, and the water volume isn't big enough to disperse the nitrate so you get 40 ppm's a day. Maybe your test kits are off. Like blackdog said, if your axolotl doesn't seem too stressed it might just be something like a faulty test kit, and the water parameters will work themselves out. The only thing I'd be concerned about for your axolotls' immediate health is the 5 ppm's of nitrite. While having excessive nitrates in the water for long periods of time can be harmful, I've heard about people keeping fish in 100 ppm's of nitrate with no immediate health problems. I think as long as the nitrite doesn't do much damage your axolotl will be fine until you figure out what the problem is.
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Thanks for the reply.
My test kits are all brand new. I have 4 other fish tanks i use the test kits on and they all come out nitirite 0 because 3 are cycled and the other one is in the process of cycling (aside from the axie tank) i even have 2 nitrite test kits one API and one AquaOne and both come out top the of scale.
The water is 0 0 and 1.0 for ammonia.
As for the filter it sayes its for tanks as big as 60L.. so what should i do call them up and get them to give me a bigger one? or should i jsut get a new filter and try from scrach? If the filter is doing this cause it cant handle the bio-load i would be fked if i where to get the 2nd axie like i intend to do when this tank is all done :(
 
definatly do not try from scratch. All the beneficial bacteria that is converting the ammonia to the nitrite your getting is in your old filter. I would definatly not consider getting another axolotl if your planning on keeping them both in a 15 gallon. In my mind a 15 gallon is barely big enough for one fully grown axolotl. Is your axolotl fullly grown? Are you testing right after a waterchange, or a day later? If your testing a day later my best guess is you need to upgrade your tank size. My aquatic setup background is from fishkeeping, and if someone said they planned on keeping a 10" fish in a 10 gallon tank people would call them crazy. I'm still trying to figure out why a 10 gallon tank is considered the minimum gallon size for 1 axolotl that can potentially reach 12". I would say for 2 axolotls a 30 breeder would be the bare minimum.

What I think is going on is your tank is just too small for your axolotl. The nitrite is either there because the tank is not finished cycling, or it cannot handle the bioload of your axolotl. The 40 ppm's of nitrate are there because of the original 1 ppm of ammonia that is present in every waterchange, and your either feeding too much, or your axolotl is getting too big. There might be other factors, and therefore I could be wrong. I'm just trying to tell you exactly what I think the problem is. For all I know there could be a rotting worm or something in your filter, and that's the cause of the high nitrate. But if someone was getting 40 ppm's of nitrate a day in their tank, my first guess is they need to upgrade the tank size.
 
carsona246 said:
definatly do not try from scratch. All the beneficial bacteria that is converting the ammonia to the nitrite your getting is in your old filter. I would definatly not consider getting another axolotl if your planning on keeping them both in a 15 gallon. In my mind a 15 gallon is barely big enough for one fully grown axolotl. Is your axolotl fullly grown? Are you testing right after a waterchange, or a day later? If your testing a day later my best guess is you need to upgrade your tank size. My aquatic setup background is from fishkeeping, and if someone said they planned on keeping a 10" fish in a 10 gallon tank people would call them crazy. I'm still trying to figure out why a 10 gallon tank is considered the minimum gallon size for 1 axolotl that can potentially reach 12". I would say for 2 axolotls a 30 breeder would be the bare minimum.

What I think is going on is your tank is just too small for your axolotl. The nitrite is either there because the tank is not finished cycling, or it cannot handle the bioload of your axolotl. The 40 ppm's of nitrate are there because of the original 1 ppm of ammonia that is present in every waterchange, and your either feeding too much, or your axolotl is getting too big. There might be other factors, and therefore I could be wrong. I'm just trying to tell you exactly what I think the problem is. For all I know there could be a rotting worm or something in your filter, and that's the cause of the high nitrate. But if someone was getting 40 ppm's of nitrate a day in their tank, my first guess is they need to upgrade the tank size.
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Everywhere i have read on the net sayes a 15gallon would be fine for 2 axies but no more then that, and my tank looks big enough imo, down the line i would def be looking to upgrade the size but not as of yet. No she is not fully grown yet. I check the water 10mins after a water change
 
hmm, thats wierd, is the water getting stirred up pretty well before you test? ten minutes should be plenty of time to get a proper reading. It could be that it's just hard for you to tell the distinction between the color for 20 ppm's and the color for 40 ppm's. I know I personally have a hard time telling the difference. If you have 40 ppm's of nitrate, and you take 50% out, and don't replace any, there is no reason that you should still have 40 ppm's of nitrate. I'm pretty sure 15 gallons is only big enough for 1 axolotl. If you were going to use the tank as a growout, then yea it could probably hold 2, but i would not suggest it at all. It's been my experience that the bare minimum's are really not appropriate. And everything I've read says if your going to have 2 axolotls,15 is the bare minimum for the 1st, and 10 gallons is the bare minimum for the 2nd, meaning that a 25 would be the bare minimum for 2. If Australia has a craigslist, you can find some pretty sweet deals on used tanks. i found a 40 breeder for $50. That's not too bad considering buying a 25 gallon in a fish store can run close to that.
 
GOOD NEWS!!!!
I havent touch the tank in almost 2 weeks!!!! and my Levels are now
Ammonia 0.25 (prob due to the water not being changed and all that jazz) (will be doing a water change asap)
Nitrite 0!!!!!!!!!!
Nitrate 0
I have to admit tho is that odd.. the nitrate before i left the tank to sit for the 2 weeks was at 80 and without me even touching the water it is now at 0.... im a it confused on that one.. cause as far as i know Nitrate is the only thing i SHOULD be getting a reading on.. i thought maybe the bottels could have been mixed up but the box, everything sayes nitrate on it... anyone have an answer for that one?
Soo glad its cycled!! it happend basically overnight... i tested it everyday and lastnight it was at nitrite 1.0 and then today 0 :) now i can seed my other tank hehehe.:ufo::grin: :kiss: :tongue: :love: :p
 
Do you have plants? If not are you sure your testing right? Nitrate doesn't just dissapear
 
You can always double-check by having your local fish shop test your water.
 
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