YanisMaid
New member
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2022
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- Location
- Hillsboro, Ohio
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Hello all!
I’ve been creeping the forums on Caudata for nearly a year now, but this is my first time posting. I’ve run into a mess with my 1 year old axolotl, Yani, and I need some help.
1 week ago, I finally added fine natural sand to Yani’s 20 gallon tank. He’s large enough now that I’m not as worried about an impaction, and I figured he’d like the extra traction. After adding the sand, the water was terribly murky for several days. I tubbed him for a day so that I could add the sand and then do some mechanical filtration with coffee filters/ socks. I also added a Java fern when I added the sand. I saw on a post here that I could turn the filter off for a day to aid in helping the sand settle. After a day of allowing the new sand to settle, I switched filters from 1 that hung on the back of the tank to the upgraded Fluval 370. I stupidly threw all of the old filter media away. I know now that, that was a mistake.
We have never had a single water quality issue. Always very low nitrates and ZERO nitrites. I have made a terrible error in the past week and I need more expert help to solve it. Yani is less active than usual, not eating at all, and nitrites are consistently around 1ppm for the past few days. There appears to be no nitrates. I’ve done 90% water changes for the past few days, but it appears that I’m basically restarting cycling the tank.
What can I do to speed this up? Is adding Fluval Cycle helpful or not? I feel like I have no choice but to continue 90% water changes to keep the ammonia low, but I also know I need some waste in the tank for it to be able to cycle. I know part of Yani’s decreased appetite is related to environmental changes with the new sand, plant, and new filter flow (lowest flow possible but just different from what he’s used to). He’s a real chunk, so I’m not worried about his appetite in the short term, but I can’t stand to think that he’s uncomfortable and I need to see him eat again! He’s not listless, floating, or experiencing any gill/surface changes, but he’s not quite his usual self. His posture is relaxed and his gills aren’t curled (I’ve seen them curl briefly before when he’s been mad at me when I disturbed him while picking up waste, so I know what his sassy gills look like), but he’s not as active. I’ve offered him food daily and he will reflexively take a pellet and then spit it out immediately and not come back for it.
His eyes are clear- no opacity right now. I know poor water quality can cause eye damage.
I just know the current ammonia/nitrite level is too high and I don’t know what else I should be doing for him. Does anyone see an area that I could be doing something better/differently? I could absolutely kick myself for not putting some of his old filter media into his new filter.
I’ve been creeping the forums on Caudata for nearly a year now, but this is my first time posting. I’ve run into a mess with my 1 year old axolotl, Yani, and I need some help.
1 week ago, I finally added fine natural sand to Yani’s 20 gallon tank. He’s large enough now that I’m not as worried about an impaction, and I figured he’d like the extra traction. After adding the sand, the water was terribly murky for several days. I tubbed him for a day so that I could add the sand and then do some mechanical filtration with coffee filters/ socks. I also added a Java fern when I added the sand. I saw on a post here that I could turn the filter off for a day to aid in helping the sand settle. After a day of allowing the new sand to settle, I switched filters from 1 that hung on the back of the tank to the upgraded Fluval 370. I stupidly threw all of the old filter media away. I know now that, that was a mistake.
We have never had a single water quality issue. Always very low nitrates and ZERO nitrites. I have made a terrible error in the past week and I need more expert help to solve it. Yani is less active than usual, not eating at all, and nitrites are consistently around 1ppm for the past few days. There appears to be no nitrates. I’ve done 90% water changes for the past few days, but it appears that I’m basically restarting cycling the tank.
What can I do to speed this up? Is adding Fluval Cycle helpful or not? I feel like I have no choice but to continue 90% water changes to keep the ammonia low, but I also know I need some waste in the tank for it to be able to cycle. I know part of Yani’s decreased appetite is related to environmental changes with the new sand, plant, and new filter flow (lowest flow possible but just different from what he’s used to). He’s a real chunk, so I’m not worried about his appetite in the short term, but I can’t stand to think that he’s uncomfortable and I need to see him eat again! He’s not listless, floating, or experiencing any gill/surface changes, but he’s not quite his usual self. His posture is relaxed and his gills aren’t curled (I’ve seen them curl briefly before when he’s been mad at me when I disturbed him while picking up waste, so I know what his sassy gills look like), but he’s not as active. I’ve offered him food daily and he will reflexively take a pellet and then spit it out immediately and not come back for it.
His eyes are clear- no opacity right now. I know poor water quality can cause eye damage.
I just know the current ammonia/nitrite level is too high and I don’t know what else I should be doing for him. Does anyone see an area that I could be doing something better/differently? I could absolutely kick myself for not putting some of his old filter media into his new filter.
