Water levels

[a4gom]

Hi, we adopted an axolotl about 2 months ago. My son had been doing lots of reading on them and was hoping for a new one for his birthday when we saw an add on the internet for one which needed a new home. Alan (already named when we got him) is about 6 years old. He came complete with the tank, lumps of wood, filter which he had been living in at his previous home. When we picked him up the previous owners said they had cleaned the tank and filter and all we needed to do was add some new water when we got home.
We transported him home, de-clorinated some water, waited till the temps matched between his travelling bucket and the tank and popped him in.
He seems to be very happy, always comes to see you when you are anywhere near the tank, takes a worm every other day from your hand, isn't adverse to a tickle when he's just been fed. We change approx 25% of the water every week, using a syphon to remove any noticible muck from the bottom at the same time.
My sons done plenty of reading up on keeping and care and we picked up a water test kit about a month ago just to check everything was where it should be.
we are a bit worried with the Amonia result, PH is around 7.4-7.6, Nitrate and Nitrite are 0 but teh Amonia is 1-2 ppm.
What can we do to get this down?

 

[a4gom]

Extra info, we use Fluval Aqua Plus to de-chlorinate the water.
The filter is a Fluval 2 plus internal filter.
The tank hold approx 65 litres.

 

[AxolotlChris]

It's a common misconception that cleaning out a tank/filter/ornaments is a good thing when transporting a tank. Although emptying the tank of water is a must for transportation.

All aquariums that house aquatic animals have a nitrogen cycle, the waste produced by aquatic animals (and decomposing food) creates Ammonia and Nitrites which are highly toxic. Your tank has to establish colony's of bacteria which feed off the Ammonia and Nitrites and convert them into Nitrate, which are less toxic to Axolotl in low levels, the Nitrate can be removed by doing the 25% weekly water change. The bacterial colony's are known as a biofilter and attach themselves to any surface within your tank such as filters/ornaments/substrate. If the tank was cycled before you collected it, it wont be now since everything was cleaned which removes the bacteria needed to keep your tank cycled.

You will need to cycle your tank to establish the bacteria so that Ammonia and Nitrites are kept in check.

While your tank is not cycled the Ammonia and Nitrite will build up to toxic levels. Until the cycle begins but this is not a safe environment for your Axolotl. The best way to cycle your tank is to do whats called a 'fish-less cycle' This is where you manually add a source of Ammonia to help establish the biofilter instead of using your Axolotl to create Ammonia since this exposes your Axolotl to the toxins.

The water temperature should be between 16-18°C. Are you using a liquid test kit to check for Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates ?

Read these links on how to cycle your tank and to understand the cycle further:
Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling
Caudata Culture Articles - Water Quality

Also take a look at these for further information on Axoltols:
Caudata Culture Axolotl Articles
Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander

 

[a4gom]

Thanks for your reply. When I say the tank was cleaned out I was probably over doing it. Basically they had emptied it the water and rinsed the muck out of the bottom with the tank water. We assumed it would be fine to just fill up. We are using api liquid test kit. If I am to remove him from the tank where would I keep him? Is there an alternative? I've seen bottles of stuff which claim they add the bacteria you need, any good?
On a slightly different note at what point would you replace the foam pads in the filter, the ones in our filter don't look like they have ever been changed.

 

[AxolotlChris]

If everything wasn't thoroughly washed then potentially the bacteria could have survived but it doesn't seem like it has since you should be seeing readings on 0 ammonia and nitrites with <40 nitrates for a cycled tank. The bottles of bacteria don't seem to work, and it can't be natural. You can keep Axolotl in large quality food tubs, change the water 100% everyday with dechlorinated water.

The filter media usually contains lots of good bacteria so if you ever change them when a tank is cycled only swap one foam pad at a time, and rinse the new one your fitting with the water from the old pad, then leave the filter running with the new pad for a week to let the bacteria colonise the new pad, then repeat the same procedure for the other pad.

Read the links posted above you'll have no issues

 

[a4gom]

Many thanks.

What water de-chlorinator do you use? I've been using Fluval Aqua Plus. Just wondered if it was this which was the problem. I mix approx 5ml in a 20l water container. I let it get up to the temp of the tank and then do the change. Should I leave it longer, is there a better de-chlorinator / should I treat the water longer in advance?

 

[AxolotlChris]

I use the exact same conditioner, can't fault it to be honest. You can't really use too much of it just follow the instructions on the bottle and you'll be fine. Letting the water acclimatise to the temp of the tank is good aslong as the tanks temp is 16-18 Celsius.