Wonder shells

[Brrich8814]

Are wonder shells safe for axolotls? I have 0 gh in my water and experimented with a fish tank I have using them. I’ve been battling some cloudy water in our axolotl tank which I have not yet adjusted. But in the fish tank that I used the wonder shell in, it’s crystal clear and brought the gh to 9. I do have seachem equilibrium to try as well.

 

[wolfen]

test your ph and kh as well as gh, wonder shells work the same way as using crushed coral.

 

[Brrich8814]

Are wonder shells safe for axolotls? I have 0 gh in my water and experimented with a fish tank I have using them. I’ve been battling some cloudy water in our axolotl tank which I have not yet adjusted. But in the fish tank that I used the wonder shell in, it’s crystal clear and brought the gh to 9. I do have seachem equilibrium to try as well.

Hey wolfen, you helped me out before! I was having this issue before and ended up doing a 100% water change and recycling the tank with an ammonia source at 4ppm as I did the first time. We have soft water so that was always a suspicion of the cloudy water issue due to the 0 gh. The tank went through a mini cycle after the 100% water change and showed 0.25 ammonia 24 hours after 4ppm ammonia dose for a couple of weeks until it was fully cycled for about 5 days at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and about 40 ppm nitrate. I did water changes every 12 hours after it was cycled, matching the temps perfectly with dechlorinated water. It dropped the nitrates down to 5 with 2 50% water changes. I have an Amazon sword in there as well and some pothos at the top. Water was perfectly clear when it was done cycling until we put our axolotl in and that was a couple of weeks ago. It has been eating pellets for about 7 months as we tried worms and it refused them. I recently tested my Kh and gh as that was the last resort, and kh was at 9, gh 0, ph 7.4. I used equilibrium to bump up gh to 6 and water got extremely cloudy but that was also after a 25% water change as well that I added the equilibrium to. I have also added seachem stability to the tank. I tried worms again tonight, red wigglers, which I have not yet been able to get. He ate them perfectly so I’m hoping that the change in the type of food may help? I do spot cleaning on the tank daily and do not leave food in there. Sorry for the long post but just want to put it all out there as I am desperate to correct this problem. It’s been so frustrating as my other fish tank in the house is crystal clear after adding wonder shells. If parameters are all good, the axolotl looks fantastic and is eating, should I just let this bloom ride out and see if it clears on its own?

 

[wolfen]

replenish would be more suitable to use than equilibrium for gh, make sure your filter has good mechanical filtration to remove water debris.
are you getting scum/powder near/at the water line?

 

[Brrich8814]

replenish would be more suitable to use than equilibrium for gh, make sure your filter has good mechanical filtration to remove water debris.
are you getting scum/powder near/at the water line?

replenish would be more suitable to use than equilibrium for gh, make sure your filter has good mechanical filtration to remove water debris.
are you getting scum/powder near/at the water line?

I have replenish too and will use that from now on. I have about 80 gallons of filtration going in there from two 20 gallon hang on back aquaclear filters and a 40 gallon sponge. The hang on backs both have filter floss in them ans well. I also have 2 air stones running to help with oxygen. Water parameters are still perfect today. I’m running fans so I have some evaporation going on. Adding some more water today but I’ve been trying not to add too much to disturb it and just letting it do its thing. I’ll add a picture below.

 

[Brrich8814]

I just tested everything again. Ph is at 7.4, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5 nitrate, kh is at 8 and Gh is at 13 from adding that equilibrium. If water parameters are okay, is our axolotl okay to be in this water as cloudy as it is if I have the air stones and sponge filter in there running? I feel so bad I can hardly see in there.

 

[wolfen]

get three glasses of tank water, place one on a window sill, place the other two somewhere stable but add a teaspoon of sugar to one and stir it, after 24hrs check the glasses, if the one on the window sill is more cloudy/green then there are nutrients in the water causing algae bloom, if the one that had sugar added is more cloudy then it is bacteria bloom in the water, if the third glass (or any of the other two) seem less cloudy but there is dust at the bottom of the glass then the cloudiness is caused by minerals (limescale) dropping out of the water column.
for algae use plants water changes to remove nutrients, nitrates and phosphates.
for bacteria bloom increase biological filter media.
for limescale ensure that enough mechanical filtration is used (mechanical filtration is the fine/medium/coarse foam stage of the filter), if needs be add filter floss.
provided there is adequate water oxygenation cloudy water won't effect your axolotl (in the wild they stay in the muddy silt areas)

 

[Brrich8814]

get three glasses of tank water, place one on a window sill, place the other two somewhere stable but add a teaspoon of sugar to one and stir it, after 24hrs check the glasses, if the one on the window sill is more cloudy/green then there are nutrients in the water causing algae bloom, if the one that had sugar added is more cloudy then it is bacteria bloom in the water, if the third glass (or any of the other two) seem less cloudy but there is dust at the bottom of the glass then the cloudiness is caused by minerals (limescale) dropping out of the water column.
for algae use plants water changes to remove nutrients, nitrates and phosphates.
for bacteria bloom increase biological filter media.
for limescale ensure that enough mechanical filtration is used (mechanical filtration is the fine/medium/coarse foam stage of the filter), if needs be add filter floss.
provided there is adequate water oxygenation cloudy water won't effect your axolotl (in the wild they stay in the muddy silt areas)

Okay I did the water test with the glasses, and all 3 glasses looked exactly the same, slightly cloudy, after 24 hours. So I have just left the tank alone since then and it’s finally starting to clear up! I guess things just needed to balance out. Should have done this months ago instead of worrying too much and taking him out to tub him only to have the same thing happen again. Thank for all your help, hoping everything continues to go well with it.