Illness/Sickness: Can't get ammonia down - Axolotl

[ThiccDucc]

Help! Urgent!

I have had an axolotl for around 4 months now, he lives in my 20 gallon tank with frogbit, a reptile hide and some fake plants, when I first got him his tank was cycled and everything was okay for the first few months, but since around start of this month his ammonia has being going up like crazy, consistently 2ppm and sometimes even 4ppm, i dont know if his cycle crashed or theres something in the water that's causing this. I always clean his tank immediately after he eats and poops, usually i do a 20% water change right after he eats.

First i thought it was the sand and there was food getting trapped underneath it, so i removed all the sand, but that didnt really change anything, i had a sponge filter that i rinsed in old tank water a while ago but that didnt do much either, i also bought him another HOB filter to help with the beneficial bacteria, and added some frogbit to try and help lower the ammonia but nothing has changed.

Im currently doing a 50% water change every single day and monitoring the water parameter but so far its being at between 1-2 and occassionally 4ppm on really bad days.

He hasn't shown any signs of stress or pain besides being a little bit more active, which i assumed was due to the stress of bad water parameters, his gills are fine - not curled to the front, and he hasnt been scratching his gills.

I usually add api quick start and api conditioner after a water change but after seeing a few threads they are seen as bad chemicals? so i have stopped using api quick start and still using the water conditioner obviously.

I have visited countless threads and forums to try and figure out what i can do but i really dont know what i can do besides constant daily water changes, he hasnt shown too much stress yet but i dont know if it will get worse or not, i am a beginner in this field and getting him wasnt exactly my choice i was kind of gifted and i had a cycled tank on the side that i was going to set up for some other fish.

Please help!!! im doing everything i can in my power, but nothings working and i cant help but feel as if im doing something wrong.

 

[wolfen]

you say that the tank was cycled, how was the cycling originally done?
whilst the ammonia is high your axolotl would be safer being tubbed and the tanks nitrogen cycle checked.
if the tank was cycled using the 4ppm method (the one that is recommended for axolotl tank) then the filtration would be able to cope unless the biological filtration has been damaged.
although scooping the poop and clearing old food daily is fine although changing water daily on an established tank is unnecessary unless the tank is too small causing high nitrates.
a water change on an established tank is done to reduce nitrates and to replenish lost kh.
what are your water parameters ie.. ph, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and if possible kh gh.
low ph on an established tank can cause elevated ammonia due to the bacteria not being able to break it down, ph should be 7.4-7.6 use bicarbonate of soda to raise the level if low.
api quick start is bottled bacteria which is used to help increase the bacteria level and populate the filter media and is quite safe.
the api conditioner which isn't recommended is the one that uses aloe vera for stress coat, aloe vera can cause issue with the oxygen absorption abilities of axolotls (coats skin and gills)
it doesn't matter which brand is used to dechlorinate provided it dechlorinates (most brands contain sodium thiosulphate or similar) a conditioner isn't required if the tanks filtration is working correctly.
tub your axolotl in cold dechlorinated water, changing 100% daily, feed at night change in morning, always dechlorinate water before adding never after.
whilst your axolotl is tubbed the tank can be checked by adding ammonium chloride to make sure the biological filtration is working, add to the level of at least 2ppm, although once your is removed from the tank if the ammonia levels don't after 2-24hrs (after 24hrs there should be no ammonia) drop then there are issues with the tanks nitrogen cycle and may require partial cycling.

 

[ThiccDucc]

I used old tank water from another established fish tank I had set up a year ago, i guess maybe the cycle crashed when it was introduced to the lotl tank.

Ph: around 7.3 close to 7.4
Ammonia: around 3ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm

This tank is definitely not cycled but im really confused because the other tank is doing perfectly fine, I'll research the tubbing method but I'm quite scared because I really don't want to accidentally kill him whilst doing it

What should i do? tub him and let the tank cycle again?

 

[wolfen]

the bacteria that consumes/converts ammonia and nitrites reside in the filter media and substrate (if any), transferring water from an established tank won't allow for faster cycling or deal with ammonia issues.
the tank will need to be cycled and your axolotl tubbed for safety whilst this happens.

 

[ThiccDucc]

Oh okay, should I tub him now and just let the tank do its thing until theres no more ammonia and nitrite?

 

[wolfen]

he needs to be tubbed now and the tank needs to be cycled, this means adding enough ammonia to bring it to 4ppm daily until it can reduce it to zero after 24hrs 3 days in a row.

 

[ThiccDucc]

Okay okay, Im pretty sure without me changing the water the ammonia will rise to 4ppm by itself so is there anything specific i need to do for it otherwise?

Also ive done some researching about tubbing but i still have a few questions:
- what temperature should the tubs be in? fridge level or just tap water temperature?
- what's the best way to transport an axolotl from the tank into a tub?


im thinking of having two food sized tubs, both with about 1ml of dechlorinator (is that enough?), so i can switch him out every night into a brand new tub.

thank you so much for your time youre a life saver

 

[wolfen]

without a source of ammonia the levels won't go up, the reason for the elevated levels was your axolotl, because the tank wasn't cycled there wasn't any biological filtration (this was evidenced by the lack of nitrates)
an adult can produce up to 4ppm of ammonia per day, which means the filtration/tank needs to be cycled at 4ppm to ensure that the tank/filter can cope once the axolotl is an adult, the filter/tank needs to be able to remove 4ppm ammonia daily before it is cycled (it can be cycled at a lower level but there is no guarantee that there won't be issues later)
1ml api conditioner treats 76l water or to remove chloramines 1ml per 18l water, sodium thiosulphate (the dechlorinator in api tap water conditioner) uses up the oxygen in the water (as do most dechlorinators) always ensure there is an air stone in the tub to provide adequate water oxygenation.
a net or hands can be used for transfer (always wash hands before hand using only water)
the temperature needs to be 15°c-18°c (59°f-65°f)

 

[ThiccDucc]

i've tubbed him now, temperature is around 16-18 with ice water bottles and a fan and im closely monitoring him, just to clarify, as long as i keep switching him out every 24 hours into a new tube he will be all good? he has an airstone as well for temperature.

For the tank, do i just buy some ammonia chloride and add some everyday until after 24 hours there are no more nitrite and ammonia and only traces of nitrate left in the tank, hence meaning the tank has cycles and he is now ready to be put back into the tank? Since this isnt a completely new tank, how long would this process usually take?

 

[wolfen]

add enough ammonium chloride to produce 4ppm daily ie.. if the tank is 1ppm top up to 4ppm, do this daily until the ammonia and nitrites are zero three days in a row, keep an eye on the ph, if it drops near 7 use enough bicarbonate of soda to bring it to 7.4-7.6, using a heater whilst cycling will speed it up, the bacteria that consume/convert ammonia/nitrites require oxygen, make sure the water is oxygenated with an air-stone, do not do any water changes unless the nitrates are 110ppm or higher or the cycling has finished.

 

[ThiccDucc]

Its being about 24 hours, ammonia has went from 4ppm to around 2ppm, i went around all the pet shops around my area but none of them had any ammonia chloride in stock, i was told that i can just use leftover food/poop to promote the ammonia in the tank and use api quick start every day to start the cycle.

is there anything else i need to do besides keeping the ammonia at around 4ppm in the tank and switching the axolotl into a new dechlorinated tub everyday?

 

[wolfen]

a fish tanks cycle can be started with food and waste but an axolotl tank requires a larger amount of ammonia to cycle ie.. one axolotl is equal to an over stocked fish tank, because of how fast and big axolotls get they can easily outgrow the filters capacity if it isn't cycled properly.
there is one thing I always advise which would be that an axolotl should always be housed in water that contains 50% holtfreters + 0.1g/l magnesium sulphate or at least 2g/l non-iodised salt.
info here.. Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity

 

[ThiccDucc]

It's being about 2 days now and the ammonia has gone down a little bit - 2ppm, but no sign of nitrite or nitrate, should i be worried? am i doing something wrong?

sorry ive just never done a cycle whilst having a tubbed axolotl, very worried for his health, although his gills arent curled and his tail isnt twisted so i think hes doing okay.

 

[wolfen]

unfortunately cycling a tank can take a long time, sometimes months, this is why it is recommended to have everything ready and cycled before getting a axolotl.