How to cycle an Axolotl aquarium

How To Cycle An Axolotl Aquarium

Cycling your tank is the most important thing. It does not matter what type of aquatic life you are keeping, it is essential to sustain a stable environment.

 

Fish waste and excretion release ammonia into the water and ammonia kills fish. Bacteria within the filter media will convert this ammonia to nitrite which is even more toxic than ammonia. Fortunately, another type of bacteria in the filter will consume the nitrites and convert them into nitrates. Nitrates are not toxic to your fish at low levels. To put it simply, Ammonia (toxic) is converted to nitrite (toxic) is then converted to nitrate (non-toxic).

 

This is why cycling the tank is so important, it produces bacteria in the filter that will support your fish economy by neutralizing their waste and making the aquarium habitable.

cycle

How to cycle your tank

So cycling your Axolotl aquarium is the same as cycling your aquarium for any other fish. There are basically two methods I'm going to talk about. The old school method is very time-consuming and will drive you crazy, and the simpler new area technology way is very simple and dummy-proof.

 

New area technology - dummy-proof cycle

So let's start with the new area way to cycle your tank. It's faster, more convenient and in a lot of cases more reliable. ( also avoids you from reading the novel below).

I personally use this method with two chemicals called prime and stability (both products by Seachem and available in our marketplace) so the instructions are followed for those two products. If you are using other chemicals follow their labels.

1) Set up your aquarium and filtration system. To start, you'll want your aquarium completely assembled and filled with everything you want in it, besides the fish but including the water. Below is a brief checklist of things you'll want to do before getting started — this may not match all aquariums perfectly:

  • Assemble the aquarium
  • Add substrate
  • Add water
  • Add air stones, air pumps, etc.
  • Add plants, rocks, etc.
  • Add filtration system (and/or protein skimmer)

2) Add Prime. Use 1 capful (5 mL) for each 200 L (50 US gallons) of new water. For smaller volumes, please note each cap thread is approximately 1 mL. May be added to aquarium directly, but better if added to new water first. If adding directly to aquarium, base dose on aquarium volume. Wait for approximately 10 minutes to allow the chemical to evenly distribute throughout the aquarium.

2) Add Stability. Use 1 capful (5 mL) for each 40 L (10 US gallons) on the first day with a new aquarium. Then use 1 capful for each 80 L (20 US gallons) daily for 7 days. Fish and other aquatic species may be introduced at any time (including immediately, although we recommend you wait around at least 10 minutes)  as long as the dosage is maintained for 7 days. For optimum biofilter performance use 1 capful for each 80 L (20 US gallons) once a month or with each water change and whenever introducing new fish or whenever medicating an aquarium.

3) Use test kits to monitor toxin levels. (Available in our marketplace) If you followed the instructions correctly your tank should pretty much have an established and stable cycle. Test your aquarium water. If the reading is off follow the recommended sets on the bottle.

Ideal Reading:

Ammonia: 0ppm (Anything over 1ppm can kill your axolotl in a few days).                   Nitrites: 0ppm (Same as ammonia, 1ppm or more is deadly)                                     Nitrates: 20-40ppm (anything higher becomes toxic. Water changes stop this level rising to toxic levels)                                                                                                                         pH: 6.8-7.8ish

Old school way

There are two ways to do the old school cycle. With fish and without.

 

With fish

1) Set up your aquarium and filtration system. To start, you'll want your aquarium completely assembled and filled with everything you want in it, besides the fish. Below is a brief checklist of things you'll want to do before getting started — this may not match all aquariums perfectly:

  • Assemble the aquarium
  • Add substrate
  • Add water
  • Add air stones, air pumps, etc.
  • Add plants, rocks, etc.
  • Add filtration system (and/or protein skimmer)

2) Introduce a small number of hardy fish to the tank. Your goal in this cycling process is to populate the tank with fish that produce waste but can survive the initial high levels of toxins long enough for the beneficial waste-processing bacteria to grow. Thus, you'll want to pick a variety that is known for being a good cycling fish and start with a small number. Later, once the bacteria have grown, you can slowly add more fish of different types. In your case since you are housing an Axolotl, you will need to discard the fish or get some small enough for your Axolotl to snack on. You should add roughly 1.5 fish per 10 gallons of water, Below is just a few good choices for cycling fish:

  • White Clouds
  • Zebra Danios
  • Goldfish
  • Most minnows
  • Most guppies

3) Feed fish sparingly. When cycling an aquarium with your fish, it's very important not to overfeed them. Though different fish may have different dietary needs, a good rule of thumb is to give food once every other day. Only offer a moderate-sized meal — you don't want any extra food leftover when the fish are done eating. This is done for two reasons:

  1. Fish who eat more produce more waste, which can cause the levels of toxins in the tank to rise before the bacteria have a chance to colonize the aquarium.
  2. Leftover food will eventually rot, producing toxins on its own.

4) Perform frequent water changes. While you're waiting for your tank to cycle, every few days, replace about 10-25% of the tank's water. As with the reduced feeding schedule described above, this is another way of ensuring that toxic levels don't get too high before the bacteria has a chance to grow.

  • Don't use chlorinated water — this can kill the bacteria in the tank, forcing the cycle to start over. If using tap water, make sure to treat it with an appropriate dechlorinator (Available in our marketplace)
  • Be ready to perform water changes much more frequently if you start to see signs of serious ammonia stress in your fish. However, try to avoid stressing the fish by exposing them to big changes in water chemistry or temperature.

5) Use test kits to monitor toxin levels. (Available in our marketplace) When you add fish to your tank, the levels of toxic chemicals known as ammonia and nitrites will quickly rise as the fish release waste into the water. As beneficial bacteria begin to grow in response to these chemicals, their levels will gradually drop to near-zero, at which point it's safe to add more fish. Testing daily is ideal, but you can sometimes get away with testing every few days.

  • You will want to keep ammonia levels below 0.5 mg/L and nitrite below 1 mg/L throughout the cycling process (ideally, they should be less than half of these values.) If these chemicals start to approach unsafe levels, increase the frequency of your water changes.
  • The cycling process is complete when both ammonia and nitrite levels drop so low that they are undetectable. For practical purposes, this is often referred to as "zero," though this isn't technically accurate.
  • As an alternative, you can take water samples to the pet store. Most will offer cheap testing services (some even do it for free!)

6) Add additional fish gradually once toxin levels are near-zero. The cycling process typically takes about six to eight weeks. Once ammonia and nitrite levels are so low that they aren't showing up on your tests, you may add more fish. However, you'll want to do this gradually, introducing just one or two new fish at once. Adding just a few fish at a time keeps the increased amount of ammonia and nitrites in the tank from each new addition well within the ability of the bacteria to control.

  • After each addition of new fish, wait at least a week or so, then test the water once more. If ammonia and nitrite levels are still low, you may add your next few fish.

 

Without fish

1)  Assemble and prepare your tank. For this method, we'll start with a fully-assembled tank, minus the fish, just like in the method above. However, this time, we won't add the fish until the entire cycle is completed. Instead, we'll add biological waste manually as we monitor the water level and wait for the cycle to complete.

  • This method requires a lot of patience, as it requires you to wait for the organic material you add to your tank to decay and start producing toxic waste products. However, it's often considered a more "humane" option as it doesn't expose fish to ammonia and nitrites like the method above do.

2) Add a sprinkling of fish flakes. To begin, drop just a few flakes of fish food into your tank — about as much as you'd use to feed your fish will do. Now, simply wait. Over the next few days, the flakes will begin to decay and release waste products (including ammonia) into the water.

3) Test your water for ammonia in a few days. Use a test kit (or bring a water sample to your local pet store) to test your water for ammonia levels. You want to have a level of at least three parts per million (ppm). If you don't have enough ammonia in your water, add more flakes and wait for them to decay before testing again.

4) Try to keep the ammonia level at about three ppm. Continue to test your water every other day for ammonia levels. As beneficial bacteria begin to grow in your aquarium, it will start to consume the ammonia, reducing the ammonia levels. Replenish them by adding fish flakes whenever the ammonia level falls below three ppm.

5) After a week, start testing for nitrites. As the bacteria start consuming ammonia, they'll begin to produce nitrites, the intermediate type of chemical in the nitrate cycle (which is less toxic than ammonia but still harmful to fish). Start testing for nitrites after a week or so — again, you can use a commercial test kit or take water samples to a pet shop to do this.

  • Once you detect nitrites, you'll know the cycle has started. At this point, you'll continue adding ammonia as you have before.

6) Wait for a sudden drop in nitrites and a rise in nitrates. As you feed the bacteria in the tank ammonia, the nitrite levels will continue to rise. Eventually, however, enough beneficial bacteria will grow to convert the nitrites into nitrates, the final type of chemical in the nitrate cycle (and one that isn't harmful to fish.) When this happens, you'll know the cycle is nearing completion.

  • You can detect this final phase of the cycle by either testing for nitrites (in which case you're looking for a sudden drop), nitrates (in which case you're looking for a sudden spike from a base level of zero), or both.