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Important Note
Do not put your axolotl in an uncycled aquarium, as fish-in cycling shortens the lifespan of almost every animal that is subjected to it.
Hardy species such as scaled fish may survive fish-in cycling at a high rate, and only lose several years off of their total lifespan due to the effects of respiratory and cardiovascular damage.
Sensitive species such as invertebrates and amphibians, however, seldom make it past the nitrite spike of cycling before their abilities to breathe and eliminate waste are decimated.
We are here to help prevent injury or illness every step of your axolotl journey, though keep in mind that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Supplies for Cycling
- Dr. Tim’s Ammonium Chloride or Fritz Fishless Fuel
- An easy ammonia solution to begin your cycle; it is impossible to cycle an aquarium without an ammonia source.
- API Freshwater Master Test Kit
- Imperative for maintaining water chemistry – no strips can compare.
- Seachem Prime or Aqueon Water Conditioner
- Either is effective, used to dechlorinate as well as detoxify heavy metals.
- Aquarium (40 gallon ‘breeder’ aquariums are great)
- We recommend an aquarium that is 18″ in both length and width, such as a 40gb, 60gb, or 75gb.
- Canister Filter or Sponge Filter combined with an Air Pump
- A sponge filter generally requires an air pump to function, whereas a canister filter plugs in.
- Biological Filter Media (ceramics)
- Ceramic Media and 3D Ball Media both work well to maintain a large colony of beneficial bacteria (the lil guys who eat ammonia)
- Mechanical Filter Media (sponges)
- Sponges perform mechanical filtration, trapping the particles of waste from the water column.
- Fluval Beneficial Bacteria or Seachem Stability (various brands, optional)
- Beneficial bacteria only needs dechlorinated water, ammonia, and oxygen to colonize – but boosters like these speed things up.
Preparing to Cycle
It is highly recommended to test your source water with your API Master Test Kit before beginning the cycling process, to ensure pH is stable and nitrates are low enough to use!
Set up your aquarium (add decor and substrate) and filter per manufacturer instructions; load the filter with as much filter media as possible! Fill the aquarium and dechlorinate the water (2 drops per gallon of Seachem Prime), then turn your filter on. If using a canister filter, it will need to be filled with water before turning on, as air within the canister prevents the siphon from pumping water.
If using seeded media or bottled bacteria, set up the seeded media immediately as soon as you dechlorinate the water, and add the bottled bacteria after adding ammonia.
Straight from your tap, the test results should come out a lot like what is above.
pH may vary between 6.4 — 8.8 in most residential water sources. A high pH is not generally negative, however if pH is above 8.4 there may be other water quality concerns, as well as the fact that ammonia concentration and toxicity increases as pH increases. If the pH is below 7.2, it is highly recommended to get a GH/KH test kit and test the tap water KH. An Alkaline Buffer may be necessary to maintain a stable pH for both cycling and
Ammonia should not be above 1 ppm in your tap water, elsewise it is unsuitable for tubbing, and it will add additional bioload to your filtration system.
Nitrite should be 0 ppm, and typically are. If nitrites are present in your tap water, call your water company – it may be unsafe for human consumption.
Nitrates should ideally be below 5 ppm, however concentrations as high as 20 ppm have been observed in some well water sources. A nitrate level of 10 ppm or lower is generally acceptable for aquarium use, however if nitrates are on the higher end, you may experience lessened efficacy of water changes.
Getting Started: Dosing Ammonia
Dr. Tim’s occasionally mislabels their products, inaccurately stating 4 drops per gallon = 2 ppm.
However the correct dosage is 2 drops per gallon = 2 ppm.
Add 2 drops per gallon of Dr. Tim’s Ammonium Chloride to the aquarium. Test the aquarium’s ammonia parameter 1 hour later to ensure ammonia was dosed correctly to 2 ppm, then get ready – you’ll be testing all of the tank parameters every 24 hours for 4-10 weeks to complete its Nitrogen Cycle. Some guides will recommend dosing to 4 ppm. however it is unnecessary to maintain that high of a bioload capacity in your tank.
You will not need to dose ammonia every day, but still test every day whenever possible – if ammonia drops to 0 ppm for an extended period of time, progress will be lost as beneficial bacteria will die off.
24 hours after adding ammonia, your tank should now show a notable concentration. You likely won’t see nitrite or nitrate yet, it takes a couple of weeks for the bacteria to begin to colonize.
Ammonia to Nitrites | Beneficial Bacteria –Nitrosomona
Ammonia would typically build up indefinitely without a colony of beneficial bacteria at work, and in chlorinated water, it can. However, beneficial bacteria exist in small numbers as opportunistic organisms in all water columns. This means that as soon as you dechlorinate the water, they begin to populate surface areas in the aquarium.
Unfortunately, most beneficial bacteria which support an aquarium’s cycle are aerobic, meaning they require oxygen to survive and reproduce. Lucky for us, a proper filtration system allows beneficial bacteria to colonize rapidly in its media – the aquarium filter isn’t the true filter of the aquarium, in fact, the media within is the home of the beneficial bacteria which performs biological filtration.
Nitrosomona will begin to grow microscopically on the filter media, causing ammonia to slowly drop, and nitrite to rise to detectable amounts on the liquid test kit – so begins the process of nitrification. At this time, you’ll dose ammonia only whenever it drops to 1 ppm or lower, and you will dose it back to 2 ppm.
Nitrites to Nitrates | Beneficial Bacteria – Nitrobacter
When cycling an aquarium, there are two different primary colonies of beneficial bacteria we need to be aware of. Nitrobacter are the second colony which grow on surface areas, and they need no additional care to encourage culturing – they just need nitrites! Since Nitrosomona produce nitrite as a waste product after oxidizing ammonia, and they always grow first during cycling, cycling doesn’t require anything more than carefully measured daily ammonia dosing.
After Nitrobacter begin to colonize, you’ll notice nitrate begin to rise and nitrite drop. At this point, only dose ammonia if it drops to 0 ppm, and dose as much as you believe will be consumed in 24hr, no more. The goal is to keep the Nitrosomona bacteria alive while not overwhelming the small Nitrobacter colonies with massive amounts of nitrite.
Nitrates are considered the end result of the nitrogen cycle, and although they continue onwards in nature as food for plants, algae, or anaerobic bacteria, nitrates are removed via water changes in household aquariums.
When nitrites begin to disappear, cycling is almost complete! Slowly begin dosing back up to 2 ppm daily, by titrating upwards. Any day that results in a nitrite spike, dose less ammonia. Any day in which nitrites clear to 0 ppm, dose extra ammonia, and only consider a water change (explained in the next paragraph) when pH drops to 6.8 or lower.
Ammonia will be consumed by bacteria, resulting in nitrite rising. Nitrite will eventually also be consumed by bacteria, resulting in nitrate rising. Nitrate is removed by water changes. Add around 1 – 2 ppm ammonia whenever it drops below 0.25 ppm.
Nitrite Spikes, pH Drops, and Cycle Stalls
1 ppm Ammonia > 2.7 ppm Nitrite > 3.6 ppm Nitrate
The Nitrogen Cycle is all about chemistry, and chemistry is, unfortunately, all about math. We can use this to our advantage, however, in the cycling process. Above is a formula that applies to cycling in all aquatics.
When nitrite rises above 4 ppm, the cycling process begins to stall, and ammonia dosing should be minimized to what is necessary to maintain around 0.5 ppm in the tank. If nitrites rise ‘off the charts’ (become so dark that they cannot be read), perform a 50% water change.
Although previously not recommended by some aquarists, it is becoming more common in the hobby to treat cycling stalls with moderately sized water changes. If your tap water has a pH of 7.2 or higher, performing a 50% temperature-matched, dechlorinated water change typically solves pH drops, nitrite spikes, and temporary cycle stalls.
Nitrate Testing
Why aren’t nitrates showing up?
1. Nitrites aren’t processing yet
2. False negative nitrate test
Planted tanks are great, however, a single axolotl seldom produces a bioload of under 1 ppm per day in any common sized aquarium. This creates the need for weekly water changes once the axolotl has been put into the tank – however, the axolotl cannot be added to the aquarium once The Nitrogen Cycle has simply completed.
A completed cycle is defined as 2 ppm of ammonia being filtered by the beneficial bacteria within 24 hours, resulting in 0 ppm of ammonia and nitrite, and the mathematically correct amount of nitrate. However, after dosing ammonia for weeks on end – nitrates will have risen very high. If nitrites have reliably dropped daily, nitrates will show up, and should be above 60 ppm. If minimal amounts of nitrates are showing up on your test kit – do not assume your nitrates are low, just because they test low. The nitrate test kit comes with two bottles of solution, and reagent #2 contains both powder and liquid, so it occasionally must be massaged to break up powder clumps.
At this point, you will be doing large water changes daily until nitrate reads below 10 ppm. Continue to dose 1 ppm ammonia each day until you add your inhabitants – beneficial bacteria will starve if left without an ammonia source (synthetic or natural) for too long.