# AMMONIA is SKY HIGH . . . where do i post this? lol



## JustAWitness (Jul 16, 2008)

so all my midas started dying and they look all torn up and fungusy, like their slime coat is being attacked.

i did a water test and my ammonia is 8.0 and/or over. ph is 6.0 or under. nitrite is 0 and niTRATE is 10-15.

so my question is . . WHAT DO I DO?!?! i'm planning to do daily 80% changes and put a **** load of "prime" by seachem in there.

my tank WAS cycled . . . dunno about that now . . . i'm confused . . what should i do?

oya which reminds me, i should throw those ammonia chips back in there.

135 gallon - river cooter (turtle) , 20 midas, 1 orange pike cich, 1 lepitoda pike cich, 3 pink convicts, 2 GT's, sailfin pleco

VIDEO OF MY TANK : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkzssfDN ... annel_page that IS a lepitoda right? i dunno


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## Chris2500DK (Feb 15, 2006)

Big daily waterchanges until it's under control. Don't feed the fish for a week or so, no reason to add more nutrients and the fish can go for a week just fine.


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## F8LBITEva (Nov 9, 2007)

what sort and how much filtration do you have on the tank?


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

Make sure to add some salt to help build their slime coats back up. I would change the water every other day for the next week.


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## Grey Legion (Apr 11, 2005)

Just to clarify..

These are all in the same tank >

135 gallon - river cooter (turtle) , 20 midas, 1 orange pike cich, 1 lepitoda pike cich, 3 pink convicts, 2 GT's, sailfin pleco


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## jboogerfinger (Apr 16, 2005)

definitely water change. get the toxin out.


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## JustAWitness (Jul 16, 2008)

Chris2500DK said:


> Big daily waterchanges until it's under control. Don't feed the fish for a week or so, no reason to add more nutrients and the fish can go for a week just fine.


yep, havn't fed for about 1 week now and i'll still keep with the NO FEEDING until the levels are better . . .

maybe just a pinch of food every week max.

*how long do u think it'll take to get the ammonia down if i do daily 80% changes?*


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## JustAWitness (Jul 16, 2008)

F8LBITEva said:


> what sort and how much filtration do you have on the tank?


i have 3 AC110's (aka AC500)

maybe get a fourth one on boxing day to complete the setup. 4 of them fit perfectly across my 6 ft. tank.

two powerheads . . .

bare bottom . .

here's a link to when to midas were tiny, showing my filters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZNUwwSh ... annel_page

here's a recent video of my tank:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkzssfDN ... annel_page


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## JustAWitness (Jul 16, 2008)

sjlchgo said:
 

> Make sure to add some salt to help build their slime coats back up. I would change the water every other day for the next week.


i've thought about adding salt . . . BUT my one concern is the TURTLE.

i normal would use regular table salt in this situation but i don't know how the salt will effect the turtle. maybe i should ask.


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## JustAWitness (Jul 16, 2008)

Grey Legion said:


> Just to clarify..
> 
> These are all in the same tank >
> 
> 135 gallon - river cooter (turtle) , 20 midas, 1 orange pike cich, 1 lepitoda pike cich, 3 pink convicts, 2 GT's, sailfin pleco


ya sorry . . they're all in the same tank. . .serves me right eh?

i used to have 60 + midas in it and things were ok . . .just green water , , , but i think by cleaning my 1 filter box out of 3, it totalled screwed up my benificial bacteria. plus i probably skipped a week or two with water changes and started feeding my turtle in the actual tank as opposed to his regular feeding bucket.

yes i'm over stocked . . or at least i was . . it's better now that i lost 40+ midas due to this ammonia . . . the tank was awesome with 60+ midas . . . so much action


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

With the AC110's your bacteria is in the "rocks" that are in the filter. So if you just rinse the sponges in water removed from the tank at water changes you should be fine. Another filter never hurts. I wouldn't use table salt, use aquarium/rock salt and maybe only add 1/2 doses like a tsp for every 10 gals. Push come to shove, take the turtle out and keep it in a rubbermaid for a week. It's probably the bigger contributor to your ammonia problem than the fish are. Make sure you're washing your hands after working in the tank. The risk of Salmonella is increased with the turtle.


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## zugzwang (Jan 1, 2008)

The turtle is cute but a mistake. They live in rivers because they need frequent water changes...
your choice of no substrate is also putting all the burden on your hang ons.
Lose the turtle!!
Let me know how you make out. opcorn: 
Cheryl
PS Don't turtles need to come out of the water once in a while? Are you being a meanie to him?


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## lestatak (Feb 3, 2007)

If I were you I would get a large canister filter and load it with bio media.


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## Our_Tanks (Jan 6, 2009)

zeolite mixed with your carbon, that usually helps quite a bit


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## niccomau (Oct 14, 2008)

Use some of the refrigerated Bio-Spira if you can get your hands on it. It works wonders, and helped me out when I had a ammonia spike after adding fish. They took care of 75% of the ammonia in the tank in 24 hours. It works really good, though I don't know about the non refrigerated kind. I was lucky that my LFS still had some of the old stock :dancing:


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## Snakes to Cichs (Dec 29, 2008)

Just wanted to put in my two cents about the comment on salmonella. There are way more cases of salmonella that come from raw chicken and daily foods that you and I eat, than come from turtles or reptiles. Obviously its possible but your more likely to get salmonella tonight preparing dinner than from your turtle. It is a huge misconception and just wanted to throw that out there.


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