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Will Fitz - number question

Newt Owner 71

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Hi Will - not sure if you seen the thread below with my water numbers. Are these numbers to high? The was with the kit your recommended, and was not with strips.

Nitrate is at 0 ppm
Ammonia is at 4.0
PH is at 7.6


Thanks,

Linda
 

oregon newt

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Well, your ammonia is very high. I would take your newt out of its tank and put it in a container of fresh dechlorinated water, but make sure you change it daily. It looks like your tank is cycling. Until it is finished, you will need to be doing daily water changes. Ammonia should be 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate 20 or under. Here is an article on cycling http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml.
 

Newt Owner 71

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Thank you for the information. One of my newts died today. I've pulled the other newt out, put him in new fresh -dechlorinated water. Before putting him in I tested the new water looks like all levels were good. I cleaned off everything with hot water, and put it in the new tank, and then covered the sides to darken the tank, he is very stressed and swimming like crazy! I'm hoping that this will work to settle him down and hopefully he won't pass away.

Thanks for your help!

Linda
 

oregon newt

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What do you mean by new tank? You didn't remove all of the water, did you? Have you read the article yet? The purpose of cycling is to establish bacteria that will convert the toxins produced by rotting waste into less harmful toxins, which are then removed by water changes. If you clean all of your decor and remove all of the water, you are removing your bacteria. Until your tank is cycled, you should be removing like 25% of the water everyday. Right now, I would keep your animal in the container of fresh dechlorinated water, put him in the fridge, and change the water daily. but don't just go off of the information I have given you, please read the article. Once you read it, it's pretty easy to understand. And don't just use my advice, there are plenty of other people here way more knowledgable than me. I hope the best for your newts.;) And keep us informed.
 

Newt Owner 71

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I did read the article, I was gone since yesterday and I don't know when the Newt died, and seeing since I could have been in the tank for at least 12 hrs since I had been home, I put the newt in clean dechlorinated water. I had found with my FBT's when one was sick and died, the water can't cycle quick enough and the rest of the toads had died within days. So, to be safe, I did pull it out and put it into a new tank with clean water. Maybe it wasn't the right thing? We'll see in a few days. I just knew from prior experience with toads, all of them died.

Anyway, I will let you know how it's going this week. Hopefully it'll be okay.

Thanks again!!!

Linda
 

oregon newt

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Well the thing is that the tank you put him in will go through a cycle, which could stress or even kill him. Honestly I would would plop him in the fridge. You can also buy something called BioSpira which can speed your cycling process, though it might be hard to find.
 

Newt Owner 71

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okay, i can put him in the fridge. how long should i leave him in there? and what about feeding, should i try to feed him in the fridge? it'll be a week tuesday since i got him and he's not eaten anything still?

Linda
 

oregon newt

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Probably until your ammonia is a little bit lower. You could try and leave him in the tank and just do daily water changes. In the fridge, he won't need to eat because his metabolism will be slowed down.
 

Newt Owner 71

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Well the good news is, he is still in the tank, the I changed him into. Anyway, I woke up this morning to find that he had pooped! So, he must have eaten either the frozen blood worms or the leaf worm I put into the tank! So i'm thinking this is a good sign, since i've had him for a week and he's not eaten anything! I left a little chunk of bloodworms again this morning so when I go home at lunch i'll be able to see if he ate them, and then give a earth worm also. He seems to be moving a lot more now also. Hopefully he is going to hang in there and be okay now!

Thanks!!!

Linda
 
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