Planning a ray's/monster community tank...

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-DC-

Polypterus
MFK Member
Sep 3, 2009
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Canada
Hi, so my question is on filtration,

I have a 240 gallon tank, it's been running for months with various fish in it, current filtration holds up fine , however i'm changing the stocking and i'm new to ray's but everything seems to say they need excelent water conditions so i want to make sure my filtration will keep up.

tank footprint is 5'x3', home too 3 endli bichir's 16-18" , and a 14" id shark.

in the new year if all goes to plan i'll be adding the following...

2 motoro ray's 10"& 14" disk,
2x cuban gar's, who will be around 10" when added
1x clown knife (haven’t found him yet but it'll be 10" at least before going into the tank)

For filtration I’ll be using a fulval FX5, along with a 20g, 12"x12" and 40"tall trickle tower into a 50 gallon sump, sump has 2 up and down's to separate bubbles and allow sediment to be gathered and easily removed...

Inside the tank I have 2 fluval plus 4's , just for added circulation and some water polishing... and bi-weekly 50% water changes...

So my question is…with the stock I have planned will the filtration be enough to keep my planned stocking happy and healthy until they outgrow the tank ?

..... also....It was also suggested on another forum to add UV to the filteration/sump, any thought's on the best way to do this ?

-DC-
 
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PeteLockwood

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 20, 2009
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Westfield NJ
I think your filtration will be fine. My 320 gal is only filtered by about 10-15 gallons of bio media in a trickle made out of a 30 gallon tank plus an FX5. I wouldn't bother with the UV. You may find your bi-weekly water changes should become weekly though.
 
D

-DC-

Polypterus
MFK Member
Sep 3, 2009
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the less water changes the better! i normally only do weekly, thought i should up it when i add the ray's, but if i dont need too great!
 
bcfd144

bcfd144

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 24, 2010
1,259
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Missouri
Agree with Lockwood, I think you should be ok on your filtering.. And I wouldnt worry about the UV light. If you wanted it, you can get a inline UV light and add it to your sump outlet, but I wouldnt waste the money. And do at least a weekly water change. I think you said you were doing by-weekly water changes now, so I would step that up to a weekly water change. Otherwise I think you will be fine. Just keep an eye on the rays for awhile when you get all of what you are wanting to get for the tank, make sure they get along with the other fish you plan to have and the other fish are not picking on them.
 
D

-DC-

Polypterus
MFK Member
Sep 3, 2009
1,606
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Canada
oh lol, i miss typed it i ment 50% twice a week in the first post , not bi weekly lol,
 
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PeteLockwood

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 20, 2009
1,204
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Westfield NJ
Yeah, I meant move up from every 2 weeks to weekly :D If you're happy to still do semiweekly (or twice a week) your rays will be even happier for it.
 
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ajsmith235

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 19, 2010
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yep. sounds like you are on the right track, just when you get ur rays keep an eye on ur params bc they produce ALOT of waste, and your BB might not be strong enough yet to handle that load, so with that being said, you might get some Seachem Stability, or API stresszyme, both contains benificial bacteria that will help strengthen your nitrogen cycle.
 
J

Just Toby

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 22, 2010
2,434
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Guildford UK
I think 2x50 % is a waste of water unless another parameter such as nitrate is out of control or ph crashing. 1 50% is easily enough.

I like having a uv and it is easy to use one of the fluvial 4s by addingbto the sump and then get it to pump through the uv and back to the tank.

Other than that you should be fine


Keep testing all parameters for a few weeks and then drop down to spot checks but keep an eye on the tap water nitrate and the tank nitrate as the tap water can be high to start with. Do not scrimp on the water changes as this is the key.

As Pete pointed out, the bio for the ammonia and nitrite is very easy once settled and you easily have enough, it's the regular water changes and nitrate that can cause issues if you slack off.
 
D

-DC-

Polypterus
MFK Member
Sep 3, 2009
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Canada
T1KARMANN

T1KARMANN

Giant Snakehead
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2005
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London UK
2 x 25% water changes is better than a big 50% in one go I think anyway
 
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