Sand in a Aquarium

[twentyleagues]

The cloudiness was/is probably a bacterial bloom on account of the increase in ammonia. You are talking about pH when you need to be watching all parameters ammonia, nitrite and nitrate along with pH, and if you are worried about pH you also need to watch kh and gh. Tds is important also to a degree. I don't think keeping a ray for close to a year and a half is a major accomplishment tbh. I agree with duanes tank is to small for those fish. Rays need alot of room and clean water as does the cat fish. 180 sounds like a big tank but honestly is on the very small end of the scale when talking about the fish you are trying. I would take this as a lesson learned and look in to other types of fish better suited to that size tank or get a much larger tank first.

 

[aroijuana]

I've kept a few big fish in a 180 but always have had two fx6s loaded, big k1 jar filter, pothos, Sponge filters, 1200+gph powerhead, & did water changes every 4 days. It can be done but you have to put the work in & beef up that filtration. I'd stay away from buying any more fish until you get everything squared away & a back up plan for when those fish fully outgrow that 180 regulardless of filtration/water changes.

 

[Freshwaterfishlover]

What kind of logic is this? You realized your tank is overstocked and you want to add another stingray? After all, it’s your tank and your choices, good luck.

when I had 2 Gars and 3 Stingrays the tank was fine. When I added the Catfish all the Problems start. I currently only have 2 Gars now.

 

[Freshwaterfishlover]

The cloudiness was/is probably a bacterial bloom on account of the increase in ammonia. You are talking about pH when you need to be watching all parameters ammonia, nitrite and nitrate along with pH, and if you are worried about pH you also need to watch kh and gh. Tds is important also to a degree. I don't think keeping a ray for close to a year and a half is a major accomplishment tbh. I agree with duanes tank is to small for those fish. Rays need alot of room and clean water as does the cat fish. 180 sounds like a big tank but honestly is on the very small end of the scale when talking about the fish you are trying. I would take this as a lesson learned and look in to other types of fish better suited to that size tank or get a much larger tank first.

Actually my Ammonia is 0 As well is my Nitrite tested today. My Nitrate is between 10-20. The only problem I’ve had since cycling the tank is the PH crashing and the water clouding up. I’m not saying having a Stringray for a year and a half is a Accomplishment, but all my Problems started a few weeks after adding The Tiger Shovelnose Catfish. Plus I added a Fluval FX6 rated at 925GPH and I still have my Cascade 1500 rated at 350GPH running

 

[Rocksor]

The TSN pushed your tank past its capacity with its feeding behavior.

 

[Oscar Mike]

I don't over feed by far. I feed 6 pieces of imitation Crab 2 times a day and a few times a week I feed frozen Blood Worms. Sometimes it seems like the Catfish throws up the Imitation Crab because I see the Imitation Crab looking like cotton floating in the tank later after I see the Catfish eating.
When I do feed blood worms and the left overs fall to the ground I clean it up with in a hour.

I was saying maybe the Catfish moving around stirs up the Sand. I now have way enough Filtration and the best filter of all time. fluval.

Hello, I recall your last thread when the stingrays unfortunately passed. At the time you were only feeding bloodworms. May I ask why you decided to add imitation crab rather than pellets or fresh seafood like other members and I suggested?

While imitation crab is made with Surimi (fish paste usually from Pollock) it also contains high amounts of carbs/sugars and less vitamins/minerals, not a suitable fish diet. I would suspect that the uneaten and regurgitated "hot dogs of the sea" are making the water cloudy.

Replacing the sand with gravel will only make the problem worse as detritus will get trapped in the gravel rather than staying on top of the sand where it can be vacuumed more easily. I would get a high quality pellet food ASAP, save the bloodworms as treats (like a few times a week at most) and throw out the imitation crab or eat it yourself.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Any one of those fish would be too large for the tank when full grown. Even as subadults, the combination of them you had in there was well overstocked. I'm guessing water quality slipped steadily while the fish grew, even if you kept up a decent maintenance routine. TSN could've succumbed to toxicity in the water in combination with poor diet or sickness, or killed itself trying to escape its undersized tank.

I apologize if this sounds coarse but no better way to put it imo. If it were me, I would work with just the gars for awhile, start monitoring your water parameters closely, find out what kind of maintenance you need to do to keep up water quality. From there you can gauge the maintenance you need if you add another fish. I would not try more stingray or TSN. they will inevitably outgrow the tank. Good luck with your fish.

 

[Freshwaterfishlover]

The TSN pushed your tank past its capacity with its feeding behavior.

I totally agree. I will not be adding a Tiger Shovelnose Catfish again when I add new fish.

 

[Freshwaterfishlover]

Hello, I recall your last thread when the stingrays unfortunately passed. At the time you were only feeding bloodworms. May I ask why you decided to add imitation crab rather than pellets or fresh seafood like other members and I suggested?

While imitation crab is made with Surimi (fish paste usually from Pollock) it also contains high amounts of carbs/sugars and less vitamins/minerals, not a suitable fish diet. I would suspect that the uneaten and regurgitated "hot dogs of the sea" are making the water cloudy.

Replacing the sand with gravel will only make the problem worse as detritus will get trapped in the gravel rather than staying on top of the sand where it can be vacuumed more easily. I would get a high quality pellet food ASAP, save the bloodworms as treats (like a few times a week at most) and throw out the imitation crab or eat it yourself.

The problem was when I had the Stingrays they would not eat anything, but bloodworms or other Frozen food like Frozen squid cubs, but the other frozen varieties made a huge mess in the tank. Even after starving them for a few days. I could try brands of Frozen Bloodworms that Add proteins to them if there is a next time.
The Tiger Shovelnose Catfish would eat anything I gave it. Frozen Fish, cheese, bread or imitation crab. My Florida Gar is a little more pick, but will eat most things. again my Longnose Gar will only eat Bloodworms

 

[Freshwaterfishlover]

Any one of those fish would be too large for the tank when full grown. Even as subadults, the combination of them you had in there was well overstocked. I'm guessing water quality slipped steadily while the fish grew, even if you kept up a decent maintenance routine. TSN could've succumbed to toxicity in the water in combination with poor diet or sickness, or killed itself trying to escape its undersized tank.

I apologize if this sounds coarse but no better way to put it imo. If it were me, I would work with just the gars for awhile, start monitoring your water parameters closely, find out what kind of maintenance you need to do to keep up water quality. From there you can gauge the maintenance you need if you add another fish. I would not try more stingray or TSN. they will inevitably outgrow the tank. Good luck with your fish.

Again if you read my other post the only problem I had with my tank ever was cloudy water and PH crashing. As of today my Ammonia is 0 Nitrite 0 PH 6.8 Nitrate 10-20