A matter of nitrate.

T1KARMANN

Giant Snakehead
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2005
10,105
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my nitrates are never below 100ppm and my rays bred in that so its crap

at some times of the week before water changes my nitrates are 180ppm
 

Nick660

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 9, 2007
471
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South Wales, UK
andersp90;1496267; said:
I agree.. Nitrate is a good indicator of the waters age (though it depends on the quantity of food being consumed and so on...). But im still not sure if rays are more or less nitrate sensitive than "normal" fish. On praticafishkeeping.com a ray expert, Richard Hardwick, states the following:

"Some books suggest rays can tolerate NO3 levels of 100pm or above. Nonsense. In my experience, levels of just over 50ppm for long periods can be detrimental to the health of these fish, so regular maintenance is of paramount importance"

Its far from the 5 ppm.. But still.. What do you guys think..? :popcorn:
I wonder if he based that statement on scientific fact by experimentation or just by his own opinions/observations. I guess his main reason behind this statement would be to emphasise the importance of regular water changes/maintainence of which there is no doubt.

Personally my nitrate is usually around 80ppm.
Rays are healthy, feeding and growing well, mating and the bite injuries :)irked:) healed quickly too.
I guess in the ideal world we would all like to have a drip system though :).
 

IKeepPacu

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jan 2, 2008
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Long Island, New York
T1KARMANN;1496439; said:
my nitrates are never below 100ppm and my rays bred in that so its crap

at some times of the week before water changes my nitrates are 180ppm


that about sums it up right there if you ask me. not many fish (except a convict) will breed in less than ideal conditions I dont think., especially a ray. if high nitrates were a big issue, dont think we'd see breeding captives.
 

Rochen28

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2007
73
0
0
Singapore
andersp90;1493322; said:
Hey all..

I found a little text on the web where a guy claims that his fw rays starts suffering at 5 ppm of nitrate and even die.. We all know thats bull****.. I make a 50% wather change at 10 ppm and i have never had any nitrate related problems.. But i have heard that problems may start showing at 40 ppm.. Would be good to hear your apenion..

Kind regards Anders..
He might be talking about nitrites, 5 ppm is fatal.
 

Nic

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Oct 8, 2005
15,790
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outside philly
the guy could have just been telling you that so you keep your water very clean.... maybe a trck to get you doing lots of water changes
 
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