BigPic;3704503; said:
thts why its best to keep inline with your tap. w rays your going to be doing tons of waterchanges anyways....
All stingray keepers I need help!
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thts why its best to keep inline with your tap. w rays your going to be doing tons of waterchanges anyways....
as everyone has said K.I.S.S.
my ph is 5 in the tank.
water comes out of tap at 7.5 but has such low mineral content it is 5.5 after just a few minute standing. i do 30% water changes every 3 days now. straight from tap(through water filter and dechlorinator)
as everyone else has said stop messing with your ph ,rays hate it.
my ph is 5 in the tank.
water comes out of tap at 7.5 but has such low mineral content it is 5.5 after just a few minute standing. i do 30% water changes every 3 days now. straight from tap(through water filter and dechlorinator)
as everyone else has said stop messing with your ph ,rays hate it.
My advice for what it's worth (it and $2.59 will buy a cup of coffee at Denny's), is to knock off the massive water changes!
Unless you are facing a crisis, like an ammonia spike, changing more than 20% of tank volume does as much harm as it does good. As has been said several times in this thread and on so many others in this forum a key to water parameters is stability.
You are much better off doing a 25% change initially, then follow that up with several smaller 10% to 15% volume water changes (do several in a day or two). Most rays aren't as fragile as people make them out to be unless you're dealing with Tiger, China and Ceja Rays with the exception of all stingrays susceptibility to ammonia and nitrate. You run a greater risk of "shocking" not only your rays but any tank mates with continuous high volume water changes.
Point is, just like when you acclimate a new fish to you tank you want to do it gradually, same premise holds true with water changes. Do it slowly and you will get a better result.
Unless you are facing a crisis, like an ammonia spike, changing more than 20% of tank volume does as much harm as it does good. As has been said several times in this thread and on so many others in this forum a key to water parameters is stability.
You are much better off doing a 25% change initially, then follow that up with several smaller 10% to 15% volume water changes (do several in a day or two). Most rays aren't as fragile as people make them out to be unless you're dealing with Tiger, China and Ceja Rays with the exception of all stingrays susceptibility to ammonia and nitrate. You run a greater risk of "shocking" not only your rays but any tank mates with continuous high volume water changes.
Point is, just like when you acclimate a new fish to you tank you want to do it gradually, same premise holds true with water changes. Do it slowly and you will get a better result.
What a bunch of twaddle. I do 75% water changes on my rays and wouldn't hesitate to do more.
High volume water changes are only ever bad when you don't do a water change for months then change a large volume with water that now has significantly different parameters.
High volume water changes are only ever bad when you don't do a water change for months then change a large volume with water that now has significantly different parameters.
Many of us do large water changes. It may stress the rays out a small amount, but with a normal and healthy ray it wont bother them TOO much. But when you have a ray who has been dealing with pH swings, and poor water quality, a huge water change can in fact do as much harm as good, and smaller very frequent water changes would probably be better for a sick or stressed ray.PeteLockwood;3709457; said:
PeteLockwood;3709457; said:
Yeah, but your consistent. If the tank was only getting 20% water changes once a week, to go to 75% every day, just seems a bit much. Hence my advice of taking a day off in the middle of 50% water changes.
Personally, I think if the ray has stabilized, and the parameters are in check with the ph staying consistent, then there's no point in doing 50+% water changes daily. Instead I'd check the water daily, when nitrates start going back up (hopefully at this point that is the only changing parameter) and hit around 40ppm, I'd do a 50% (or bigger, just be consistent) water change. Then test daily again. Hopefully, the water will hit 40ppm around the same number of days. Then you can start getting into a routine.
PeteLockwood;3709457; said:
Just like someone from Jersey
The OP is trying to change his water parameters to something significantly different than the current water chemistry. This is why I cautioned going slow. Any time you are making changes it should be done gradually.
But let me ask you Pete...why do you do 75% water changes? and how often do you do them? Don't you have a filter on your tank
. As I said, unless dealing with a critical situation such as an ammonia spike, there is no need to do such a massive change. Smaller more frequent is a better route to take. But then again, you are from Jersey 
Actually, I'm from England.
Why do I do 75% water changes? Because I doubt my fish want to swim around in water that's full of dissolved organics and nitrate and has reduced Kh, promoting Ph swings.
To answer the rhetorical question, obviously I have a filter on my tank but it only handles ammonia and nitrite - not nitrate and DOCs.
The OP already did a 50% change so his tank is now 50% tap water. Another 50% change gets him to 75% tap water, more Kh, less nitrate that'll reduce the Kh and less likely his Ph will swing. Zero downside and less of a parameter change than the first water change was.
I'm really not trying to pick a fight but a blanket statement like "changing more than 20% of tank volume does as much harm as it does good" is just wrong - and it gives the wrong message to someone who apparently needs to up their water changes.
Why do I do 75% water changes? Because I doubt my fish want to swim around in water that's full of dissolved organics and nitrate and has reduced Kh, promoting Ph swings.
To answer the rhetorical question, obviously I have a filter on my tank but it only handles ammonia and nitrite - not nitrate and DOCs.
The OP already did a 50% change so his tank is now 50% tap water. Another 50% change gets him to 75% tap water, more Kh, less nitrate that'll reduce the Kh and less likely his Ph will swing. Zero downside and less of a parameter change than the first water change was.
I'm really not trying to pick a fight but a blanket statement like "changing more than 20% of tank volume does as much harm as it does good" is just wrong - and it gives the wrong message to someone who apparently needs to up their water changes.
