Armatus Fish

[Slippery K]

Maintenance has absolutely nothing to do with high PH, high TDS or high conductivity numbers.....

You say RO isn't necessary so prove me wrong. Find me someone up there keeping a monster 20+ incher in the liquid rock tap water that the north is known for. Rays are VERY resilient fish and I know guys up there and across seas that won't even put their liquid rock tap water in their tanks, but rather reconstituted RO or RO/tap mix.....

And Lix, ever thought that the big ones over there might be kept in water closer to their natural parameters (soft mineral free) then we provide and fed live food most of their life?

I think IF you were to dig deep enough into water chemistry I'd bet the high current you guys think they need has more to do with stuff like the water's oxygen content then simply something for the fish to swim in.......

Your in Iowa, you know nothing about Canadian water other than what you've been told or read. I have VERY soft water with a low mineral content, I have had tons of comments here on MFK reguarding the health of my Armatus(always say hes healthy and a perfect specimen, so RO water isnt necessary). I do agree with lix thinking they dont require as much current as most people think, but some of this does come down to the individual preference of the fish, not the species as a whole. I recently had my oldest/strongest powerhead die out on me, I havnt botherd to put the new one in as I noticed my armatus seemed to be a little more perky without it. Hes still a juvi though so I expect his temperament to change as he grows and his preference changes.

 

[Slippery K]

Sorry double post...

 

[DB junkie]

all this talk lately of why we are not growin these BIG armatus.. Hard water, UV/redox, O2 content, feeding smelt...etc.. Makes me think of the KISS....
I am starting to think the sudden death may be something as simple as i have heard other members like JL say, the biggest thing to keep an armatus alive is keeping water level low so they dont smash them self on the top of the tank or jump out... i also think that moving an adult armatus is very risky!! They ones i have killed i think was spooked by me cleaning algae, and LARGE rays and have banged into something. Mine never showed banged up noses but did show a HUGe blister on his eye on one occasion..... I think VAMP also said when fang died he thought it was stung in eye, maybe it banged into something like the top of the tank too?>?? What do you think?

I think it's wishful thinking. That's like saying the more I ignore the better off I am. Many of us don't fully understand water chemistry, I know I don't. IF I did, I might agree with KISS but when we have no clue why they die I think until we figure it out Kiss is the exact opposite of what we need. Maybe all we need is to know more about the water they come from, numbers to compare to ours so we know what we are trying to replicate.

My Armatus definitely didn't smash into lids or tops in my pond. My first was grown out to around 16 inches. Never got another past 12. What was the main differences? The big one was fed live much longer then any after, and there was NO drip.

I've played with degassing water prior to using and the results were crazy. Drips might not be as great as we think.

I think to assume that there's nothing wrong with raising a fish in water they aren't used to is silly. What if there is so much mineral content in our water that it makes breathing to them like breathing smoke to us?

We see big Armatus out in Cali right? Where their water is so soft that it's actually possible to experience PH crash. I bet the water "Fang" was raised in was closer to that water then the 8.5 I have..... I now know what I'm dealing with after seeing the same number on my PH meter and I have no reason to expect a fish used to soft acidic water to thrive in a PH of 8.5.

Calgary said his was 28" when he lost it, I believe from moving it. My understanding is it's diet was fairly typical, but I thought he said he was running 90% RO 10% tap.

 

[Slippery K]

Also, on a side note I used to install $6,000 RO water systems in peoples houses. All RO water is - is no chlorine and softer water. So from PERSONAL expirence working with RO water systems and keeping aquariums for over 14 years, im telling you it makes no difference. If you want to waste your money installing one go for it.

 

[DB junkie]

Your in Iowa, you know nothing about Canadian water other than what you've been told or read. I have VERY soft water with a low mineral content, I have had tons of comments here on MFK reguarding the health of my Armatus(always say hes healthy and a perfect specimen, so RO water isnt necessary). I do agree with lix thinking they dont require as much current as most people think, but some of this does come down to the individual preference of the fish, not the species as a whole. I recently had my oldest/strongest powerhead die out on me, I havnt botherd to put the new one in as I noticed my armatus seemed to be a little more perky without it. Hes still a juvi though so I expect his temperament to change as he grows and his preference changes.

You're right, I know nothing more then the people I talk to. What's your PH and TDS/conductivity #s?

You've had yours quite sometime now, surely it has to be pretty good sized, how big is it now and how long have you had it?

 

[DB junkie]

Also, on a side note I used to install $6,000 RO water systems in peoples houses. All RO water is - is no chlorine and softer water. So from PERSONAL expirence working with RO water systems and keeping aquariums for over 14 years, im telling you it makes no difference. If you want to waste your money installing one go for it.

Done.

 

[Slippery K]

Got him towards end of October around Halloween around 4.5". Currently about 8-9" and perfect condition. Ph and all that I dont remember off the top of my head, would have to crack out the kits.

 

[lix.ma14]

IMO, you've got to have your armatus in harsher condition for it to be tougher. not trying to diss you guys but if you keep all your armatus in the BEST ideal water and such, the armatus will just become "soft." If ANYTHING bad happens at the lowest level, it might die on you. You've obviously need to know the tipping point of your armatus' health but the nicest conditions might actually harm it. This speaking of experience.
I do WCs where the water is just above freezing and my armatus can handle it. Would you guys risk it? I doubt any of you guys would risk it on your "princess" armatuses. I've actually managed to move my 10 inch armatus to another house. The new tank was so close to freezing but my armatus still manage to handle on. Maybe i'm just lucky.

Not here to attract to flamers but this is plainly my opinion.

 

[Slippery K]

Also i do beleive an RO system purchased from a LFS is a much different product than a RO system designed for human consumption. When people say RO my mind instantly jumps to the human product.

 

[keepinfish]

I think it's wishful thinking. That's like saying the more I ignore the better off I am. Many of us don't fully understand water chemistry, I know I don't. IF I did, I might agree with KISS but when we have no clue why they die I think until we figure it out Kiss is the exact opposite of what we need. Maybe all we need is to know more about the water they come from, numbers to compare to ours so we know what we are trying to replicate.

My Armatus definitely didn't smash into lids or tops in my pond. My first was grown out to around 16 inches. Never got another past 12. What was the main differences? The big one was fed live much longer then any after, and there was NO drip.

I've played with degassing water prior to using and the results were crazy. Drips might not be as great as we think.

I think to assume that there's nothing wrong with raising a fish in water they aren't used to is silly. What if there is so much mineral content in our water that it makes breathing to them like breathing smoke to us?

We see big Armatus out in Cali right? Where their water is so soft that it's actually possible to experience PH crash. I bet the water "Fang" was raised in was closer to that water then the 8.5 I have..... I now know what I'm dealing with after seeing the same number on my PH meter and I have no reason to expect a fish used to soft acidic water to thrive in a PH of 8.5.

Calgary said his was 28" when he lost it, I believe from moving it. My understanding is it's diet was fairly typical, but I thought he said he was running 90% RO 10% tap.

Your right we don't know... So we don't know if it is water either.

But in that pond you talk about it had large rays. You've said yourself that is bad for charcins!! Large rays aNd small arm = no good!
I wish I knew..

Calgary told me his bailed! And JL has raised many large arms and he also said he believes in keeping low water is a big thing for arm.
Look at that tank that has huge Goliath with several large arms wuchu? It is a tall tank and don't see a lid.
I think this is a killer for many arms


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