Feeding?

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Ok, new day, new questions. I am starting to realize that my sand might be contributing to some of my parameter problems. When I water change I pull anything off the surface that I see. And I always pull poop out immediately whenever I see it. But I haven't really cleaned the sand out good. While reading through the site, I saw something about people killing fish by stirring up gravel and releasing ammonia pockets. What is the best way to clean ny sand without causing problems? Can I sift through it all with the net (I do this on the surface when there is some food or something I need to scoop out.

Also, I read on here that carbon negates the effect of prime. Is this true? I didn't put carbon in the fx5, but I believe there is carbon in the inserts on the emperor.

Is the carbon preventing my filter from completely cycling? Or the sand? Is the prime doing its job even with the carbon?

I started using stability yesterday. Hopefully it isn't being hampered by the carbon.

I know I overthink things, but I read in this site ALL day and it gets my brain thinking in overdrive. I just want to make sure I am doing everything right and everything possible so my rays are happy and healthy.

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People who have sand that isn't moved in months might end up with anaerobic pockets that can cause buildup of a gas that can be dangerous when released. Your rays are stirring up your sand, you probably have nothing to worry about there and yes if you think there's junk worth sifting for go ahead.

I think the carbon+prime thing is baloney. You add prime to the new water to remove the chlorine and break any chloramine bond while locking up the ammonia. That's already happened before the water is even in the tank and even if you add the water and prime to the tank separately it's still happened before you turn the filters back on. In any case, even if that wasn't true, I still call BS on any notion that prime is affected by carbon.

Yes Emperor filter pads contain carbon but not much and by now it's probably covered in biofilm and clogged up. I cut a slit in any Emperor pads and throw the carbon out then just keep rinsing the pad until it shreds at which point I just put filter floss in the gray plastic trays and never buy an "official" filter pad again.

According to the Seachem site, carbon doesn't remove Stability.

The trouble with reading this site all day is some people don't know their @ss from their elbow and shouldn't be giving advice on stuff they don't understand. Course I might be one of those people too so I will leave you with this thought, which I think anyone can agree with: patience and water changes.
 
The rays should sift through the sand for you. The look around for food so I think your fine. I do not do anything with my sand. Although I think your sand is super fine and you will always be sucking it in your filter. It can cause damage to the impeller and housing.

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PeteLockwood said:
People who have sand that isn't moved in months might end up with anaerobic pockets that can cause buildup of a gas that can be dangerous when released. Your rays are stirring up your sand, you probably have nothing to worry about there and yes if you think there's junk worth sifting for go ahead.

I think the carbon+prime thing is baloney. You add prime to the new water to remove the chlorine and break any chloramine bond while locking up the ammonia. That's already happened before the water is even in the tank and even if you add the water and prime to the tank separately it's still happened before you turn the filters back on. In any case, even if that wasn't true, I still call BS on any notion that prime is affected by carbon.

Yes Emperor filter pads contain carbon but not much and by now it's probably covered in biofilm and clogged up. I cut a slit in any Emperor pads and throw the carbon out then just keep rinsing the pad until it shreds at which point I just put filter floss in the gray plastic trays and never buy an "official" filter pad again.

According to the Seachem site, carbon doesn't remove Stability.

The trouble with reading this site all day is some people don't know their @ss from their elbow and shouldn't be giving advice on stuff they don't understand. Course I might be one of those people too so I will leave you with this thought, which I think anyone can agree with: patience and water changes.
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When ever I get a new pet I shall name it Pete.

You are the best. Patience isn't a virtue I have a lot of lol. I just wanna see improvements, I know it's coming but dang it it needs to come already!

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snake8myelbo said:
The rays should sift through the sand for you. The look around for food so I think your fine. I do not do anything with my sand. Although I think your sand is super fine and you will always be sucking it in your filter. It can cause damage to the impeller and housing.

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I am definitely losing sand to the fx5.... Gonna move it up some to see it it helps. I'll be one ticked off chick should my fx5 break on me. I don't think I ever lose worms n such in the sand, and big old ray poop definitely stays on top. I was more worried about the little fishes poop n their flake food. Just trying to eliminate any possible source of bad parameters. Gonna sift through it just to be safe I think.

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I'm not familiar with the FX5 filter, but would there be any harm (back-siphon) in positioning the filter return at the water surface in order to provide some surface agitation?
Like Pete said, patience and water changes:)
 
spotfin said:
I'm not familiar with the FX5 filter, but would there be any harm (back-siphon) in positioning the filter return at the water surface in order to provide some surface agitation?
Like Pete said, patience and water changes:)
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I did move the intake up so it is about 6 inches from the bottom. The emperor intake sits all the way at the bottom. The current pulls most of the crap to the emperor's intake, which is irritating cause the slits are too small for almost everything. I rotated the fx5 output so that maybe it will help with that problem.


My nitrite is still high, not even dropping. I'm starting to wonder if the nitrite test stuff is a bad batch. Like I would think by now they would drop at least some.

Patience and water changes lol I'm good on number 2, bout to do it now. Number 1 still a work in progress.

Another feeding question. I give them 4 worms 2x a day. They eat them in less than a minute flat. The big one hogs most of them. I know I need to worry about my water parameters first cuz they eat. But how much should I feed? More at a time? Stick with what I am doing for now, and increase when I get my levels under control?
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You could try watering down tank water for the nitrite test, maybe 1/4 tank water and 3/4 tap (maybe measure using the Prime dropper or something) and take another reading. At some point you'd expect to get a reading that gives a sensible number on the scale and then you'd know the actual number.

The "feed what your fish'll eat in 2 minutes" nonsense is especially irrelevant with rays. My most voracious rays finish in a matter of seconds and I already wonder if they're over-fed. I wouldn't increase the feeding until the levels are fixed.
 
Have you tested the tap water for nitrites? If it says 0 then your test kit is probably not the issue. My question is are they fat yet? If they look like this Guy more or less they can go a day or two without food and try testing at the end of that one day fast period and see if the water is any better. uploadfromtaptalk1362418548314.jpg

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I would def try smelt.. my retics took only blackworms and nightcrawlers chopped up for the longest time... them took frozen krill.. and now also love smelt... cut it up smaller then you think they can handle. their mouths are smaller then they look. though my big female 9" disk now will take down feeder goldfish 3" or so that are ment for their other tank-mates. I wouldn't recomend this since live foods can carry disease ect... but just to give you an idea.. they are deffinately active hunters when hungry. My retics will also eat, and eat, and eat... particularly when they where younger.
 
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