Gestation, temps and results.

[skylineiz]

i thought plants stop working after lights turn off?
is this true?

good to see its working for you, but do you test the water, curious to see on what the levels are, at lights out as well.

 

[Florencebigfish]

No im talking about ammonia..it flucuates from.25 and 0. I have a LARGE filter box full of lava rock and scrubbies that water falls over top of. One filter box full of bio balls and small lava rock and my pup aquiaum that straddles the pond has a overflow on the back of it full of bio balls that a pump from the pond pumps it into that tank and back in. This pond has been up and running for two years now. The one pump for the large box pumps 1800 gallons an hour and the other pumps 950 gallons per hour. Then i have a mag 5 pumping for the pups tank. Any good ideas would be great....Thanks

FBF

 

[john C]

thanks for the info
how is the mazuri working for you. i use to feed the aquatic gel a few years ago. maybe i will have to look into it i thought shark/ ray was for saltwater

 

[keepinfish]

I wish to share the data that I have collected over the past 12 months.

My largest female, Big Mama, has produced 3 litters in the past 317 days.
In the short term I have recorded the following:

Litter 1: gestation 112 days
temp. 78 deg.
litter 6, 3 male, 3 female average size 4 3/4 inches

Litter 2: gestation 116 days
temp. 72 deg.
litter 8, 4 male, 4 female average size 4 inches

Litter 3: gestation 89 days
temp. 70 deg.
litter 5 1 male, 4 female average size 4 3/4 inches

What has changed you ask?

1) I have slowly lowered the temperature of my system in addition to heavily insulating the main tank and sump with foam board. This has cut my costs $240/yr.

2) I rely heavily upon Pothos plants and Purigen in my W/D sump.

3) I reduced my sump to 60 gallons water capacity and the main tank to 265 gallons.

4) I have done less water changes. I did 5 in the past 13 months.

5) I fed my rays a precise diet of Mazuri gel diet for rays/sharks and Nelson Silver cup sturgeon blend.

As you may have noticed, the newest litter is smaller in quantity but the quality/health of each pup is stunning. They are darker in overall coloration, have much thicker cores and definitely have more vigor than previous litters.

Questions, comments, emotional outbursts?

Respectfully,
FireMedic.

yea like vamp said, i get the same results, running in the mid 80's.. Since i have lowered my temp though. i am running mid to upper 70's.

my litters were

1st 100 days 2 pups
2nd 105 days 3 pups
3rd 101 days 4 pups
4th 104 days 3 pups

No im talking about ammonia..it flucuates from.25 and 0. I have a LARGE filter box full of lava rock and scrubbies that water falls over top of. One filter box full of bio balls and small lava rock and my pup aquiaum that straddles the pond has a overflow on the back of it full of bio balls that a pump from the pond pumps it into that tank and back in. This pond has been up and running for two years now. The one pump for the large box pumps 1800 gallons an hour and the other pumps 950 gallons per hour. Then i have a mag 5 pumping for the pups tank. Any good ideas would be great....Thanks

FBF

like Vamp said, you should not ever have ammonia... did you ever clean your bio? You do not use chlorine water in your sump do you? Water changes should be done to reduce nitrate not ammonia, if you have that something is wrong.

sorry to derail

 

[Florencebigfish]

Sorry if im taking this post off topic. No i dont clean my bio. When i do water changes its right out of the tap and then dechlor.

FBF

 

[keepinfish]

Your water straight out of the tap is not filled into your sump? That would be what I concerned with it could damage your bio if you run chlorine over your bio. It also could damage your bio if you have your filters running while you are adding water of you treat the water after it is filled

 

[FireMedic]

Update: Answers to some questions.

Big Mama is almost 17 inches (43 cm), age unknown.

I have done 5 major changes > 3/4 volume of system. I have done many minor ones < 80 gallons.

The plants are common house plants.

Mazuri is very easy to mix and store. You can tweak the exact content yourself as well. Add ingredients to cater to your rays.

Here are some additional pictures showing how the tank and Wet/Dry are insulated. Some showing the sump with plants. Some showing the nursery circuit and finally some of the adults.

There really is no topic to derail so don't sweat it. I want to stimulate thought and conversation. -FM

 

[FireMedic]

Nursery circuit and adults.

 

[omojena]

congrats on all the pups and thanks for the great info. i have a few questions for you FM:
1) what do your nitrates regularly test out at?
2) what is your ph out of the tap? im curious as to the buffering capacity in your water
3) do you feed daily? twice daily? more? less?
4) do you notice a decrease in appetite or activity in your rays with the colder temps? when i dropped my flowers to 70deg they definitely slowed down and had a MUCH decreased appetite.

thanks in advance for the info.

 

[FireMedic]

congrats on all the pups and thanks for the great info. i have a few questions for you FM:
1) what do your nitrates regularly test out at?
2) what is your ph out of the tap? im curious as to the buffering capacity in your water
3) do you feed daily? twice daily? more? less?
4) do you notice a decrease in appetite or activity in your rays with the colder temps? when i dropped my flowers to 70deg they definitely slowed down and had a MUCH decreased appetite.

thanks in advance for the info.

I apologize for the fact that I do not have any technical data concerning my nitrates or pH. I haven't tested in a long time. Crazy, I know! I will see what I can do to get some parameters measured in the next week or so.

Feeding: I have gone to a loose feeding schedule. I feed lightly twice a day for three or four days then give heavy, single feedings for one to two days. I include a 24 hour fast once a week.

Appetite and activity: Activity has slowed ever so slightly, appetite not obviously different to me yet. I do know for sure that when Big Mama is pregnant and hungry, she get ornery! She has learned that flicking the end of a return pipe gets my attention and then a feeding. She has me trained.

As a correction to my previous date I double checked my thermostat settings. They are at 70 degrees. The water in the main tank hovers near 72 degrees most of the time. There is some error obviously but no harm being done. - FM