lost my pair :(

[festaedan]

Sorry for your loss, those where some nice rays.

 

[Mayo]

Mate that really sucks. Looks like they went through some stress before depating which must have been a deperate time for you to go through. Sorry you could not save them. Really scary when all your water perams are good but our fish are not. Don't let it put you off. Maybe a complete strip of your tank and start again?

Hi Richard. Interesting to note your comments about PH crash. I asked about this on a seperate thread and got conflictiing answers. Still makes me wonder if there is anything in particular we should be doing in our tanks to stop possible PH crashes?

Yeah im undecided on PH, i have heard that they can handle almost any ph imaginable... which doesn't surprise me considering where they come from, but others say that ph can kill them so who knows... i needa buy that book from DR richard ross.

Sorry for your loss, those where some nice rays.

thx mate yeah i loved them bigtime!

 

[tonyt]

Yes they can handle all types of ph levels , but when ph goes low, real low the bacteria in your filter slow down so after a feeding , there's going to be some kind if spike, there's many topics like this in detail , try adding a bag if crushed coral to help stabilize it


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Mayo]

Yes they can handle all types of ph levels , but when ph goes low, real low the bacteria in your filter slow down so after a feeding , there's going to be some kind if spike, there's many topics like this in detail , try adding a bag if crushed coral to help stabilize it


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

ahh i didnt know about the BB slowing down due to the PH that explains a bit, yeah ive heard from many ppl the crushed up coral in sump is best way to keep stable

 

[aquaman45]

Hi Richard. Interesting to note your comments about PH crash. I asked about this on a seperate thread and got conflictiing answers. Still makes me wonder if there is anything in particular we should be doing in our tanks to stop possible PH crashes?

I am almost sure the reason behind these deaths was a crash in Ph. The damage to the underside of the disc is typical of this, this is extreme ammonia burn caused by a breakdown of the nitrogen cycle due to the bacteria being subjected to a low Ph value. Nitrification ceases to function or at least is vastly reduced at a Ph of 5 or less, check your Kh, if this is reading low then it shows there isn't enough mineral content present in your water, crushed coral and Cockle shell is a great buffer to add to the filter, never add this to the substrate as its far too abrasive for the rays underside. My water as for some reason started to come through the tap much softer recently so I personally add bicarbonate of soda with every water change to keep my Ph just above neutral (7.0).
Because freshwater rays are heavy feeders the filters have to work much harder than say a tropical tank housing general tropical fish so if you have a low mineral content it is likely the Ph is unstable between water changes, many use the constant drip system which overcomes this.
.
Keep your chin up, these things happen to the best of us, we are all learning all the time, god I have lost some nice fish over 40 years, I have learned the hard way, its never easy when we lose fish, for some reason losing a ray hurts the most.

All the best to you!

 

[jim barry]

I am almost sure the reason behind these deaths was a crash in Ph. The damage to the underside of the disc is typical of this, this is extreme ammonia burn caused by a breakdown of the nitrogen cycle due to the bacteria being subjected to a low Ph value. Nitrification ceases to function or at least is vastly reduced at a Ph of 5 or less, check your Kh, if this is reading low then it shows there isn't enough mineral content present in your water, crushed coral and Cockle shell is a great buffer to add to the filter, never add this to the substrate as its far too abrasive for the rays underside. My water as for some reason started to come through the tap much softer recently so I personally add bicarbonate of soda with every water change to keep my Ph just above neutral (7.0).
Because freshwater rays are heavy feeders the filters have to work much harder than say a tropical tank housing general tropical fish so if you have a low mineral content it is likely the Ph is unstable between water changes, many use the constant drip system which overcomes this.

Hi Richard

I do 2 water changes a day through HMA and live in a hard water area. I have not noticed any drop in PH. Do you think i should still add some crushed coral to my sump to be on the safe side or will this actuall raise the PH even further? I am already at about 7.4 from memory.

 

[Mayo]

I am almost sure the reason behind these deaths was a crash in Ph. The damage to the underside of the disc is typical of this, this is extreme ammonia burn caused by a breakdown of the nitrogen cycle due to the bacteria being subjected to a low Ph value. Nitrification ceases to function or at least is vastly reduced at a Ph of 5 or less, check your Kh, if this is reading low then it shows there isn't enough mineral content present in your water, crushed coral and Cockle shell is a great buffer to add to the filter, never add this to the substrate as its far too abrasive for the rays underside. My water as for some reason started to come through the tap much softer recently so I personally add bicarbonate of soda with every water change to keep my Ph just above neutral (7.0).
Because freshwater rays are heavy feeders the filters have to work much harder than say a tropical tank housing general tropical fish so if you have a low mineral content it is likely the Ph is unstable between water changes, many use the constant drip system which overcomes this.
.
Keep your chin up, these things happen to the best of us, we are all learning all the time, god I have lost some nice fish over 40 years, I have learned the hard way, its never easy when we lose fish, for some reason losing a ray hurts the most.

All the best to you!

interesting info will take this on board, currently modifying sump since the deaths and adding a solo K1 tank which will triple my K1 capacity, this then frees up 1 chamber in my existing sump which i will then add some crushed coral. My 2 questions:

1: same as jim barry, if ph is allready stable at a good level will adding coral raise the level even higher?
2: is there a formula to work out how much coral to add per liter/gallon?


Also on the ammonia burn caused by PH crash, if this were the case i would have thought my cichla should of shown some signs of burns as well but they were all fine

 

[Antony]

Sorry for your loss Mayo.

Correct me if I'm wrong (highly likely!), but doesn't a lower ph change the majority of ammonia to ammonium which is not toxic to fish? So if the ph crashed and the nitrifying bacteria stopped doing their thing, would there be enough toxic ammonia to cause this?


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Antony]

Found this article which answers my question - http://www.aquaworldaquarium.com/Articles/TonyGriffitts/Ammonia.htm

So if the ph is unstable and drops to a level that stops nitrification, ammonium will build up but won't cause any fatalities. The issue is when a water change is done and increases the ph, any remaining ammonium is converted into toxic ammonia causing a potentially big spike.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[stingray keeper]

I had an issue within the last yr with my kh dropping off fast due to the Bacterial load with the rays and tank mates. Increasing the bacterial filtration and monitering and keeping kh higher solved the issue.