Odd behavior?

[gutterflower]

Just changed the water in my tank this morning, added the de-chlorinating agent etc. Transferred my other fish first, they were ok after twenty minutes of monitoring, so then i added the ray. He just went to the bottom and stay there raised up on the edges of his disk, is that normal behavior after a water change? The water temp of the tank was just one degree lower than the water where i kept him while doing the change. Also i noticed these two spots to the front of his disk, where there are these tiny bumps in patches, is that something i should be concerned about?
It's my first ray and i know i probably sound like a true novice (which i probably am), but i just want to be sure that everything is ok with him.

 

[ShadowStryder]

You say you just transferred the other fish and then the ray, is that meaning this is a new setup? Is the setup cycled? Was the ray transferred from another setup with sand? Was it eating well before the transfer. Give it time to settle in.
As for as the bumps and patches don't worry about them, I have seen them on rays before and either disappear or are more of an aesthetic thing.

 

[gutterflower]

I have this guy about two months now, he was in the same tank same set up no sand. I took some water out kept him and the other fish in a big bucket i bought for water changes. Cleaned the aquarium, emptied the water, changed the filter media etc. Tank was refilled with water from one of our tanks outback, the water would have already been settled in the tank a few days, but still added a little de-chlorinating agent just in-case. Left it with filters running for about an hour, before i added the fish. They were ok after twenty minutes, so added ray. He is actually moving about now though, so i guess i over reacted a bit there, lol
For future reference though, how long do you suggest the tank be cycled for before adding the fish?

 

[ShadowStryder]

You shouldn't change all the water in the tank, only appx 40-50 %. Leave the fish in the setup while changing water and cleaning. Just add dechlorinator to setup when adding fresh water. No need to remove the fish all you are doing is stressing them out. Never clean your filtration while doing water changes. Filtration only needs to be cleaned occasionally. Not every time you do a water change.
Tank usually cycles within 4-6 weeks if not using something to seed from another setup. You should only have to cycle on the initial setup of the system. To know if it is fully cycled you should do testing for ammonia and nitrites which will peak right before it cycles then drop down to zero when it is cycled. Doing it the way you are doing the system is having to recycle every time you do a water change. Also when cleaning filtration media just rinse it out in a bucket of the tank water so the chlorine in the tap water doesn't kill off your Biological Bacteria. (Good Bacteria) Which again will cause your setup to go through a new cycle.

 

[gutterflower]

Ok, i thought that if i rinsed out or changed the filtration media, but left the drift wood etc in the tank without washing it out that it would be ok. Learned something knew, thankx man.

 

[scott s]

Great lesson. When I was growing up, I remember every time my dad did a water change (about once ea. six mo.) all the fish would go in a bucket, all water out of tank, and rocks rinsed thoroughly. Poor fish the tank probably cycled every time. Dont remember how many fish he replaced.

 

[eklikewhoa]

Great lesson. When I was growing up, I remember every time my dad did a water change (about once ea. six mo.) all the fish would go in a bucket, all water out of tank, and rocks rinsed thoroughly. Poor fish the tank probably cycled every time. Dont remember how many fish he replaced.

Not to knock it but growing up we did the same and never seen fish as healthy when I think back to it, some of the nicest and biggest fish I've seen.
Think it all depends.

 

[ShadowStryder]

Not to knock it but growing up we did the same and never seen fish as healthy when I think back to it, some of the nicest and biggest fish I've seen.
Think it all depends.

Yep, back in the mid 80's to late 90's my idea of a water change was to just top of the tank and do a water change once a month if that.