Just to let you know if lowering tds is your guys only concern my rays are thriving with my tap water which is anywhere from 600-800 depending on the time of year. I've got a flower and tiger trying to breed now and have had a pregnant flower but lost it when another pregnant female killed it. I have or 20 rays and all are doing great. Are rays can adapt and do well in high tds water.
Reverse osmosis for rays
- Thread starter rudy
- Start date
I have to agree that Rays are pretty robust and not too particular about water as long as it is basically clean.
I think a lot of rays die due to the huge bio load they put on a tank when used on a filter that is not large or mature enough or at the hands of the inexperienced fish keeper...they show up a weak understanding of fish keeping very quickly.
Once the water is clean and they are well fed then they will probably breed.
I think a lot of rays die due to the huge bio load they put on a tank when used on a filter that is not large or mature enough or at the hands of the inexperienced fish keeper...they show up a weak understanding of fish keeping very quickly.
Once the water is clean and they are well fed then they will probably breed.
DB junkie;5126698; said:
I diverted the roof gutters of my house into a huge storage pool. 1/4" of rain gave me 1000 gallons of pure water pH6.5 and conductivity around 15-25uS ( all TDS meters are conductivity meters with a conversion, but conductivity is more reliable than a TDS meter) In a storm I would get up to 1000 gallons per hour
I would mechanically filter then mix this with well water to maintain a conductivity of around 150uS and age it at least 12 hours. much lower than that and the pH becomes increasingly unstable.I didn't need R/O or any chemicals, and the well has no chlorine etc in it. The new water temp would be kept at around 5 degrees lower than the pool water temp.
I would change 40-50% every other day, depending on how much water I had, on a semi-automatic system using float valves to control the pumps. I allowed the temperature to oscillate between night and day and also to drop with water changes. I also used UV and diatom filtration. The water was always crystal clear. My rays and discus bred, everything bred.
How did you filter the rain water? Sound like a good way to change water using rain water, nice soft water. Just concerned if rain water could pick up pollutants from the city atmosphere, I guess you could pass the rain water through carbon?
wing888;5129857; said:
yes, it is acid rain at 6.5, but great pH
about 100 miles drive from the city in the hills.floss filter, then pool, then vigorous aeration, carbon and UV and low heat, then to 2nd pool through a microfilter and mix with well....served to the rays etc warm
DavidW;5129953; said:yes, it is acid rain at 6.5, but great pH
floss filter, then pool, then vigorous aeration, carbon and UV and low heat, then to 2nd pool through a microfilter and mix with well....served to the rays etc warm
Awesome setup! Want to come over and set one up for my rays! Hahaha too bad im not handy like that.
DB junkie;5126110; said:
My intentions are to give them the best possible place I can provide for life. I would also be proving to myself that I know what I am doing since I have never kept rays. I honestly have no doubt I can provide them a great home. But I do want to know all I can before I take that responsibility.
I plan to setup this large tank and experiment with the system before adding any rays. I am not going to experiment with the rays. I will admit that putting the rays in the tank will be a bit different due to there bio load but I will be assuring the tank can handle the expected load the rays will deliver first. I have no doubt in the bio filter I will be building for it and I will be doing regular water changes even with the algae filter in place. I will just have to determine how often after determining the load/filter balance.
I am more than confident in my bio filter systems but I am always learning more. I always build my own bio filters because... well, I just can't buy one to my liking.
I would be more than happy to help you build a green filter for your tank/s. I am trying to spread the word, so other will experiment them selves. Only problem with spreading the word to the ray community is the fact I don't have any rays and we all know rays put a different load on any given filter system, so my experience in limited.
One good thing about experimenting with a plant filter is that it is not the only part to the filter system and it has not effect on the bio filter so you don't have to rely on it, in that if it is not big enough or doing it's job, you simply go about normal water changes to keep nitrates down. If the plant filter is working you can lessen the need for such frequent/large water changes.
My thoughts on my big tank is to use a drip system but only as much as is required to keep all the water in "perfect" condition. I like drips because I think they provide a great means of keeping the tank "consistent". Depending on the water source (it will be after I move so my water source will be changing) I may use a R/O to control TDS if needed. Where I am at now, I think an R/O unit would be very beneficial possibly needed to keep TDS in a comfortable range for rays.
I will give you a PM so we can discus further.
