Water change with ray's

[Whynot91]

What is the maximum % water change recommended for rays? Is 30% safe?

 

[PeteLockwood]

I do 80-90% changes on my WC Hystrix.

 

[keepinfish]

I do 80-90% changes on my WC Hystrix.

x2, i use to do huge 80-90% too weekly, but now i drip so it stays consistent

 

[Freshwater Tim]

30% is fine! It's all about your water paramiters. You want to keep you Nitrates as low as possible...0ppm is ideal but I have never achieved that!! When mine hits 20ppm its time for a change.

 

[J.Lake]

The more wcs you do the closer your tank water will be to tap water. Ph wise anyway. Which in turns leads to stability for the rays and less ppms of nitrates.

 

[Whynot91]

That is very surprising. I was under the impression that ray's were very sensitive to water change.

I think a 80 - 90% water change would have put any fish in shock.

 

[keepinfish]

That is very surprising. I was under the impression that ray's were very sensitive to water change.

I think a 80 - 90% water change would have put any fish in shock.

I am currently dripping 100 gallons or fresh water a day in a 210 gallon tank. Rays are doing great.
rays are actually very tough, not as delicate as some like to think. They are more sensitive to poor water conditions than anything.

over the years i have lost many fish, and hardly ever loose a ray, unless it was due to shipping error.

 

[JohnG]

I do about 25-30% water changes and then use a RO Float Valve to refill it. I don't use the RO filter anymore on my ray tanks, just use a bunch of carbon and sediment filters to make sure the waters clean, and then shrink the line down to the 1/4" RO size tubes.

By doing this I restrict the flow and can refill my tanks slowly to keep the PH stable. Takes almost 24 hours for the big pond to refill.

 

[Zoodiver]

Water change based on chemistry has proven itself for me long term. Keep it stable.
They don't NEED big waterchanges often unless you are under filtered. I've gone a month or more on tanks that didn't have issues.

 

[PeteLockwood]

That is very surprising. I was under the impression that ray's were very sensitive to water change.

I think a 80 - 90% water change would have put any fish in shock.

I would happily do a 100% water change on any tank I own. The key word here is "change". If you're doing frequent water changes, the only "change" between the old water you remove and the new water you're adding is the nitrAte and DOC reading. Admittedly there is likely to be a difference in pH if you have water with a low Kh buffer but the pH change is only relevant if you have ammonia/ammonium in the tank.

Where people come unstuck with water changes is when they don't do them very frequently so the new water is dramatically different to the old water or where the filter has crashed so there's ammonia in the tank, the new water raises the pH above 7 and the ammonia becomes toxic.

Rays don't like dirty/poisonous water, same as any other fish. Rays love water changes, same as any other fish.