Water change with ray's

[Just Toby]

I agree with peter AND zoo diver, you change regularly but you change what you NEED to change, if the nitrate is low and the ph is stable then you only need to change enough to keep it that way.

I hate the idea of 90% water change. BUt if they needed it I would.

I add a 20 gal drip per day and then 25% at weekend, the nitrate never rises above 25ppm and the ph is 7.5 stable, nitrite and ammonia are not registered.

 

[J.Lake]

pete lockwood hit the nail on the head

 

[mshill90]

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.

Agreed!

I just started keeping rays a month ago (motoros)

I am not underfiltered, but I still do a 50% water change every day.

And every other tank I own gets 50% every other day.

 

[hereticlosmorte]

Agreed!

I just started keeping rays a month ago (motoros)

I am not underfiltered, but I still do a 50% water change every day.

And every other tank I own gets 50% every other day.

50% everyday could be considered overkill unless you're underfiltered.

i only need to change my water once a week. it stays at a near constant ph, and the nitrates never rise over 20.

 

[mshill90]

50% everyday could be considered overkill unless you're underfiltered.

i only need to change my water once a week. it stays at a near constant ph, and the nitrates never rise over 20.

Well, 2 motoros of 9" in a 125- I don't want to take any chances. My Nitrates are 10. And PH is always 7.6

What's wrong with overkill?

That's like running an Fx5 on a 30 gallon... it won't hurt anything.

I'm not saying that he should do the same routine I do, but we all do things differently. The rays will be in a 240 soon, so I will change my routine with them once that happens.

 

[hereticlosmorte]

Well, 2 motoros of 9" in a 125- I don't want to take any chances. My Nitrates are 10. And PH is always 7.6

What's wrong with overkill?

That's like running an Fx5 on a 30 gallon... it won't hurt anything.

I'm not saying that he should do the same routine I do, but we all do things differently. The rays will be in a 240 soon, so I will change my routine with them once that happens.

somewhat different than an fx5 on a 30g.

that fx5 is recycling the water, whereas you're adding new water.

 

[mshill90]

somewhat different than an fx5 on a 30g.

that fx5 is recycling the water, whereas you're adding new water.

I mean it's another version of overkill.

Nothing wrong with water changes every day.

To each their own.

 

[hereticlosmorte]

I mean it's another version of overkill.

Nothing wrong with water changes every day.

To each their own.

no, if you are paying a water bill, that's quite a small fortune. your decision

just so long as you don't accidentally only turn on the cold water or forget to prime. that would be brutal.

 

[mshill90]

no, if you are paying a water bill, that's quite a small fortune. your decision

just so long as you don't accidentally only turn on the cold water or forget to prime. that would be brutal.

My water bill is about $150 more times about $100 with my constant water changes. Not bad noting I have 15 running tanks, and a 1500 gallon tank.

I always drain, prime, test water. D.P.T

 

[PeteLockwood]

I don't even understand this discussion of underfiltering. Does underfiltering mean you actually don't have enough filter to stop ammonia building up so you change water to remove the ammonia? Who even does that? And logically don't you always end up with a tank full of ammonia if that's what you're doing (because any ammonia build up leads to a non-zero and incrementally rising level of ammonia unless you change 100% of the water every time)?

My water bill is, like, $45 a month. It's peanuts compared to my electric bill or gas in winter or food or shrimp or property tax.


Matt, how big are the tanks you're talking about?