water change

[Bderick67]

well.. i feed a lot.. and the ammonia is always at 0.5 or so.. and there is bubbles on the surface.. (i have stated on other thread)

I am going to try every other day on smaller %.. i just dont know if this would stress out my arowana

thanks

The W/Cs are not going to stress your aro anywhere near as much as .5ppm of ammonia. That is even worse for your ray. Looks to me like yopu need to up your filtration.

Your water parameters should be as follows, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and keep the nitrate down below 20ppm and your fish will be doing great.

 

[LiuHsi]

ya so i guess 50% every other day is in order

I am going to add another filter to step up on the bio thingy.. any recommendation for this?

 

[Bderick67]

ya so i guess 50% every other day is in order

I am going to add another filter to step up on the bio thingy.. any recommendation for this?

The filters you have should be able to do the job. Could depend on how there setup though, do you have biomax in your AC110s? How is your sump set up, do you have a wet /dry tricke or what other form offiltering does your sump do?

You mentioned that you feed heavily, is there alot of uneaten food left in the tank?

 

[LiuHsi]

ac110 has biomax and foams

w/d is pretty standard, water/drip/ pad/ bioballs then pump back to the tank, pump is 1200 gph

i have a maxijet powerhead 295 gph

food goes into the tank, then gone in 5 mins of less

 

[andsco]

I do 50% a week for my ARO and 50% every couple of days for my Discus.

 

[LiuHsi]

I am going to try to change 50% every other day... i only use prime.. do u guys use stress coat or Cycle...etc?

 

[OnTarget45]

I change 50% weekly on my 180g




OT45 did you ever test for nitrates? What level nitrates did you have only changing every 4-6 weeks?

wasn't trying to suggest he follow my routine....just telling him what works for me....I don't like to stress my aro with water changes when it's not necessary. I alway go overkill on filtration, lots of aeration and gas exchange, always have a heavily planted tank, always use Chemi-pure in my filters, and have had great luck keeping many different kinds of fish, and have bred many different kinds of fish. Never had a problem with ammonia or nitrates in an established planted tank...Guess I'm doing something right. Have had my beautiful aro for 12 years now...maybe it's just dumb luck...But hey, what do i know...only been at this for the last 20+ years...never to late to learn...

 

[Bderick67]

I would say 50% every other day is probably not necessary. I do find it hard to beleive you have that much ammonia, I would check your test kit against another to make sure. I like prime too, I do use other brands but with problems, Prime is the choice

wasn't trying to suggest he follow my routine....just telling him what works for me....I don't like to stress my aro with water changes when it's not necessary. I alway go overkill on filtration, lots of aeration and gas exchange, always have a heavily planted tank, always use Chemi-pure in my filters, and have had great luck keeping many different kinds of fish, and have bred many different kinds of fish. Never had a problem with ammonia or nitrates in an established planted tank...Guess I'm doing something right. Have had my beautiful aro for 12 years now...maybe it's just dumb luck...But hey, what do i know...only been at this for the last 20+ years...never to late to learn...

I never said you you did, I only asked two simple questions, neither of which you answered. I'm not sure why your getting defensive.

There seems to be alot of talk of keeping nitrates at low levels and the effects they may have on fish. Since you do have a aro that is twelve years old I was wondering about your methods. By listing all your fish keeping acomplishments though, I would assume you do not test for nitrates, which is fine, it's not a big deal.

Sorry for any stress I may have caused you.

 

[LiuHsi]

I think i might just feed too much... but the rays are always looking for food.

 

[OnTarget45]

didn't answer your questions because i don't test anymore unless i'm setting up a new tank...sorry if i came off defensive, hard to catch the right tone of the conversation sometimes...when i was a newbie i tested a couple of times a week....and did water changes a lot more often than i do now...still do when setting up a new tank(although its been awhile)...i've found a planted tank keeps the fish healthy and happy and the water conditions more stable, and the larger the tank the more stable it becomes over time, and the less often i have to do water changes. the plants give off O2, take care of some of the fish waste, the way it works in nature...i used to fertilize my plants but don't even have to do that anymore...and i still have anubius that flowers and java fern that grows so much i have to give it away to friends for their tanks. i think the plants help with a fish's stress level as well. i see a lot of tanks on the web that are bare and the fish look spectacular, and i guess they're easy to keep clean, but i like my setups to look and work like they do in nature...always thought that was the whole idea of setting up a tank was to re-create nature as closely as possible...i've found with an aro tank using short plants like anubius and micro swords, java fern tied to driftwood, gives them as much swimming room as possible in the middle and top of the tank. used to use large amazon swords but it seemed like my aro didn't like swimming through them...like i said, just what works for me..