Water Conundrum

[vamptrev]

How did you find out that your filters need changing?

i found out that the way i calculated the life of my filters was totally wrong.

i talked to someone that had the same exact problem b4. i switched the filters and used de-chlor and they started getting better that night.

this went on for about a week b4 i found out what was wrong, in this week i never had one bit of ammonia.

my first thought when i read the thread was: with growing rays, there wasnt enough media in the first place. (just a thought)

 

[Dracofish]

Tested ammonia this morning and IT'S CLEAN!!! Thank you Bio Spira! I could only afford a 90gal treatment but that must have been enough to jump start the colonization. My babies are very hungry so I will feed a bit this afternoon and do a water change afterwards.
I've learned my lesson...I will forever and always use conditioner...you never know when the water company will nuke the supply with more chemicals.

 

[Dracofish]

my first thought when i read the thread was: with growing rays, there wasnt enough media in the first place. (just a thought)

They are 5 year old wild caught Leos that are reaching sexual maturity (since I've had them that long I must be doing at least something right). And the previous amount of bio-filtration was enough. I didn't say wasn't. I've never had ammonia problems in the past with the amount of filtration I have in correlation with my feeding and water change schedule.

The tank is a 72 x 24 x 17 Glasscages that will be upgraded to a 96 x 48 ASAP. The tank is currently filtered by 3 Filstar XP3's filled with a combination of bio-medias including Eheim Ehfi Substrat, Eheim Substrat Pro, Seachem Matrix, Fluval bio-media, and lava rock. The media is never "washed." The only part of the filter that is washed are the mechanical pads.

 

[oscarluvr]

Be careful gal-
I just lost some major stock with a water change awhile back.....
Test that tap water again just to be safe...

i agree on that they have put enough ammonia in our tap water that you can actually smell it when you turn it on, btw how old is your test solution?

 

[Dracofish]

Just wanted to update...all is well! I fed last night and did a water change a short while after. Checked the levels this morning and the filtration is maintaining! I will do another water change tonight and checkup tomorrow and if all is well again I will try going a couple days before doing another water change.

 

[tank125]

Glad to here things are back to normal!

I have a friend that works for water company in my area. I asked him about if they ever change what they put in the water. He said that they NEVER do, it is all a myth. BUT, if they are woriking on the lines they will SHOCK with chlorine b/c they had exposed the line to the air. But as far as changing concentrations of chemicals for seasons, he said that there is no truth to that. This is at least in my area. It can be different elsewhere. I just met a lot of people blaming the supply in my area, so I did some investigating at that time.

 

[vamptrev]

Glad to here things are back to normal!

I have a friend that works for water company in my area. I asked him about if they ever change what they put in the water. He said that they NEVER do, it is all a myth. BUT, if they are woriking on the lines they will SHOCK with chlorine b/c they had exposed the line to the air. But as far as changing concentrations of chemicals for seasons, he said that there is no truth to that. This is at least in my area. It can be different elsewhere. I just met a lot of people blaming the supply in my area, so I did some investigating at that time.

good to know. i think this has been on alot of peoples minds lately.

 

[csx4236]

In my area they do change the chlorine levels during the summer and depending on how hot it is to kill bacteria. When I called my water company they told me the same thing we don't change the levels ever. Well after testing the chlorine everyday for 2 months it went from .5 to 5.0 on numerous occasions. It's a good idea to go buy a cheap chlorine test kit for your pool from a pool supply store and see whats going on during those long hot heat streaks in summer time. How big are your leo? For a 5 year old fish they almost have to be mature by that age. We just had 6 leo all around 20" and three years old wild imports start breeding in the same month so 3 years old seems to be the age. It might be your tank size that is holding them back. Or you might need to add another male, I have seen this many times were just having one male does not get the job done, Seems you might need to get the competition going. Good luck

 

[tank125]

In my area they do change the chlorine levels during the summer and depending on how hot it is to kill bacteria. When I called my water company they told me the same thing we don't change the levels ever. Well after testing the chlorine everyday for 2 months it went from .5 to 5.0 on numerous occasions. It's a good idea to go buy a cheap chlorine test kit for your pool from a pool supply store and see whats going on during those long hot heat streaks in summer time. How big are your leo? For a 5 year old fish they almost have to be mature by that age. We just had 6 leo all around 20" and three years old wild imports start breeding in the same month so 3 years old seems to be the age. It might be your tank size that is holding them back. Or you might need to add another male, I have seen this many times were just having one male does not get the job done, Seems you might need to get the competition going. Good luck

Have you ever seen males of a different species be the motivating factor, or just from the same species?

 

[Nic]

Have you ever seen males of a different species be the motivating factor, or just from the same species?

pearl male got some action going with his leos....