if your going to do the Microb lift then just pour in a quarter to half the bottle and allow it to do its thing i would repeat that every couple of days but once you start that I would use the prime to neutralize the ammonia and Nitrite during that process and then do a water change a few days after the BB has stabilized so as not to get rid of the stuff your putting in.
water quality
- Thread starter steve1815
- Start date
This same thing happened to me. I highly underestimated the extreme bioload of a Ray. My tank had been cycled but only using small fish as well. When the ray came it threw my tank into a mini cycle. I used Seachem Stability and followed the directions on the bottle. I added already established media from an existing tank to my sump and continued with routine water changes. Nitrite seems to take the longest in the cycle (or this 'mini-cycle'). I would test daily and watch the Nitrites slowly drop. Adding prime and also it was suggested to me to add Salt. I used 5 to 10 ablespoons of aquarium salt. However, I did not have any ammonia. If I read you correctly you did have some. This would make me nervous. I would continue with maybe smaller water changes 10%, but I can see what people are saying about establishing the bacteria. Also, I continued to feed as usual because it seems like an active and healthy ray would be eating. I just stayed on top of the water changes constantly monitoring the levels.
Good luck. Keep us posted.
Good luck. Keep us posted.
Keep up the water changes for sure. Better to have a slightly delayed cycle than dead rays. Give it time and keep checking and changing, you will get there. Keep the feeds small and maybe once per day for the first 2 weeks and allow it time. One of the bacteria cultures is a good idea. Add a table spoon of table salt (just one for the whole tank) to help lower the toxicity of the nitrite (flamers read pete lock woods post before you disagree)
got back from my buisness trip and the rays are still alive. the nitrates are up and so are the nitrites so i added prime and added a bit more bacteria that i still have. The ammonia is back down. I think the cycle is almost done but my one quaetion is, My tank was cloudy when i came home. What would cause this?
The cloudy water is due to a bacterial bloom fed by the nitrite...a common sign of nitrite. Nitrate will read as the test kits are thrown out by the nitrite. Keep up the water changes, keep the feeds low and keep testing. If the rays look sick or gasp at the top then do a lager water change. Always use dechlorinator without fail. The table salt trick helps lessen the effects of nitrite onnthe rays.
so i added a bit of table salt to the tank one table spoon. The rays look ok they are just sitting at the bottom. Should i do a water change? should i just let the tank take its course and cycle as need be? Like i said I added bacteria and prime to the tank yesterday and my numbers are still high but i am reading nitrates now. My nitrites are still up around 3ppm and very little ammonia. Please let me know what i should do at this point.
