theres almost no way you have zero nitrates. NitrITE should be zero, not your nitrates. Especially with a crap factory like a ray. you only need stability until the tank is cycled. if you are showing ammo or nitrite in any amount then you aren't cycled or crashed the tank with the addition of the ray.
Sick motoro stingray
- Thread starter Stingergirl88
- Start date
Ok, maybe I'm not explaining this correctly. I don't believe the issue is the tank not being cycled. This isn't my first aquarium and I have pretty extensive knowledge on how to manage water quality and cycle a tank. The tank cycled for exactly 3 1/2 weeks with stability before the ray going in. I've continued to use stability with every water change, every day. I don't use ammo lock every day, it's there for worse case scenario emergency or I have reason to believe I need another protective measure at that exact moment..(the bottle is still full). I keep his tank clean, any solids are removed quickly. During the first week of having the ray my nitrate and ammonia never left the safe zone, but did slightly fluctuate. It's been 3 additional weeks and there has been no detection of of ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate. I use an API freshwater test kit and strips to double check. The ray was acting fine. A week ago I noticed white fungus on his barb, I called the place I got it from and they recommended pimafix. They told me fungus on the barb was a common issue. That seemed to work, the fungus went away in less than a day and since has shed his barb. However, he is hanging out a lot more by the filter and I'm a little concerned by that action. He still swims around, clings to the side of the tank, and begs for food. The tank has ample aeration. It just seems odd, I did move the pump recently and that was when he started hanging around it. Has anyone else has this similar issue?
Stingergirl88 - In my experience three and a half weeks is not really long enough to effectively cycle a tank for rays. Especially if all you have been doing is adding stability to your tank during the cycling process (and there after)? It is my understanding that these products contain nitrifying bacteria (I have never felt the need to use them), what are these bacteria feeding off in a freshly set up tank with no ammonia source? What would be the difference between adding a cap full every few days for 3 weeks and just dumping the whole lot in at one go? Not a whole heap.
You are much better of doing it 'old school' - seed your filter with some media from another filter, and add an ammonia source and test water to watch ammo drop, becoming converted to nitrite -> nitrate. Then add more ammonia and repeat the process until you are happy that ammo is being effectively converted. There is absolutely no way that your tank should have no nitrate, if properly cycled with a ray in it. It is that simple. If there was ammonia present (and there will be with a feeding ray) where is it going, it doesn't evaporate, and nitrite and nitrate are 0?
At the end of the day your ray is feeding so that is a great sign, I just simply don't rate the way you have cycled your tank (my opinion/experience), and your water readings would affirm this as strange as they are. Granted you have experience with fish in the past, but rays are a 'different kettle of fish', they produce far more waste than the average keeper would appreciate and can be very sensitive to poor water quality (especially at a young age and in a new environment). Take it as a learning curve, don't keep rays in very new tanks (3 weeks worth of cycling with an off the shelf bottle is not sufficient).
I can't help too much with the treatment of fungus - we have different medications in Aus and I have never had a ray infected with fungus. For the store to say that it is a common issue is not really great either, if properly cared for I wouldn't say it is common for rays to be affected by fungus.
Good luck with your ray.
You are much better of doing it 'old school' - seed your filter with some media from another filter, and add an ammonia source and test water to watch ammo drop, becoming converted to nitrite -> nitrate. Then add more ammonia and repeat the process until you are happy that ammo is being effectively converted. There is absolutely no way that your tank should have no nitrate, if properly cycled with a ray in it. It is that simple. If there was ammonia present (and there will be with a feeding ray) where is it going, it doesn't evaporate, and nitrite and nitrate are 0?
At the end of the day your ray is feeding so that is a great sign, I just simply don't rate the way you have cycled your tank (my opinion/experience), and your water readings would affirm this as strange as they are. Granted you have experience with fish in the past, but rays are a 'different kettle of fish', they produce far more waste than the average keeper would appreciate and can be very sensitive to poor water quality (especially at a young age and in a new environment). Take it as a learning curve, don't keep rays in very new tanks (3 weeks worth of cycling with an off the shelf bottle is not sufficient).
I can't help too much with the treatment of fungus - we have different medications in Aus and I have never had a ray infected with fungus. For the store to say that it is a common issue is not really great either, if properly cared for I wouldn't say it is common for rays to be affected by fungus.
Good luck with your ray.
No nitrates, not cycled period. Even if it started to cycle in 3 weeks which is short amount of time as soon as you put that ray in with in a couple days it would start to cycle again as it probably didn't have enough established beneficial bacteria to keep up with the bio load.
I would say a 6 inch ray would be equivalent to 4 large Oscars
I would say a 6 inch ray would be equivalent to 4 large Oscars
Well guppies do have a smaller bio load than a Ray. I guess you didn't create enough bb
Also comparing a rays bio load to a guppies is like comparing a watermelon to a small blueberry I guess?
The reason I asked about the test kit is many people get screwy readings with test strips...it's good you are using API test kit, I don't trust any other kit. Another common mistake is that test solution #2 doesnt get shaken long or hard enough. You really gotta shake the hell out of it for 30+ seconds to mix the solids in nitrate test solution #2, then be sure to shake the test tube for a solid minute. Let it stand for 5 minutes before checking against the chart. A zero nitrate reading in a cycled ray tank is absolutely impossible. My rays get huge waterchanges plus a drip system changing out 60+ gallons a day and my nitrates are still in the red!
Don't be frustrated that all these questions imply that your a novice fish keeper...we have to cover all the basics to help you figure out what's going on with your ray. It's a painful process of elimination!!
Don't be frustrated that all these questions imply that your a novice fish keeper...we have to cover all the basics to help you figure out what's going on with your ray. It's a painful process of elimination!!
