Did Water Test... Do These Results Look Funky?

[Colin_T]

it depends on what species of ray it is as to whether or not the tank is too small. There are a few varieties that only get to a foot or so in diameter, in which case the tank is fine for them at that size.

 

[stray~johnny]

Tested my tap water this morning:

PH: 7.0
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0

Also did a 25% water change this morning and tested my water again:

PH: 7.0
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 40-80

Also lowered the temp to 80-82

Everything looks good except for possibly the nitrate. I would have expected to see a reduction in the nitrate reading. I would continue with water changes until you can get the nitrate down. That reading wouldn't be a factor for most fish but it could be for the ray.

Thankyou very much... I will do another water change this evening and post my readings... Like I said the ray is the most important factor here anyways.. I need to get him as healthy as I can as fast as I can, and so far he is doing exactly that... But when the parrot fish died the other day it kinda got me worried about the water readings.

it depends on what species of ray it is as to whether or not the tank is too small. There are a few varieties that only get to a foot or so in diameter, in which case the tank is fine for them at that size.

I think you are right considering this is an older ray I believe. The guy that she bought it from had 6 of these in the tank and wanted to get rid of everything so I think he farmed rays. It looks older and has some damage to the disk from another fish.. it is healing quite quickly and you can almost no longer see his ribs which when I got him was all I could see.

He looks very happy and loves burrowing in the sand with just his eyes sticking out, he loves being hand fed either brine shrimp or bloodworms, I really dont see space being an issue here as it is a 530 liter tank.

 

[Truck]

just remeber if he does get bigger, he wont be able to turn around

 

[stray~johnny]

just remeber if he does get bigger, he wont be able to turn around

I will watch this... but so far he has no problems.. if I see this then I may have to get a bigger tank although I would think a 530 liter tank would be enough for now. I watched him sun bathe under the light for a good 2 hours yesterday and his skin is so much darker and healthier, and he is eating and swimming around like crazy!

 

[waterdrop]

Cool that you're saving him from a previously worse situation.

 

[stray~johnny]

Good news! checked the nitrate level today and it was at 20 and the water is as clear as can be even after feeding.

thanks everyone.

 

[stray~johnny]

Just A question to help me understand cycling the tank.

I didn't know about cycling a tank when I got it and learned about everything here.

Now when I read my levels this morning:

ammonia: 0
PH: 7.6
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 20

Does this mean that my tank is cycled? my water readings have been pretty consistant so far.

 

[Colin_T]

it depends on how long the tank has had fish in for. If the tank has been up and running with fish in for a month or more, then yes it probably has cycled. If the tank has only been runnning for a few weeks then it probably hasn't finished yet.

Generally you get an ammonia reading for a couple of weeks. During that time the ammonia levels go up and as the good bacteria develops the levels start to come down. Once the ammonia levels come down the nitrite levels start to go up. Over a couple of weeks the nitrite levels go up and when this happens the ammonia levels should remain on 0. After the nitrite levels have been high for a week or so they will start to go down. Once this happens the nitrate levels will start to go up but it isn't worth testing for nitrates until the nitrite has gone down to 0. This is due to nitrate test kits reading nitrite as nitrate and giving you a false reading.

A basic rundown
the first couple of weeks the ammonia goes up and comes down.
when the ammonia starts to come down the nitrite goes up
the nitrite stays up for a couple of weeks before coming down.
when the nitrite levels come down the nitrate will go up.

All up it takes about 4 weeks to cycle a tank that has a temperature of 24-26C.

 

[stray~johnny]

it depends on how long the tank has had fish in for. If the tank has been up and running with fish in for a month or more, then yes it probably has cycled. If the tank has only been runnning for a few weeks then it probably hasn't finished yet.

Generally you get an ammonia reading for a couple of weeks. During that time the ammonia levels go up and as the good bacteria develops the levels start to come down. Once the ammonia levels come down the nitrite levels start to go up. Over a couple of weeks the nitrite levels go up and when this happens the ammonia levels should remain on 0. After the nitrite levels have been high for a week or so they will start to go down. Once this happens the nitrate levels will start to go up but it isn't worth testing for nitrates until the nitrite has gone down to 0. This is due to nitrate test kits reading nitrite as nitrate and giving you a false reading.

A basic rundown
the first couple of weeks the ammonia goes up and comes down.
when the ammonia starts to come down the nitrite goes up
the nitrite stays up for a couple of weeks before coming down.
when the nitrite levels come down the nitrate will go up.

All up it takes about 4 weeks to cycle a tank that has a temperature of 24-26C.

Ok so my tank should be pretty much cycled now that it has been up and running with fish in it for around a month?

 

[Colin_T]

yep sounds like it has finished its cycling process. Just monitor it over the next week or so and as long as you don't get any ammonia or nitrite readings, it can be considered cycled .

 

[stray~johnny]

yep sounds like it has finished its cycling process. Just monitor it over the next week or so and as long as you don't get any ammonia or nitrite readings, it can be considered cycled .

Awesome thank you!