Water to Acid

ChrisB · Post by **ChrisB** » 29 Nov 2004, 01:47

The Water is too acid in my aquarium with my two motoro rays and if I dont lower it they may die, Whats the best way to lower it? I was told to do 25% water changes every day for a week. Will this help? I was thinking, Why would fill the tank over and over with the same water effect it? I know that this isn't about catfish but I feel I can get the best advice on lowering the acid level in my tank from this forum because its kinda general. Thanks

Post by **Shane** » 29 Nov 2004, 01:56

Chris,
I am not sure what you mean. Do you mean lower the ammonia or lower the pH? Large volume water changes will help lower the ammonia level because ammonia is a waste product from the fish and every water change removes some. Bellevue has great water that is near neutral and very soft.
-Shane

ChrisB · Post by **ChrisB** » 29 Nov 2004, 03:57

I emailed the breeder and the reply said that rays slimcoat peels if the water is too acid, I'm not sure what they mean because the ammonia is 0 ppm and the ph is 7.0. the lower the PH the more acidic, right? will they came in water of a ph of 6.2 therefore if my water was to acid theres was much more, maybe they meant akaline?

Post by **Shane** » 29 Nov 2004, 05:40

I am not sure what the breeder meant either. Your water should be perfect for these fish (neutral and soft). My guess would be, if they are peeling, that it is from ammonia burns during shipping. Stick to a good water change regime and use stress coat with aloe. The fish should recover. Got any photos?
-Shane

Post by **Barbie** » 29 Nov 2004, 08:04

I can second that vote. Your water should be nearly ideal for the rays the way it is. Definitely do not acidify it more. My motoro didn't see the humor in the pH dropping below 6.5 even. What are your nitrite and nitrate levels? The daily partial water changes will definitely not hurt the fish in any way, and will keep the ammonia from building up and lowering the pH of your wonderfully soft water, also. Some days I think I landed on the wrong side of the mountains for this breeding endeavor of mine ;) Please post pictures of the problem if you can!

Barbie

ChrisB · Post by **ChrisB** » 30 Nov 2004, 00:13

I did another partial water change to day and use the right amount od stress coat for my tank. I'm hoping that with water changes and stresscoat they will be ok. I'm thinking that they got ammonia burn during shipping and now that there is white sand in the tank it sticks to them in certain areas. They look like shedding lizards. But today they are not as bad as they were. Sorry I dont have pics, i wish I had a digital cam.

ChrisB · Post by **ChrisB** » 30 Nov 2004, 00:14

ammona 0 nitrate 0 nitrite ???

Post by **Barbie** » 30 Nov 2004, 04:52

How long was the tank set up before you added those stingrays?

Barbie

ChrisB · Post by **ChrisB** » 30 Nov 2004, 21:24

the Tank was setup about 2 weeks ahead of time and the filter was set up with another tank early and was transferes with it biological matter. I'm still thinking ammonia burn during shipping.

Post by **Barbie** » 30 Nov 2004, 23:40

0 nitrates at this point is a sign that something isn't working correctly in your biological filtration, IMO. I'd definitely be adding some more cultured biomedia and continuing the daily water changes, if they were mine. Rays put off such a large amount of waste, things can really go south in short order with them. Good luck!

Barbie

magnum4 · Post by **magnum4** » 01 Dec 2004, 21:45

they came in water of a ph of 6.2 therefore if my water was to acid theres was much more

I take it you tested the water in the shiping bag to get a pH reading?

If so then it's unlikely that thats the actual water they are kept in by the breeder/exporter. What i mean by this is that you need to take into account the carbon dioxide expelled by the rays during shiping. That forms carbonic acid in the water and because there is only a small amount of water and air the concentration soon builds up, this is also not helped by the fact that most rays are kept in soft water with very low buffering capacity(Known as Alkalinity or KH.