The beginning of the end? Raykeepers nightmare.

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Clearwater guy said:
1 whole 40lb solar salt bag per 1000g... and I just weighed and verified your measurement of 1.75 cup per lb.


Mike
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holy crap..thats alot of salt

just curious (i havent read everyones replys so this may have come up) since you have a drip system, do you trust this water thats being dripped as in run it through carbon filters or anything? you sometimes hear of water companys flushing and treating their systems.super chlorinating.could they have done something while you were on vacation?

all the best al, hope everything turns out alright for you.
 
DB - sorry to hear about your problems with the rays. I may be able to help you. I had the same problem with rays and Discus. I was told by an importer that alot of times discus can get and carry bacterial infections (heximita being one of them). The bacteria causes secondary infections (parasites etc in the water) that would normally not affect the fish when they are healthy enough to fight off. Once they become weakened by the bacterial infection, then the secondary infections get the best of them. Same concept of the cold bacteria going around in humans- its always there and we usually don't succumb to it until we are weakened / stressed by other things. Just like humans, some can shake it off and other it just seem to hang in there. Until you treat for the bacterial infection, it will appear that the Prazi treatment is not working as it does not kill bacteria.

I am at the library with my kids right now, but I think I used metronidiazole to treat my rays with and they came around and started eating again. I will check once I get back home and PM you. My rays turned around within the week and started eating again. Once they regained their strength, I treated with Prazi. Used the medication even on 2 pups a couple of months old and didn't lose any rays. The advice was given to me by the importer that suffered several losses with imported rays until he heard about and tried the bacterial medication.

I ditched all the discus and never kept another one since. BTW Angel fish are know to be carriers as well.

I would suggest trying to keep the water parameter as constant as possible and maybe cover the tank with a blanket to calm them down.

Good Luck man.

I
 
cjfrontlovr said:
holy crap..thats alot of salt

just curious (i havent read everyones replys so this may have come up) since you have a drip system, do you trust this water thats being dripped as in run it through carbon filters or anything? you sometimes hear of water companys flushing and treating their systems.super chlorinating.could they have done something while you were on vacation?

all the best al, hope everything turns out alright for you.
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Water runs through 2 carbon filters. Water department here has never used chloramine and has no plans to. I live in the sticks. Population here is 8K.
I have a great relationship with my water department as I'm a valued customer lol, not many residentials here with 15K+ gallon water bills. One of the guys down there breeds cichlids. We discussed fish randomly over a conversation about the town's PH. :)
 
Sorry guys - I should have mentioned that a cold is a virus and not a bacteria but the same principle applies. Healthy people don't get sick until something happens to weaken their immune system and then they are more likely to come down with a sickness - whether short term or prolonged.

The medication is Metronidiazole made by Seachem. It is for the treatment of protozoan and anaerobic bacterial diseases. Does not affect fillter bed and easily removed with Carbon. Comes is a small vial that treats 1000 - 2000 litres (250 to 500 gallons). Repeat every 2 days until symptoms disappear. I bought mine at Big Als.

If it is an internal bacterial infection, Prazi Pro, massive water changes or a UV steralizer won't do the trick - unless you pass your ray through it! LOL
 
I just got on here and started reading this thread and man I am sorry to hear this happen to such a passionate ray keeper. Incoming water could be the culprit. I know you suspected this when your tank had it's first melt down and zero died. The water company might not have changed anything but the lack of rain or even too much rain coupled with whatever the farmers might be putting on the ground this time of year could change the water quality. Maybe more minerals are in the water like copper. Maybe RO is in your future? What time of the year was it when Zero died?
 
Zero didn't have a drip. He may have been damaged goods from day one. he put on like an inch and a half over the couple years I had him.

IF it was water I would think the pups that are a little over 2 months old would have been the first ones to show symptoms. They don't recieve near as much drip water but they still get some every few days. They're doing great.
 
Al... I recommend getting an E.C> meter...a nice and easy one is the Blue-Lab Truncheon that is sold in hydroponic stores for testing nutrient solutions...

I quit checking ANYthing other than E.C. on my system...my tapwater has an E.C. of 0.8 I was testing Ammonia like crazy and ignoring other tests until finally one day I came across my old truncheon and dipped it in there after I had lost 2 rays... The E.C. at that point was 2.2-2.4..YIKES... so it doesn't even MATTER what it was, the water had too much stuff in it...

Now I have been monitoring the E.C. on a regular basis...I have been keeping it around 1.2-1.4 including just a tad bit of salt with each water change.

I do not know what the E.C. would be with a full salt dose...I havn't done that in a while...but it would be easy to stop the dripper, add the appropriate amount of salt and measure the E.C. once it has a chance to fully mix in a couple hours...after that...just keep adding back salt as the E.C. drops with your drip...

It also is a perfect way to regulate your drip... it may take more or you could get by with less...just compare system E.C. to sourcewater E.C.

Mike
 
Clearwater guy said:
Al... I recommend getting an E.C> meter...a nice and easy one is the Blue-Lab Truncheon that is sold in hydroponic stores for testing nutrient solutions...

I quit checking ANYthing other than E.C. on my system...my tapwater has an E.C. of 0.8 I was testing Ammonia like crazy and ignoring other tests until finally one day I came across my old truncheon and dipped it in there after I had lost 2 rays... The E.C. at that point was 2.2-2.4..YIKES... so it doesn't even MATTER what it was, the water had too much stuff in it...

Now I have been monitoring the E.C. on a regular basis...I have been keeping it around 1.2-1.4 including just a tad bit of salt with each water change.

I do not know what the E.C. would be with a full salt dose...I havn't done that in a while...but it would be easy to stop the dripper, add the appropriate amount of salt and measure the E.C. once it has a chance to fully mix in a couple hours...after that...just keep adding back salt as the E.C. drops with your drip...

It also is a perfect way to regulate your drip... it may take more or you could get by with less...just compare system E.C. to sourcewater E.C.

Mike
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Can you elaborate on E.C? What does this stand for? Electrolyte conductivity? LOL Something to do with conductivity I'm assuming?
 
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