annoying retic feeding issue.

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ethnics

Piranha
MFK Member
Aug 18, 2006
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SouthEast SD
am i being paranoid or what? i know i ask to many questions n i apologize but, i've had my retic for 1 month already. is it possible that she went this long without eating and could survive? or has she HAD to have eating SOMETHING atleast? i dont see how she survived this long without eating 1 thing. i haven't physically seen her eat at all. she's hella hella active all day long, always moving, always going up n down on the sides n breakin the surface. playing with my lima cat, just an always mover but! her pelvic area is gettin skinnier n skinnier every day it seems. i've offered live black worms, frozen bloodworms, a 50/50 mix of bloodworms/brine shrimp, cut up night crawlers, cut up shrimp, cut up smelt, live ghost shrimp. i don't kno what else to offer or do as it seems she is gonna starve her self to death. water is prestine. its only her and the lima in the 60gal growout n she's only about a 4" disc maybe smaller.

i feel like im jus waitin for her death or something cuz there's almost nothing i can do, or can i? i dont want this beauty to die n will go crazy if it does. i jus don't know what else to do for her :cry:
 
What does she do when you add the food?
Watch her closely & you will see her spiracles moving fast if she is feeding.
Keep trying small pieces of chopped earthworm, drop them in front of her so that she has to swim over them.
I've not had a ray yet that wouldn't eat them & once they get a taste for them you can soak other foods in worm juice to tempt her to eat them.
You could also raise the tank temp up to around 83 to speed up her metabolism :)
 
what do your water levels test at?
 
Live blackworms and bump the temp to 86 -88 degrees. Lots of air. I do not think any ray at 4 inches can go that long without eating. Is the hip bones showing?
 
TFDFish;605341; said:
Live blackworms and bump the temp to 86 -88 degrees. Lots of air. I do not think any ray at 4 inches can go that long without eating. Is the hip bones showing?


hip bones are showing. ive seen her pounce on food, jus not eat it. she swam away n the food still sits there.
 
ethnics;605766; said:
hip bones are showing. ive seen her pounce on food, jus not eat it. she swam away n the food still sits there.

I had 1 ray do that for 3 months, and it never ate, my other Retic NEVER was a prob.. but sadly once i went to school i got the phonecall.. the skinny one, finally starved, it was sad, i had no idea what to do either...Sorry bro, only advice is to make sure u watch the ray eat at the LFS before you buy it, i learnt the hard way too
 
what a shame!
Did you loose her?
Or get her eating?
 
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