Chewing and spitting...

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davenmandy

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Feb 1, 2012
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Rays have been eating terrible for about 2 weeks. They chew and spit, get some down, but before I would never have leftovers ever. I drip about 50 gallons per day on a 500 gallon system, so like 10% change daily. Started with shrimp, they seem to eat the smelt a bit better but still a couple leftovers, same with pellets. I've even started feeding a bit less. Biggest problem is noticeably with the shrimp. They still pounce on it and really try but eventually they give up. Any clue what could cause this? One female is divided as she pregnant, the other is a bit harassed from trying to be bred, but no reason for the male to be stressed. Am I not dripping enough to keep ph stable? Haven't tested in ages cuz i moved last November, tested a couple times and haven't had a single issue since, so I don't remember what my baseline ph would be at this house, figured it would be same as the drip. Is 50 gpd not enough?

Also do you guys ever find some batches of shrimp are "bad" in the sense that rays don't like em?
 
Ammonia and Nitrites 0, nitrate 80-100 but that's about what comes out of tap, ph around 7.5. That's what it's been the last few days, again not 100% sure what ph is usually supposed to be.
 
Ph out of the tap?

80-100 nitrate out of the tap?

Drip filters?
 
Ph out of tap is in the high range of the test kit, i can test it right now but that's what it was at my old place and my ph sat right around 7.5 in tank at the old place. I have 2 10 micron sediment carbon filters I replaced this month. No chloramine in my water. And yes my nitrates are quite high out of the tap, always was like that. I'll post tap readings and current tank readings in a second. They honestly don't show any other signs of stress, finish 90% of pellets and smelt, it's just a decrease in appetite mainly, but the shrimp is bad, like 50%. It feels a bit rubbery hence why I asked about bad batches. And I was incorrect about drip, i drip 100gpd, forgot I turned it up a few months ago.
 
Your nitrates to me seem high for rays. My tank tends to average 20, rarely above 40. I've actually lost rays when that high.
 
Ya everyone says that, and i agree they are high, but it's never ever been lower. They're used to that for last 3 years and quite fine with it. I can't do much since that's the water that comes out of my tap.
 
Ph out of tap a bit over 7.6, in tank a bit over 7.2. Posting nitrates in a minute.
 
Hmm, I drip tap water for the purpose of exchanging elevated nitrate water in tank with zero nitrate water. I suggest using the cullingan man (water delivery) weekly.
 
My tank, 0 nitrite, 20 nitrate, 0 amonia, 0 chlorine, 8.0 ph.
 
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