I saw something that unnerved me a little tonight. The insides of the spiracles on both of our rays were red in color; with the camera I currently have available I was unable to capture a picture that showed what I was talking about. What would cause the insides (behind their "flaps", the mechanisms that open and close to control the flow of water to the gills from the spiracles) of a ray's head to be abnormally red? The first couple of times I saw it, I figured it was a play of the light or something. I continued to observe, and sure enough both of my rays are like this.
Has anyone else ever encountered this issue before? I've never seen anything like it.
Update: Water params are perfect, and the temp is a golden, steady 82F. The tank is completely covered up with blankets, and the rays are receiving as much food as they can eat. The male (Thadeus) was eating weakly during the last few feedings; Tabitha (the female) refused food to the point of spitting it out when a worm was crawling into her mouth (as I was viewing them from underneath the bare bottomed tank), although she might have already eaten her fill in between feedings while I wasn't observing her.
P.S.- If any new ray keepers are reading this, never use medication before double checking, even if another ray keeper recommends it unless you really trust them. Hopefully the rays will make a full (and swift!) recovery, and we were lucky to get some good advice and have time to act quickly on it- but it might not always work out that way. FlukeTabs have wreaked hell on our two rays, and this sucks beyond all reason.
Has anyone else ever encountered this issue before? I've never seen anything like it.
Update: Water params are perfect, and the temp is a golden, steady 82F. The tank is completely covered up with blankets, and the rays are receiving as much food as they can eat. The male (Thadeus) was eating weakly during the last few feedings; Tabitha (the female) refused food to the point of spitting it out when a worm was crawling into her mouth (as I was viewing them from underneath the bare bottomed tank), although she might have already eaten her fill in between feedings while I wasn't observing her.
P.S.- If any new ray keepers are reading this, never use medication before double checking, even if another ray keeper recommends it unless you really trust them. Hopefully the rays will make a full (and swift!) recovery, and we were lucky to get some good advice and have time to act quickly on it- but it might not always work out that way. FlukeTabs have wreaked hell on our two rays, and this sucks beyond all reason.
