lets get this retic to eat

[eddiegunks]

hey all,

i have read all the stickies and most of the threads on the 1st two pages......even with all that info the ray still wont eat. he is 3 inches.

i have only had him for 2 nights. i would feel better if he would take something. the LFS said he was eating live blackworms ( i did not witness. my bad). i have been offering him live black worms with a set of long steel tongs. i have also offered frozen shrimp/krill. he will act like he is eating the worms, he covers them with his disk, but he down not eat any. they he swims away. he is kept in a dimly lit room. dark at night.

currently i have him in a 10 gallon guarantee tank (i have a 125 grow out for him set up and ready). i put him in the 10 as i want to be sure he is eating. it also has no substrate so i can monitor him better. there is a baby silver arowana with a sack still attached swimming on the top. The aro eats dried krill, some pieces float down to the ray. no interest.

i vacuum the tank twice a day to remove any not eaten food/waste. the ray may have pooped brown/white on night 1.

API test kit. ph 7.4. Ammonia 0. Nitrites 0. Nitrates 20. 79 degrees F.

Sponge filter. In the tank filter. 15 fluval bio balls. nylon bag full of substrate. all sponges/bio balls/substrate was taken from my 2 year old tank and set up in my quarantine tank. the quarantine tank has been running for 3 weeks. i have been monitoring it daily. it has had various fish in it constantly. it gets vacuumed daily and fresh water replaced for what is removed. usually ends up being about 15-20%.

i will go buy a few earth worms today. any suggestions? tips?

how does he look?

thx

eddie

 

[spotfin]

He looks a bit thin. Keep trying the black worms, or even chopped earthwoms (really small pieces). Maybe move the arowana to a different tank if you can. Retics are a hard beginner ray.

 

[UnstoppableJayD]

Do not use the tongs - you are probably scaring him. just drop the blackworms in the tank and leave them- if they are alive and the water is clean they will live in the tank until he eats them. At 3 inches he is essentially a new born and easily stressed. watch your water quality very closely any ray will foul a 10 gallon very quickly especially if stressed.

 

[eddiegunks]

OK. Thanks. No more tongs.

I know that he will foul the water quickly. That's why I watch it very closely. I check the water 2 to 3 times a day and I am constantly doing water changes.

Should I put something in there for him to hide under? Will that make him feel a little better?

I have him in a dimly lit room it doesn't see much action during the day and it's dark at night.

When we say a little thin, is it dangerous yet?

I understand the tank is small. The issue I have is the larger tank has fish in it and I think I will lose my ability to closely monitor his eating.

Thank you

 

[jim barry]

One of the toughest first rays to own
Most importantly, was he captive bred?
If wild caught then even harder and you need to know if he has been wormed or not.
He is a little thin but I have seen worse. Two days is not long, can take a week to settle.

 

[Woefulrelic]

I'd leave him in the 10 till he eats, just stay diligent on water quality. I'd start a round of prazipro and try other foods. Earthworms and tilapia cut super thin, for young rays like this you really can't cut the food too thin. Ghost shrimp could be tried but I'm averse to feeding live.

WC rays are usually parasite ridden, prazipro or similar product like flukesolve should be used imo.

 

[eddiegunks]

WC rays are usually parasite ridden, prazipro or similar product like flukesolve should be used imo.

I called the lfs. he is wc. i added some prazipro. I hope it helps.

 

[Jesseliu13]

looks like one of the ones i picked up from absolute.. having trouble getting mine to eat as well.. its in a 125 (300 gallon top down system) with another retic and 2 pearls.

 

[eddiegunks]

looks like one of the ones i picked up from absolute.. having trouble getting mine to eat as well.. its in a 125 (300 gallon top down system) with another retic and 2 pearls.

Yup. They were tank mates i bet. How big is yours. I will let you know if i can get mine eating. Good luck.

 

[Dieselhybrid]

As mentioned earlier i would keep a constant supply of live blackworms so it can eat when it decides to. 20% daily in a 10 gallon sounds adequate, but it might not be. 10 gallon is a tiny volume that is difficult to keep stable. I've found that praziquantel can induce hunger in rays so I think it's good to deworm as it may get the appetite going. Keep testing that water 247.

I had a p14 female that arrived in terrible shape years ago. The only way I got her feeding after several weeks was to suck blackworms into a turkey baster and "spray" them under the front disc. She was fasted 3 days before shipping, then didn't eat for 18 days once I got her. 21 long days with no food, somehow she survived. Seeing as you're at day 2-3 no reason to panic yet just be consistent and remember stress is the enemy.

Good Luck!