Looking for advice please

[viper0397]

Looking for some advice please. I have 2 retics 3 and 4 years old that have really slowed down considerably on their eating. Of course they are retics so what they eat is very limited. Extremely picky eaters. I have 3 other rays in the same tank that still seem to be eating quite well. 1 retic and 2 hystrix. I feed them live earthworms, jumbo blood worms, and raw frozen shrimp.

Wondering if they are just getting bored with their food? I wish it was not so hard to get retics on other foods. I am contemplating starving them for a bit to try and get them on tilapia.

I have to admit I have not checked the water parameters, but I do have an ammonia alert in the tank and it checks good. I also have a 60gpd drip system in the tank,
My thoughts are treating with Prazi just as a precaution.

Was wondering what you all might suggest.

Thank you in advance!
Jeff

 

[Just Toby]

What filtering is on the drip system? Maybe the membranes need changing if you have some OR the water company changed their water quality I.e. Chlorine or Chloramine? Many water systems have hit nitrates, I would test the inlet water and the tank water for nitrate to compare using a quality kit not dip strips. Also test the same for ammonia as it can come in the tap water.

 

[Bigfishnut]

What filtering is on the drip system? Maybe the membranes need changing if you have some OR the water company changed their water quality I.e. Chlorine or Chloramine? Many water systems have hit nitrates, I would test the inlet water and the tank water for nitrate to compare using a quality kit not dip strips. Also test the same for ammonia as it can come in the tap water.

Always good to remember to routinely check your water supply. Things can and do change whether your on a well or municipal. Whenever I notice anything isn't right with my fish I'll start with all water params of tank and source and work my way from there.

 

[Bigfishnut]

Looking for some advice please. I have 2 retics 3 and 4 years old that have really slowed down considerably on their eating. Of course they are retics so what they eat is very limited. Extremely picky eaters. I have 3 other rays in the same tank that still seem to be eating quite well. 1 retic and 2 hystrix. I feed them live earthworms, jumbo blood worms, and raw frozen shrimp.

Wondering if they are just getting bored with their food? I wish it was not so hard to get retics on other foods. I am contemplating starving them for a bit to try and get them on tilapia.

I have to admit I have not checked the water parameters, but I do have an ammonia alert in the tank and it checks good. I also have a 60gpd drip system in the tank,
My thoughts are treating with Prazi just as a precaution.

Was wondering what you all might suggest.

Thank you in advance!
Jeff

Prazi is a great hunger stimulator, even if there are no IP's. I think that's a good plan.

 

[viper0397]

What filtering is on the drip system? Maybe the membranes need changing if you have some OR the water company changed their water quality I.e. Chlorine or Chloramine? Many water systems have hit nitrates, I would test the inlet water and the tank water for nitrate to compare using a quality kit not dip strips. Also test the same for ammonia as it can come in the tap water.

Good idea! I am using a 3 stage filter with a sediment cartridge and 2 carbon cartridges to remove chlorine. I will definitely check that. I did just replace them not that long ago, but did order another set today. But yes the water from the municipality could have changed. I'll check it out for sure.

 

[viper0397]

Top is tap water bottom is tank water before large water change. Only thing I see in the bottom is a little lower ph and high nitrates. The picture is deceiving, but I would say between 40 and 80 ppm. I guess back to the drawing board.

 

[Dieselhybrid]

My guess is some sort of stress. I have rays quit eating certain foods from time to time. I'm not sure if they just get sick of the same thing constantly, or if they feel off. I think they may have good days and bad days, just like us. I stay ready with dividers and quarantines for when someone looks like they could use a break.

Maybe do a few extra water changes. If you don't, consider keeping a journal. That really helps me know what's going on with each individual. Have they missed 2 meals or 3 meals, was their last break from feeding 3 weeks ago or 4 weeks ago. Sometimes the details get hard to remember.

Good luck! Love your stock. Keep up the good work

 

[viper0397]

My guess is some sort of stress. I have rays quit eating certain foods from time to time. I'm not sure if they just get sick of the same thing constantly, or if they feel off. I think they may have good days and bad days, just like us. I stay ready with dividers and quarantines for when someone looks like they could use a break.

Maybe do a few extra water changes. If you don't, consider keeping a journal. That really helps me know what's going on with each individual. Have they missed 2 meals or 3 meals, was their last break from feeding 3 weeks ago or 4 weeks ago. Sometimes the details get hard to remember.

Good luck! Love your stock. Keep up the good work

Thank you! I have done a 50 percent water change and added Prazi to my system. I should keep a journal.

I feed 2 times a day. The morning I feed frozen blood worms, and my male that I was concerned about will eat that. I also feed frozen raw shrimp at night. That is what my male will not touch now. My large female feeds very lazily on this now as well. I got concerned because they both used to pounce on this food. But since they both will feed on the frozen blood worms, I am starting to come to the conclusion they are both just sick of frozen raw shrimp. That kind of sucks, because retics are so hard to get on other foods.

I checked my water out of the tap to see if there was an issue there and 0 ppm amonia, 0 ppm nitrites, and 0 ppm nitrates. Checked water parameters in tank next before water change. 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites, between 40 and 80 ppm nitrates. Hard to tell with the api master test kit.

Maybe I will get lucky and the prazi will bring back their desire to eat shrimp! lol

 

[CANAMONSTER]

Do you have a drip? When did you last change your carbon?

So I had a issue lately with my rays eating very lightly to almost none. Activity did not change. A fellow hobbyist mentioned that carbon filters were only rated for so many gallons. I checked my carbon specs and only rated for 1000g which I probably ran about 5000g not knowing. I slowly turned down then off completely my drip. Drip is something I recently added only a few months now, went back to my normal water change regimen. 3 weeks later my rays are gorging on food again like it's going out of style.

I'm not certain if it was my carbon or if I was dripping to heavy but it seems it was something to do with the drip forsure.

It is said that carbon will actually release toxins after its asorbtion is full.

 

[viper0397]

Do you have a drip? When did you last change your carbon?

So I had a issue lately with my rays eating very lightly to almost none. Activity did not change. A fellow hobbyist mentioned that carbon filters were only rated for so many gallons. I checked my carbon specs and only rated for 1000g which I probably ran about 5000g not knowing. I slowly turned down then off completely my drip. Drip is something I recently added only a few months now, went back to my normal water change regimen. 3 weeks later my rays are gorging on food again like it's going out of style.

I'm not certain if it was my carbon or if I was dripping to heavy but it seems it was something to do with the drip forsure.

It is said that carbon will actually release toxins after its asorbtion is full.

I do run a drip system. I last replaced the cartridges about 6 months ago. According to a water analysis I should be able to go 9 months between cartridge changes at 75 gpd drip. I do 60 gpd. I did just get new filters though and might change them anyway. I also have chlorine test kits so I do monitor the amount of chlorine in the water.