Male Leo not eating and acting not like usual

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7.5. Lowest I've had read in my tank was 6, only once when i first got them and didnt change my water for a week, but usually sits right at 6.5.


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Rays are pretty hardy, I almost guarantee it's not parasites , a low ph will cause the bio filter to work at a factor of 10x from 6 to 7 ph, that's what's stressing it. It will eat when the water is stable , try adding a small bag of crushed coral in the filter


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Your tank should be stable at 7.5 if your tap is 7.5 or you tap needs to be 6.5 when u add it to the 6.5 tank

Your ph is dropping because your not changing your water enough or your water simply cannot hold a steady ph. You need to figure out how to keep it stable. Every time your doing a waterchange your tank is bouncing around anywhere between 6.5 and 7.5 stressing the ray. He may have stressed and now have a fluke problem but stress is the cause.

I would guess that by adding the other ray it added to your bio load and is causing your ph to drop faster


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Maybe get someone to buffer out the ph and raise it.
My ph reads 7.6 out of the tap and has always read 7.6 in my fw tanks no matter what. We're in the same area so not sure why yours keep dropping. I'd add a bag of crushed coral like suggested above.
Also lots of stores in the area open from 9am to 9pm to pick up a kit. Test strips are far from accurate.



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So hypothetically if I just need to stabilize the ph, if I just changed less water, say no more than 20%, but did it twice as frequently, so less new water with the different ph goes into the tank, would that reduce the fluctuation range and thus not stress the ray out as much? My thinking is if majority 80% sits at 6.5 and I don't change as much then it won't raise as much, or am I wrong? Would my nitrates and ammonia start raising with less water being removed each time? And would removing less cause it to drop even lower?

Now the other thing on my my mind is if this is actually a ph issue from a difference between my tap water and what my tank likes to sit at, how come a) no other fish including 3 other rays have been effected, b) he was fine for a good 2-3 months before this issue came about with the same wc schedule, and c) he got better and more active a day after a water change that included adding prazi both times, which would have been a bad day for ph fluctuation no?

Also, could someone explain in more detail what crushed coral will do exactly and how much do I add and such? I'm willing to try if that stabilizes it for sure.


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Fed a smelt right now. He went for them as usual, showed interest, but my two teacups showed up and ate the larger portion and the Leo just left. He used to easily outcompete the teacups, never had any issues feeding, but now I'm not so sure. With the way my tank is braced at the top being acrylic a divider doesn't seem easily doable. Once again he used to eat with all the rays no problem come feeding time, so what I'm confused about is whether him leaving the feeding area when the other rays show up is the cause of his stress or just an effect of whatever is bothering him considering it not being an issue before. Not like there isn't enough food for him. Starting to look like he's gonna go to the smaller tank unfortunately, but if its an issue with other fish bothering him how would I ever be able to introduce him back to the big tank in the short time hell outgrow the 75 gal, seems like he'd just get his food stolen again and he'd just get stressed. From what the original owner told me (cheon) is that he was in a tank with a whole bunch of other rays that were bigger than himself and he was always first to eat and last to leave not leaving food for the other rays (just like he was at first in my tank).


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Its almost certainly an ammonia spike at some point that is throwing him off. Below 6 causes your beneficial bacteria to go dormant and stop reproducing which would cause a mini cycle and ammonia spike. I am not sure the ammonia would even still be present if you tested for it at this point. Keep an eye out for a possible Nitrite spike which may or may not be large enough to show up on the strips, aquarium salt will help to lessen the effects of nitrite on your fish if this becomes a problem.

We all have busy lives I am lucky that one of my two jobs is part time at my lfs so fish supplies is the last of my problems

Just my two cents, I would not move him to the 75 unless the water chemistry is identical and you can do it with little to no stress. Going from 6-6.5 ph to 7.5 and the stress from the move could be very bad

Best of luck to you, I hope you can get him sorted out

EDIT: Also you said that the other fish including the cats stopped eating at one point I would guess that was the peak of your ammonia spike
 
Tested water this morning, nitrate up to 40ppm, rest same. The Leo came to the feeding area, found the smelt right away, took a small pieces away and chewed and chewed on it for 3 minutes till he stripped all the flesh off then he spit the remaining out. Then he came back for another piece and repeated the same routine. The pieces are for sure small enough for his mouth. He just chews them to shreds and spits the remains out, wonder what that means. Watching my female Leo do it too but she's far and fed already so she's probably just being greedy. The male Leo is now puffing up like he used to when he fed, visibly goes for the smelt, ignores shrimp, didn't think he got a chance at a work so I'm gonna drop one to him. He used to love shrimp.

He for sure went for the worm, is fighting against it now, had to run away with it cuz the male teacup wanted it so bad it kept trying to steal it. Still struggling to get it down but is this progress, and what should I do next?


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The crushed coral will dissolve with the low pH (acid like conditions) causing it to go back up gradually , just add a 16 ounce bag for now. The bacteria Does not breakdown ammonia when ph is low. Nitrates are not the problem , they can handle well over 100 ppm


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