PLEASE Help, Ray Won't Eat

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Hi Matt. Thanks for all the info. Very informative.

Totroc, you may have been on to something with feeding late as he was buried all day and he came out and swam around at 1 am. Matt, I think you may be right as well, as he has had a readily available food source and may just not be hungry as much. Although I have kept fish forever, I am still a little cautious as I am new to rays and believe in addressing concerns before they become issues, so to speak. I'm still concerned that even when he seems hungry he has a hard time finding the food. Any suggestions in that arena?

Thanks again for all the helpful information! I will keep you all posted.
 
Depends on what you are defining as 'seems hungry'. Rays become very interactive and almost social. You'll see that he'll get excited and swim all over when you are near the tank. Doesn't always mean hungry. I've also seen several rays 'play'. By this I mean they'll push around certain rocks or move sand with no reason. Some will even play in bubbles.

If there is food in the tank, the ray will find it when he needs to.
 
Matt- when "Max" (as we call him) "acts" hungry, he'll go around the tank and arch up and sift the sand seeming to hunt for food. Almost frantic at times.
Good to know they like to interact and play, that may be part of it.

What quantity and frequency do you feed? I'm beginning to think that is the issue.
 
What temp is your tank running. I'd feed once a day - couple of shrimp or cut up squid/clam/muscle (or whatever you are feeding). Give him enough that he stops eating. You'll have to play with it over a couple of days.
 
Thank you. That's exactly what we feed, but glad to know that's average. We run temp around 72*.

We just tried some frozen krill cubes and he (pretty sure Max is a she though) happily ate just now. He looks a little skinny, but hopefully he is back to his old self again. Thanks for all the help everyone. I'm glad it didn't end up being serious.
 
He vs she is easy to see. When "it" comes up along the glass and you get a good look, males have claspers (pair of small finger like projections) at the base of the tail by the pelvic fins.
 
Yes, ironically enough I must have hurt his feelings because right after I posted the last comment and told my husband Max might be a girl, he came right up to the front glass and let us know that he was in fact a he. (Sorry Max)
 
What do you have for substrate?
 
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