Ray eating issue....

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
This is the first sadly. I thought I saw him eat a piece of earthworm once. No blackworms either. If he ate anything, I would have no problem going out of my way to only feed him that to at least fatten him up before switching over. Thats why I wasnt sure if it was something physically wrong with him being able to eat. I tried looking under him when he swims up the side of the glass but nothing major that I noticed...I did see some very small red dots once but I figured it was may from rubbing across the bottom of the tank which is bare but there is still some small amounts of sand there from when I transferred my fish out of the old setup.
 
was his old tank barebottom or sand? he may be "relearning" how to eat if hes always had sand. I noticed my rays had abit of issue going from a sand tank to barebottom. the only other thing i could think of that hasn't been suggested is a stray volt in the water from some electrical equipment that might be interfearing with his senses.
 
When a ray has food underneath them and is moving the food around but not getting it too their mouth to me means they are smelling it and not liking the smell.

IMO the ray just has a loss of appetite for some reason.

I would dose with a high concentration of salt for about 3 days, if u see no little improvements then prazi also

Large fish are known to get home sick when moved. Prob just not adjusting very well


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+1+



Atleast he's checking it out, must have been a harsh acclaimtion.

Go S. Vettel #1 rb8
 
Thanks guys. I really need all advice i can get. He was in a bare bottom pond when i picked him up. I plan to add substrate but was waiting a bit but maybe ill add it sooner. When i first fed him he looked to have simply rejected the food. Now it seems like he cant eat but maybe it still is that he wont eat. I assumed he was being picky which is why i let this go so long while trying different foods. What concentration of salt do you recommended. I did try a small amount of prazi before but ill definitely try again. Youre right...the acclimation was fine until it came time to put him in. It took me 3 attempts because i was alone doing it. He didnt seem stressed and tried to eat the first time i offered him food. Ive only kept a few rays so my experience level is not high so it could be something im overlooking. I just try to observe as much as i can to assess the situation accurately. And these are the things ive observed. Ive seen first hand a ray reject food ( as the one i got from you did for weeks until he finally switched to shrimp from worms for me;)) but it seems different. I hope that im wrong and that its something i can change. Ill try everything you guys recommended and im hoping for the best. I really like the ray. Thanks again

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Correction...i think he maybe tried to eat the 2nd day instead. Sorry...i had to think back about it

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So I did a water change then tested the parameters a little bit afterwards ( I cant remember if I was told thats not the best time to test now that I think about it) I'll test again tomorrow and also do a water change as well but today this is what I got...ph-7, nitrite-0, ammonia-4! I'm surprised but not really. I have really been overfeeding to give the ray a chance to eat so that may have a huge effect on the ammonia levels. And as of the last week i'm sad to admit that I've left food in the tank about 3 times. I tried taking a video but I need to figure out how to get it on here now. Its not great, and it doesnt fully illustrate what I want you guys to see but you can see a little bit of what I mean during feeding. I'll try to post asap.
 
I'd focus more on getting rid of the ammonia at this point, and worry less about a physical inability to eat until the ammonia is in check - it's probably the stress that's causing him not to eat. You could also add some ammonia remover to the filter as a quick helper...just make sure you focus on correcting the source of the problem (not overfeeding, leaving food in, and keeping up on water changes) and not relying long term on products like the ammonia remover. It helps treat the symptom, but it won't correct the cause! :) You may want to re-evaluate your filtration, too....upping the amount of biological filtration you have on your setup will help you get your ammonia levels in check if this is a continuous problem. Good luck, and keep us updated!
 
Sure, thanks. I agree. I normally do not have an issue with my water parameters which is another reason why I did not check originally. I will get my ammonia levels back down and stop overfeeding the fish:) I was a little panicked when he would not eat so I recently resorted to some things I dont normally do. I know my credibility is a little low now haha but believe it or not I try to keep things consistent in my tank. I did not know what to do this time around so I tried a little bit of everything. I took a video last night but when I tried watching it on my computer it kept pausing. I'm going to retake the video with a video camera so that you know that I'm not crazy:) I swear the tank was "clean" before he stopped eating. I will definitely keep you posted.
 
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