retics loosing pigment?

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C

congodrew

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 8, 2006
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www.petsincco.com
So I have four reticulated rays that are doing great aside from the fact that they are "fading." From the outermost part of their mantel to about 3/4" the skin coloration is fading to an almost transparent grey/brown color. Now the amount of discoloration is different on every ray but always starts on the edge and creeps in. It has gotten better and worse and I am worried because lately its been getting worse. The nitrates stay below 7-10ppm and it gets a weekly, if not twice weekly 50% water change. The only thing that isnt perfect is the pH. My tap water is about 7.8-8.1 although i know the rays prefer it more neutral to slightly acidic.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Ill try and post a pic sometime soon.
THX
 
what r your other water conditions? how long have you had them? all of them doing this? if they all are theres something wrong with your water parameters! everything should read 0, ph 6.5 to nuetral. but if you had them for a while then your ph is fine, but if they are new they may have ph shock. do u use declorinate (takes out chlorine from tap water and i hope your answer is YES!) and last but not lease are they eating and what r the tankmates?
 
0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, under 10ppm nitrate.
Ive had them for almost 3 months and all of them are showing signs, some a lot more than others. Of course I'm using dechlor and theyre eating great. I mainly had them on black worms, dillies and ghost shrimp but now they are taking occasional krill and constant bloodworms and spirulina enriched brine, most of which is fed though a pipette. The majority of their diet is the black worms but i try to introduce as many new foods as possible. I soak everything over night in vitamins and garlic. I want to introduce some Hikari squid next. Tank mates are four Ctenolucius hujeta at about 5" which eat -anything- the rays kick up.
 
hmmmm, well keep up with the wc and add non iodized salt, or aquairium salt. but if they are eating thats a great sign, maybe they are supposed to change color? i honestly have never heard of the changing of colors for retics. their under bellies lighten, but thats all i've noticed with mine. they are eating and acting fine that means they probally are fine. i have no idea what those tankmates are? lol never heard of them, but if they are aggressive they may be the problem.
 
Hujeta gars... its really a type of characin and more scared of the rays than anything. And the rays arent changing color with age as some other fish will. The pigment loss creeps in a wavey defined line. One week they will have the discoloration and then it recedes back to the edge of the mantel almost disappearing. Anyway, im going to try to post a picture.
 
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