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That is what I would thing got to it. Something got in from that. All it takes is one the size of a dime or less and it could destroy everything. The pond has enough volume to disperse the concentration to the others but if the ray ingested it some how it would get taken out. Rays are also hyper sensitive to things like that, they even vary in specimens as to tolerance for different things. That one could have been more sensitive to whatever got in then the others and it killed it. The other two may have been a bit stressed but acted fine. The only way they have to clear their systems is to 'sweat it out' thus the slime coat. Much like big cats, but big cats revert to vomiting before anything else in most cases. My limas will shed slime coat if something is not right. They shed copious amounts also. Found this out with my bad prime experiences. Now I test all new dechlors on their tank first. That way I can see right away if something is not right before it gets into my aros or rays. The cats can handle it better and tell you right a way. I always leave enough of the last bottle to do a few changes on the trial tank if need be.

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Best theory I've heard so far other then the obviouse freak bacterial/viral/fungal attack which either one I will never prolly know.
 
It also could have just died. No rhyme or reason. Rays can and do just die randomly. A friend of mine has high quality everything and he looses some rays to random unexplained deaths from time to time. Ray is fine and eating well yesterday, today dead. Doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

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Jinxed.... :swear:.... and no nobody has died ... lol. But the pool did spring a bad leak over-night... we had a very tiny leak this last week that started and we haven't ben able to find it.. well this am when Justin went down stairs there is a few gallons on the floor... i'm guessing its leaking almost 1/2 a gallon an hour atm... we're draining the pool as low as we can to check for leaks along the base to patch. Anyone have any suggestions for safe way to find the leak other then go over it w/ a fine toothed comb once its low enough to pull up the edges? ( I'm hoping with 1' or less of water we'll be able to lift and spot the leak better then compleatly draining.)

I've got a bunch of totes and the old 56 ready to hold fish for the day if need be... but I'm hoping we can leave everyone in. If I do i'm pulling out the measuring tape! :angryfire so I get some satisfaction from having to do this.
 
3's.. everything happens in 3's.... so water still tests fine 0-0-20ppm or less... now the smaller trop has a cloudy eye.. I'm thinking its whatever killed the ray... since he was fine 2 days ago and yesterday we didn't notice anything.. today its very noticeable.

Is Kanamycin sulfate safe for gar? I don't want to go w/ the salt route and just hide the disease for some reason my gut tells me this is something systemic and far more dangerous then just an abraision ect getting infected. But something that needs anti-biotics... I've been dealing with this now in our 2 main tanks that get heavy water changes so i'm thinking it came in with our water. just random deaths w/ fish appearing fine on day then horribly "infected" the next. I've ruled out everything I can since both tanks are on different water change equipment ect. so cross contamination is unlikely. I have the seachem brand and says to mix 1 scoop w/ 1tablespoon of food and mix... so I was going to soak some smelt in a scoop or 2 and feed it out to everyone. Its cautioned not to OD as it can lead to kidney failure ect so at that rate I would be underdosing it to begin with.
 
What declhlor are you using? That could be the issue. I had a few problems with some prime and nutrifin. They got cloudy eyes and had some fungus from that. Same story also on random deaths.

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I actually think it's our source water or even our pipes... the water conditioner I use is aquasafe plus and have used it mainly the past few years ( btw looove it) I've gone threw a few bottles lately and the only thing that's changed is all the rain/heat we've been getting around here lately... our waterlines are over 50yrs old and when I run them I will sometimes get rusty water the first few seconds. I always run it a good 30sec to a minute before using. And they are the next thing on the long list of household "upgrades" to get done for this reason and others.

The Kanamycin has so far worked really well.. I soaked a dozen smelt in 3 scoops and a few tablespoons of water overnight and fed them the next am... by night the Trops eye looked much better. I have waited 2 days now to see how they handled it and plan on soaking more tonight and feeding them tomorrow. The eye looks better but you can see the hazing is still def there. I also plan on injecting a few night crawlers with a low dose and feeding to the rays as a preventative. Since it seems to be working well I will do one more 3 day dose/feed and go from there. not a fan of super bugs or over medication.... But so far everyone seems to be handling this med regime well.
 
I don't often talk about the LFS I use ect on a public forum.. but since I have had my issues I did turn to one of our local shops I've done lots of business with and they helped me settle on the Kanamycin.. That's Best Fish in Milwaukee offa MLK. the owners Judy and Brian have been great owners/operators and the whole staff has been excellent to deal with, Kevin in particular has helped us threw a few issues including this one. They have always been Honest and helpful making suggestions and giving good advise. And Judy brings in some pretty cool fw fish at pretty cool prices. Their SW is also pretty impressive, not my thing but they seem to be knowing what they are doing.

And I am Joao I am! we've also gotten an early anniversary gift if you will so not only is the liner in the mail another large pump and I will be putting together another bio-tower in as well to bump up the flow/filtration. At this point I'm pretty confident we are fighting Columnaris... we lost 3 clown loaches in another tank, my starry night eel, and the small retic... I'm starting to believe they are all connected/results of this disease. The funny part is we haven't fed live food in weeks... longest we've gone in quite awhile.

The goal is to address the disease ( the meds) reduce the stresses ( a new liner and increased flow, thought our water perameters are all fine)

I normally check them a few times a day ( doing laundry ect I always peek my head in) but I will be spending more time actually watching them. we've seen no signs of tank aggression stress so after the new liner ect is done I will be adding some submerged potted plants and large décor to actually afford hide spots ect besides the dinky pieces of DW now spread around. We where intending to do all of this slower in steps but I feel "this is good enough of now" isn't good enough anymore.

Any suggestions for low light plants that would require root tabs only as supplementation? So far I have some Crypts to split from another pot to add, I want to get an amazon sword or 2... but would like to add something like Vallisaria ect? something that will gro to trail along the top for the gar to hide in w/out getting tangled. size isn't really an issue... I just use aquarium gravel in terracotta pots and stick a few tabs in every now and then... I have the room lights on from approx. 9am-9pm ( give or take, hubbys looking into some type of timer for the room) So minimal light and the basement windows are to small to afford overly much light, but the crypts seem to be doing well.
 
Columnaris is indeed a tought battle... but you´ll win it!

MonsterMinis said:
Any suggestions for low light plants that would require root tabs only as supplementation? So far I have some Crypts to split from another pot to add, I want to get an amazon sword or 2... but would like to add something like Vallisaria ect? something that will gro to trail along the top for the gar to hide in w/out getting tangled. size isn't really an issue... I just use aquarium gravel in terracotta pots and stick a few tabs in every now and then... I have the room lights on from approx. 9am-9pm ( give or take, hubbys looking into some type of timer for the room) So minimal light and the basement windows are to small to afford overly much light, but the crypts seem to be doing well.
Click to expand...

As regarsd the plants, there are several you may use. The problem is having the fish understanding that you want plants and not destrying them....All my vallisnerias have been destroyed..

Regards hardy and almost undestructible ones, appart from the cryptos, you may use anubias, and java ferns.

Another good option is to use plants that thrive without having to be rooted and give good surface cover for the gars.
I don´t know the English names but try Limnophila sessiliflora, Elodea canadensis and Cabomba caroliniana. Of course they grow more when rooted, but even just floating they´ll be able to thrive with some light.
 
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