Dalray Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 My g/f and i cant figure out whats wrong its the only one that it seems to be affecting in the tank. It cant really swim and the disc is curling up. Water parameters are perfect. vid is attached for easy info and i can explain less. PLEASE HELP.....i dont want to lose this one she is my favorite one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Death curl. Do some searching around MFK (monsterfishkeepers.com), but most likely the ray is a goner. What type of sand is that in the tank? Has the ray been eating well? Without knowing what happened up to now that may have caused this, it's pretty tough to know what to do to fix it. By perfect water parameters, what exactly are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalray Posted May 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Death curl. Do some searching around MFK (monsterfishkeepers.com), but most likely the ray is a goner. What type of sand is that in the tank? Has the ray been eating well? Without knowing what happened up to now that may have caused this, it's pretty tough to know what to do to fix it. By perfect water parameters, what exactly are they? its gone. RIP. There is black moon sand in the tank, and she was eating well. blood worms, shrimp, squid. Always swimming around. I will have to do some more research into why and how. but for now im down to 3. all good thanks though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 I'M really sorry about your ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORVETTE Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Sorry for your loss but it apperared she was fairly skinny if i could do you have any pictures from over top of her? I don't think it was the sand if it was rinsed really good. I've used that moon sand for years with my rays with no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORVETTE Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Actually i watched the movie and she was very thin. Her hip bone were protruding very badly and she had a concave dent between her eyes which shows she wasn't eating enough. A good sign of a really healthy eating ray is a thick fat tail no hip bones protruding and kinda thick through the mid section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discus_Galore Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Oh I am so sad. We had named her Chip, because she got in a couple tousles before we bought her and had some chips around her edge. With some further research, I think I know what happened... Our test strips show about 8 different things, including nitrite, nitrate, and ph, but it does not test ammonia levels. It seems we must not have had enough good bacteria in the water to convert our ammonia to nitrite. If we had, we probably would have noticed unusually high levels of nitrite. Unfortunately, since we were unaware, and all the fish were swimming normally, eating heartily, and responding in every way that they should, there was no way of knowing that our ray was trying to filter out such harmful levels of ammonia. Her system was unable to keep up, and her kidneys shut down. That's what caused her to get that "anorexic" look in her abdomen, so you can see her pelvic bones. Unfortunately *again*, she stays along the surface, and never exposed her receding belly to us. Since our first clue to her situation was when she went into the aptly named "death curl", I don't think there was anything we could have done. Her kidneys had already stopped working, I don't think there is a treatment for such a thing. Today, I am off to Big Al's to buy ammonia test strips, and probably more Stability Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalray Posted May 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Oh I am so sad. We had named her Chip, because she got in a couple tousles before we bought her and had some chips around her edge.With some further research, I think I know what happened... Our test strips show about 8 different things, including nitrite, nitrate, and ph, but it does not test ammonia levels. It seems we must not have had enough good bacteria in the water to convert our ammonia to nitrite. If we had, we probably would have noticed unusually high levels of nitrite. Unfortunately, since we were unaware, and all the fish were swimming normally, eating heartily, and responding in every way that they should, there was no way of knowing that our ray was trying to filter out such harmful levels of ammonia. Her system was unable to keep up, and her kidneys shut down. That's what caused her to get that "anorexic" look in her abdomen, so you can see her pelvic bones. Unfortunately *again*, she stays along the surface, and never exposed her receding belly to us. Since our first clue to her situation was when she went into the aptly named "death curl", I don't think there was anything we could have done. Her kidneys had already stopped working, I don't think there is a treatment for such a thing. Today, I am off to Big Al's to buy ammonia test strips, and probably more Stability Time for another 100 Gallon water change afterwork. If your going to stop by Big Al's can you grab another thing of filter floss too lol. thanks babe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Try to get the liquid test tube test because i've noticed that test strips can be somewhat unreliable. If you start one at a time for buying then it won't hurt the pocket too much. Sorry about chip Hope everything gets better L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 (edited) I don't want to ruffle any feathers, but you can tell a ray is skinny from the top, you don't need to see its underside at all. From the video her hips are visible and she has an indentation between her eyes as Corvette said. This ray has been in poor condition for a long time, so sorry and I hate to be blunt, but with some research on rays there is something that could've been done. I'm not sure how long you've had her, but I'd doubt she's been eating anything for weeks. I'm not 100% on the ID, but she (and other one that passes by in the video) appear to be retics - often sold as teacup rays. They are one of the more delicate rays and not recommended for beginners even though they are usually much cheaper than motoros (motoro's are almost bomb-proof as far as rays go). Her being skinny could've been due to any number of things; stress, not eating, internal parasites, poor water etc. She does have a VERY short tail for a retic (if that's what she is), which would lead me to believe she's wild caught and probably wasn't handled very well when she was caught, and this could be the end result of that. I've heard of a few people managing to save a ray once it's become curled, but very few will ever recover. You tank also might not have been fully cycled before adding all your fish - adding too many fish too quickly doesn't allow the bacteria time to build up and be able to remove the waste produced, even if the filters are 'large enough for the tank size'. How are the other rays in the tank doing? Some pics of them might help avoid a similar situation in their future. Edited May 13, 2008 by African_Fever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaneArcade Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 I'm sorry to hear about your ray, Chip. Hopefully the other ones are doing well though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.