My Henlei has a pinkish mouth

Skrick

New Member
Ok she is eating alot but also I noticed the hip bones are protruding abit too she was kinda skinny when I got her 1 month ago but still not gaining much what's the best way to fatten her up I ordered 500 night crawlers to start is this good kinda worried but I'll post pics tonight thanks for the quick reply she eats smelt prawn black worm and night crawlers
 

Skrick

New Member
ok its not the pinkish color im worried about it has gone away its the how skinny she is and not gaining weight It is stressing me out tons BUT SHE EATS I SEE HER I just did a dose of Prazzi to see whats up and im looking at the pooh and cant tell really here is a picture its been 1 month since i have gotten her she is also very active she roots around alot and goes up the glass and does not burry herself really and she is as skinny now as she was when i got her I thought it was cause she came all the way from brazil and they starve them here is a few shots

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Gumby79

New Member
I would really recomend quarintine her as soon as possible cause really the best way to be able to judge how much she is eating, is to quarintine in a tank by herself and it will also be easer to treat her that way with meds if nessary and examine her eating behavoir. My quarintine tank has bare bottom and open viewing from the bottom so I can really see how my rays eat and is good for inspecting there underside better as well. It is a beautiful ray and I really hope you can get her heathy again.
 

Skrick

New Member
Thanks shitty this is all I have is a 90G left with some of my small Vampires I guess ill just rip everything out and just deal with it and ill have to move some fish around Thanks its hard to just prazzi a large tank
 

skynoch

Moderator
She looks to be skinny but not deathly skinny. If you are not able to move her out try upping the feeding shedule to twice a day and try getting it to eat shrimp instead. Cut the shrimp up to where you almost mince it and they will put on weight quick. Being a henlie I have found that they will take hakari carnivore very easily when smaller and will fill her up very quick. My guess is you are currently not feeding enough. It may take a month of feeding to get her to put on the proper weight. Nightcrawlers will work to make her look plumper but she will burn through these quick and it seems to not put on much lasting weight as well as pellets or market shrimp. Worms will also be a pain as your other fish and rays could get finicky about them and when you go to quit and not want to eat anything else starting the whole process over.
Best if you can do like gumby said and seperate to keep an I on her. How much exactly are you feeding a day and what is all in there and the sizes?
 

Skrick

New Member
I have a new 300g being built so the tank should be here in 1.5-2 weeks but they 3 rays 2 marbles 12-13" and this Henlei with a 14 " Tigrinus catfish and some discus I feed 2 times a day roughly 9 pieces of smelts chopped up with about 10 prawns 1-2 times a day sometimes they eat at 2nd feeding around half the food and rest I have to net out they make a hell of a mess
 

Skrick

New Member
But my marbles look like big fat pigs so I know that things are not too wrong and my Tigrinus grew up in my tank to 14" from only 5 and discus are in good shape I also sometimes feed black worm live
 
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skynoch

Moderator
Just went back to some of your past posts and noticing the pictures from this post and it looks like you have been transfering different fish in and out of your aquarium. Some rays find it very stressful when adding or even removing tankmates which will cause them to stop eating or even when they go over the food they still may just chew on it but never swallow it. If you can keep your tank stable with no changes for a month at least your ray should come around nicely. Try some hakari carnivore too for awhile but just try some to keep the tank stable most importantly. Good luck and keep us posted if there are any other things occuring that worry you.
 

skynoch

Moderator
Sorry, and don't bother with the blackworms anymore. The only time I ever feed these is with very finicky imports from the wild.
 

tman

Super Moderator
I believe this is a WC one from a vendor in B.C. and wasn't quarantined and treated for parasites before he bought it. It came in and went straight to his tank.
I learned the lesson the hard way about buying WC that aren't quarantined and treated and lost my first couple of rays. You did prazi so that should help, so now just keep the tank stable like skynoch said and water changes and good food! Try dew worms as my pups always ate those and it wasn't hard converting to smelt,shrimp and pellets after.

I received some good info and insight from some members here and probably will never buy a newly Wild caught ray ever again. Can't stand the stress and hassle! I have some WC Henlei but they were in a tank for over a year before I bought them!
Now that people are breeding black rays on a more regular basis you can always find hardy CB rays for good prices!

Goodluck.
 
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Skrick

New Member
Thanks for the info I'm trying my best to do the best I can I'm going to do 2 water changes a week @ 60% after im done with prazzi just did a dose of prazzi and I see some stringy poop now but it looks not bad I have 500 night crawlers comin in on Friday I also use a tube to feed her so she gets the food cause the marbles will take it away so I scare them off so she can eat I also got a lb of black worms that she is gobbling up I'm mixing it with chopped prawn and she is taking to it so let's see what God has planned for her I she is active which is awesome and blows a spazz when others come near the food which is very good she is aggressive eater I read also they are pretty hardy so that's a bonus
 
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Skrick

New Member
Also I'll try to not give too many worms I'll mix them with prawn I guess I'm just stressing out and panicking I'm going to listen to everything you guys are saying I know I'm in the right place for advice that's how I have raised my 1 st rays is with all your advice and I'm not adding anymore fish I'm done with that thanks you guys for your prompt answers Thanks Bobby
 

tman

Super Moderator
Thanks for the info I'm trying my best to do the best I can I'm going to do 2 water changes a week @ 60% after im done with prazzi just did a dose of prazzi and I see some stringy poop now but it looks not bad I have 500 night crawlers comin in on Friday I also use a tube to feed her so she gets the food cause the marbles will take it away so I scare them off so she can eat I also got a lb of black worms that she is gobbling up I'm mixing it with chopped prawn and she is taking to it so let's see what God has planned for her I she is active which is awesome and blows a spazz when others come near the food which is very good she is aggressive eater I read also they are pretty hardy so that's a bonus
Sounds good so far!
 

tman

Super Moderator
Also I'll try to not give too many worms I'll mix them with prawn I guess I'm just stressing out and panicking I'm going to listen to everything you guys are saying I know I'm in the right place for advice that's how I have raised my 1 st rays is with all your advice and I'm not adding anymore fish I'm done with that thanks you guys for your prompt answers Thanks Bobby

Panic! I have done the same thing as you don't want to lose a fish that cost so much money. Not a big deal and since it's eating that is the big hurtle! When they don't eat that's when you have more problems.
 

hondas3000

New Member
Even experience ray keeper do make mistake as ray don't talk to us and its sometime too late for us to read any sign. Hope you she pull through Bob, oh and Mike BD still available :). It is why I stay away from WC black ray as its quite scary sometime and I would never put them in the same tank as other ray right away until I make sure they eat well and take eat like other.
 

Skrick

New Member
got my nightcrawlers today i put in 20 worms and my hen ate them all as i scared off the other pigs and its belly is full now i hope it does not get used to them ill have to try to ween her off after i fatten up it does eat the prawn too as skynotch said to chop up finely so im gonna try alittle of both she isnt too keen on the smelt still but i converted my marbles so i think i can do it Thanks everyone for your input Bobby :)
 
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