Stingray having issues swallowing

tomuhs

tomuhs

New Member
Hi there,

I recently transferred a pearl from gravel to a sand substrate and it seems to be having difficulties swallowing MP. It was eating MP perfectly fine the day before, but now, it seems that it cant even the smallest piece down. It sneezes, then carries the food around for a bit and eventually gives up.

Water params:
Amm : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 5ppm

I noticed that it curls the front part of its nose occasionally but otherwise the overall disc does not curl upwards.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Does it just take time for him to get used to the sand?

Thanks
 
pic

Here's a pic of the little fella...
 

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I'm thinking it may be bothered by the sand sticking to the shrimp and it will just take time getting used to eating it that way.
 
exoticaquaria said:
nice ray. its normal. just adjusting. nothing to worry about.
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Thanks for the feedback Mike. Appreciate it; the stingray still having issues chewing but managed to knock a couple down. Tried giving him some massivore and he goes for them but does the same thing as the shrimp. Time will tell i guess...
 
exoticaquaria said:
if you like having substrate, i find fine gravel is a lot better.
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Thanks for the tips Mike.

Well actually, I originally had some black gravel in the tank but shout outs to Glamit who was nice enough to hook me up with some of his nice fine sand. Agreed in the sense that the ray had a much easier time eating while he was living on gravel, but he does seem to enjoy the soft sand :D

*update
The ray is still having difficulties but has been able to knock down 1 piece of shrimp a day. Still a bit worried but he nice and chubby when I transferred.
 
The other thing to consider when doing a sand transfer is anything transferring with the sand. Was the sand sterilized or dried out before going in. I'm sure it is just getting used to cleaning it's food first but having problems swallowing can also be the starting sign of gill flukes. Keep an eye on it and maybe make sure you have some prazi on hand.
 
skynoch said:
The other thing to consider when doing a sand transfer is anything transferring with the sand. Was the sand sterilized or dried out before going in. I'm sure it is just getting used to cleaning it's food first but having problems swallowing can also be the starting sign of gill flukes. Keep an eye on it and maybe make sure you have some prazi on hand.
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Thank you again.

I can probably google this information but a few questions for the master :

how does one determine whether the ray has gill flukes?
what is the proper dosage for prazi should I need to go that route?
 
It's been awhile since I had to list all the things to look for so I may miss some. A ray looking like it is coughing, having problems swallowing, reduced appetite, the ray rubbing itself on the bottom, breathing out of one lung (the for sure sign and is in a more advanced stage), laboured breathing. For the proper dosing there is several methods to do so and all may work I don't remember off hand my schedule I use to use but just pm me if you think you want to dose and I can look back at my posts either here or in a different forum.
 
skynoch said:
It's been awhile since I had to list all the things to look for so I may miss some. A ray looking like it is coughing, having problems swallowing, reduced appetite, the ray rubbing itself on the bottom, breathing out of one lung (the for sure sign and is in a more advanced stage), laboured breathing. For the proper dosing there is several methods to do so and all may work I don't remember off hand my schedule I use to use but just pm me if you think you want to dose and I can look back at my posts either here or in a different forum.
Click to expand...


Thank you so much Scott. After reading your post, I confirmed that the ray was indeed breathing out of both lungs and is not coughing.

The ray eating nice and good now and has started to bury itself.
 
Poor fella passed away this morning

Well looks like my troubles have finally ended. Yesterday, everything was good, fed the ray as usual in the morning and had just done a water change the other day with water params in check (0,0, 20). I came home later after work to find that the ray had wedged himself in a very awkward position between the driftwood and aquarium wall. My girlfriend immediately noticed something was wrong with him, he had begun to start peeling his skin. I did another normal 50% water change (i do 2x 50% wc a week) but looks like I was much too late. Sure enough, his disc started to curl and the skin really started to peel. I knew at the point, all was lost. I went to double check nitrate and it looked like it had spiked up to around 50-60 PPM. Poor "Boo stang." At this point I feel like I am responsible for his death and I was amazed at how bad things can get in one day. I'm sure it's a combination of him getting stuck, stress and high nitrate. I can understand the stress but I'm only assuming that the ray must of kicked up a pocket of bad stuff in my substrate to cause such a high spike. Thankfully all my other fish were 100% fine. Guess lesson is to be careful about your ornament placement...weird thing is that I had that piece of driftwood in that same spot for months. Uggh feeling terrible right now...sometimes makes you wonder if I was better off not stressing out...but I guess there are always ups and downs.

Thanks for listening
 
Sorry to hear that this happened. Nitrate isn't that high but it's weird it went up so fast. How deep is the substarte in your tank? My pups just get a 1/4" of sand in the tanks, my 7-12" rays get about an 1" and the larger rays up to about 2-3". Even with careful planning we all still make mistakes and learn, I'm still finding things I'm changing with my rays as they grow.
 
Hmm my substrate is about about 2'' max at the deepest point. I have a power head circulating air near the bottom of the tank which has created a bare spot in the tank in one corner but otherwise overall 1-2''. I think next time, I'll go the BB route.

Thanks for the kind words; good lesson for me.
 
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