Lionfish killed my blue spotted Ray?

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gafights

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
May 19, 2012
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Location
Atlanta, GA
I think my 12inch lionfish killed my 15inch blue spotted ray. The ray ate on Sunday and was fine Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday (this morning) I fed everybody and noticed the ray did not move. He was breathing harder than normal and seemed fairly motionless. About six hours later I noticed him laying on the sand with his tale pointed to the air almost stiff like he was having a seizure. About one hour later he was dead behind the rocks. I have had him and the lion together for about 9 months with no issues. What makes me think he was stung is how he swims around the lion. The ray pretty much swims on top of him and around him. The ray was like a dog he always came to the glass when I walked in the room. He has never had a problem before at all. This was very fast. Water tested fine. Anyone think this could be what happened or have a different idea. I have added some pictures to the post. Keep in mind the redness did not seem as severe until he was out of the tank for a few minutes. The confusion at the top is very old. He got it during feeding from my shark and it left a small scar.
 

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hmmm...I've seen a huma trigger get stung by a lionfish and seizere, but it didn't die. But then again rays and triggers are a bit different. I don't have any experience with rays but sorry for you loss, you must have a huge awesome tank to be able to keep those guys.
 
Yeah I have three sharks as well. I don't want them to get the same fate. It's about 1,000 gallons but even at size things happen.
 
Holly 1000 gallons?


Hopefully you have it plummed into your water system, I can't imagine doing water changes.
 
I think it's possible. Rays have delicate skin so if he was stung, death would be likely. Triggers are scaled so they are a bit stronger.
 
I've always wanted a blue spotted ray. I'm interested in seeing the tank too!
 
Here are the pics
 

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Yeah I have three sharks as well. I don't want them to get the same fate. It's about 1,000 gallons but even at size things happen.

Just out of curiosity, where do you keep a tank that big??

Poor ray :(
 
New custom sump. Skimmer comes tomorrow
 

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You can usually tell when a lionfish has stung something by looking at the spines they usually have a layer of skin over their spines and when something gets stung the flesh gets pushed down off the tip or you'll see some of the spines broken off at the tip
 
Is that a free swimming shark or a cat shark? i have no idea about the ray, just curious about the system. What are the dimensions? It's a shame you couldn't do a round tank instead of a rectangle.
 
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