41 out of 43 ray's dead

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Cichlidiot420

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Dec 14, 2008

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• Feb 3, 2009

• #1

this is news to me but aparently this happened last spring at the calgary zoo. they just now think they figured out why they died. i get a kick out of this quote.

"I think we need to be very frank here. Our main expertise is not in fish here at the Calgary Zoo," Lanthier said at a news conference on Tuesday morning, adding that the zoo will continue to work on improvements in that area.

you think they would plan ahead and train people on how to care for aquariums and rays before dropping $250,000 on a new exhibit. and then killing off 98% of it.

Here's the story: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/02/03/cgy-stingrays-cause-of-death.html

 

jm1212

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Jon

• Feb 3, 2009

• #2

that kinda bugs me that they will say that their expertise is not fish at a place filled with animals.

if they were not well versed in stingray care, then why did they get any, or even so many of them?

 

jackiomy

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Jul 6, 2008

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Jacki Wilson

• Feb 3, 2009

• #3

The best part of that article was the weather.

 

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cam191919

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• Feb 3, 2009

• #4

wow

 

Mgamer20o0

BobsTropicalPlants.com

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• Feb 3, 2009

• #5

i think thats true for most fish at zoos though i could be wrong..... heck my zoo doesnt even have fish.

 

12 Volt Man

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Feb 11, 2007

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• Feb 4, 2009

• #6

I am a little skeptical that it was simply low DO that killed them.

even if a pump went down and it was warm, for the DO to go that low that quickly, they must have had 41 rays in a 20 gallon tank...

I wonder if they checked other parameters? Ray are notoriously sensitive - eg. readable ammonia levels and they are done..

 

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Just Prince

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Nov 2, 2007

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• Feb 4, 2009

• #7

They stated they had autopsy's done on all the rays and the asphyxiated. They planning to reopen the exhibit soon.

 

12 Volt Man

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• Feb 4, 2009

• #8

but do they know the asphyxiation was actually from a lack of DO or was it because water quality prevented the uptake of said DO?

eg. you can have lots of DO in your tank, but if your ammonia or nitrite levels are high, your fish can suffocate..

 

BreellaBlue87

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Dec 8, 2008

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• Feb 4, 2009

• #9

The zoo I volunteer at has 7 fish tanks, one dart frog exhibit, and a river setup that houses SA river turtles, Caimen and one rhino iguana...

and the starfish in the cold water reef are so happy they spawn, so do the clownfish pair. It's sad that they couldn't spend the time to research and train people.

"The zoo reopened the stingray exhibit in December, but abandoned the hands-on component. One of the 10 new rays delivered for the new display died of a parasite last week."

IMO that's TOO many rays for a touch pool. At most... maybe 10 to a touch pool, and they need to be rotated out. The stress of children grabbing at them for extended hours alone could have killed them. Coolest touch pool I've ever seen was at Ripleys aquarium in South Carolina, the animals could SWIM AWAY to their private tank.

 

Last edited: Feb 4, 2009

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Just Prince

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• Feb 4, 2009

• #10

From what I have read about Rays i have learned that because of their physiology they produce a lot of Ammonia. Most freshwater fish retain some ammonia is their blood plasma ( can't remember why), but FW Rays don't they excrete all of it. Their for they need very large amounts of water with excellent filtration. I think not enough filtration or water movement.