Zoo Tampa Stingray Deaths

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Think of it from the tissue perspective. Gases aren't a problem when they're dissolved, but become a problem when they come out of solution and form bubbles. If the ray's tissue is nearly saturated to start with, a temperature rise could trigger bubble formation.
OK. That makes sense. I was thinking that you were implying that the temperature spike was leading to more gas in the water. This way makes much more sense.

Still, I would think that the spike would need to be fairly dramatic for this to be a problem. A more gradual temperature increase should be more like a gradual ascent. Water seems to be fairly resistant to rapid temperature changes, or more accurately, requires a lot of energy.
 
They could be talking about microbubbles in the water, caused by a malfunctioning pump or aeration system. Not sure if that would actually kill the rays before being noticed.
 
This is a potential problem in any large commercial aquarium. The pumps required to provide adequate filter circulation are large and have the potential to compress gas under great pressure. For example, when I plumbed the filtration system on a 7,000 gallon aquarium, we used twin 2 hp pumps. A 16,000 gallon aquarium would require substantially larger pumps. It works like this, small air bubbles result when water tumbles through a filter tower or from the plumbing, as water flows out of the aquarium and into the filtration sump tank. If those bubbles are not filtered out prior to reaching the pumps, they will be compressed under pressure, resulting in gas supersaturation in the aquarium water. Once the fish are supersaturated, it only takes small change in temp or depth to generate bloodstream bubbles. The problem for fish is typically manifests in the gills as as blood-born bubbles will damage the microvascular structure of the gills.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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