General Ray Questions. (to be expected from a newbie)

[Eric A]

G'day guys.

Just a few questions regarding tankmates of rays.

I'm thinking of a tank of 8'x3'x3' for a variety of fish. I'm also thinking of some rays to go along with that mix. The two most common rays in Australia here are Retics and Motoros.

Q.1, can Motoros and Retics mix?
Q.2. will they get along with : Pbass, Arowanas, Baysnooks, Bottom Dwelling non-pleco catfish, gars and knifefish.
Q.3. Is this a good size for a trio of each ray. (1m 2f)

[Flash]

G'day guys.

Just a few questions regarding tankmates of rays.

I'm thinking of a tank of 8'x3'x3' for a variety of fish. I'm also thinking of some rays to go along with that mix. The two most common rays in Australia here are Retics and Motoros.

Q.1, can Motoros and Retics mix?
Q.2. will they get along with : Pbass, Arowanas, Baysnooks, Bottom Dwelling non-pleco catfish, gars and knifefish.
Q.3. Is this a good size for a trio of each ray. (1m 2f)

Never owned rays before, but I know a little about them.

1. Why would you? Motoros are much much hardier than rectics, and in my opinion, they look much better.
2. Iffy. Would probably work in a tank that size.
3. Go with trio of motoros. Rectics are delicate, while motoros are very hardy.

[Flash]

Just noticed you're in Aus. Pockets must be loaded for those fish! lol.

[Eric A]

Never owned rays before, but I know a little about them.

1. Why would you? Motoros are much much hardier than rectics, and in my opinion, they look much better.
2. Iffy. Would probably work in a tank that size.
3. Go with trio of motoros. Rectics are delicate, while motoros are very hardy.

Doesn't matter. As long as you know a little bit to help.

Well thats easy, in my opinion the both look good.
I'm really only worried about those silver aros, as they could possibly do some damage to the little Retics, but was hoping the tank would be deep enough not for the to come down and investigate.
Yeah, I was kind of thinking along that line. Wait till I get experiance with the "beginer's" motoro, then see if they breed, and that will provide me (hopefully) with enough money to set up a trio of retics in a seperate tank.

Just noticed you're in Aus. Pockets must be loaded for those fish! lol.

The idea is that once I "load" my pockets with money to get the breeding trio of motoros, that will be an income. To keep my saving cash safe from impulse buys. Also can get a few retics, and then mabye the ever expensive leopoldi. (but that is a hell of a lot of saving to do!)

[turkeyboy85]

go with the motoros... motoros and retics dont normally mix to well because motoros are alot more agressive while eating. I have heard numerous stories of retics dyeing from to much stress from being with motoros. Silver Aros work great with rays as long as they are big enough not to be eaten. No Jardinis tho ;). A trio would work great for a really long time in that tank but eventually might need a wider tank... motoros can get up to a 30" disk size.... but that is rare in captivity and takes a long time to get up to that size.

[abortedsoul]

G'day guys.

Just a few questions regarding tankmates of rays.

I'm thinking of a tank of 8'x3'x3' for a variety of fish. I'm also thinking of some rays to go along with that mix. The two most common rays in Australia here are Retics and Motoros.

Q.1, can Motoros and Retics mix?
Q.2. will they get along with : Pbass, Arowanas, Baysnooks, Bottom Dwelling non-pleco catfish, gars and knifefish.
Q.3. Is this a good size for a trio of each ray. (1m 2f)

A.1. Alright, Motoros and Retics can mix; that said, the Motoros will grow quicker and become much larger than the retics, and very well may outcompete them for food. Lots of folks will tell you that retics are fragile; they are picky eaters, but they seem to be surprisingly hardy and very tolerant of water quality, as long as it isn't Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate.

A.2. Pbass, I'm not sure. Siver Aros- Yes, Jardini's- at your own risk. Don't know what a Baysnook is, the catfish may outcompete them for food, and peaceful gars and knifefish have been peaceful tankmates with rays in so many tanks that I've seen that I would feel very safe with them in the tank.

A.3. 1m3f motoro? What? I guess I don't understand your question; sorry. :(

Hope this helps, and good luck with rays! They are awesome, but you might just find yourself giving up on other fish to your stingray obsession. :screwy:

[Tonster]

1m2f means one male and two females,

[abortedsoul]

A trio of motoros works just fine. Sorry, brain fart.

[Eric A]

I there guys.

I never mentioned Jardini's did I? I meant silvers or mabye even blacks, depends whats available then.

Yeah 1 male 2 females. I've decided on ditching the retic idea right now as quite possibly due to the breeding (thats what I hope so anyway) of the motoros, I could use the money for that to set up a retic breeding set up? (MFK members in aus get discounts. :grinyes:)

Bay snooks are like little P Bass, just not as active and out there. Not agro either.

[Nic]

i would skip retic all together... rays are not worth anything even if captive bred.....

[Eric A]

Where you are mabye? Where we are a breeding pair is worth their weight in gold.

[abortedsoul]

i would skip retic all together... rays are not worth anything even if captive bred.....

I resent that! :irked:

No, but honestly there is no money in retic breeding. I'm going to try it, because I love rays, but I don't suppose anyone but Miles and maybe myself would go out of their way to get a captive bred retic.

If you are wanting to breed for profit, go leopoldi I suppose; failing that, go marbled motoro.

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

side question
my lfs has a ray called a teacup ray im new to rays
what are these actually called
they are the cheapest a round

[stingray94]

side question
my lfs has a ray called a teacup ray im new to rays
what are these actually called
they are the cheapest a round

teacup is a term used when rays are small and aren't properly IDed. 90% of the time they end up being retics.

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

and they are hard to keep?(im new to rays as well)

[turkeyboy85]

and they are hard to keep?(im new to rays as well)

start a new thread and people will answer... dont try and hijack an existing one also go check out the stickies on stingrays alot can be learned from that

[Bogwoodbruce]

One of our shop friends got in some rectics from columbia only cost about £4.66 each. They are very cheap fish to get in.

[alleykat0498]

Trust me when I say this, with ray's you get what you pay for. I bought some cheap ray's and now I'm left with one ray. Motoro's are definitely the way to go, and if I had listened when I was told that I would be the happy owner of multiple rays instead of my one fat lil ray. With that said, I wouldn't say rays are hard to keep, as long as you understand their needs and have plenty of extra time to devote to extra water changes etc.

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

start a new thread and people will answer... dont try and hijack an existing one also go check out the stickies on stingrays alot can be learned from that
Im not hijacking
he had some newbie questions and i had some that branched off of his
how is this hijacking??

[Nic]

if a retic is eating... its a fine ray... generally since they are cheap they dont get cared for properly.... a retic can be just as hardy as a motoro....

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

thanks

[abortedsoul]

if a retic is eating... its a fine ray... generally since they are cheap they dont get cared for properly.... a retic can be just as hardy as a motoro....

:iagree:

[Eric A]

They Are NOT Cheap IN AUSTRALIA. Get that into ur heads ok? Cheers.

In Aus, it could be easy to get profit back, as long as they breed in the first place, retics are more expensive than motoros.

[abortedsoul]

Wow; I had no idea that retics could be expensive. In that case, I would go with retics (because you can have more in a similar space), although I would still make sure to do more research. Glad you're getting into raykeeping! If there's anything I can help with, just let me know.

-Matt

[turkeyboy85]

from my experiance motoros have a bigger birthing capacity then retics do

[Eric A]

Okay guys, thanks for understanding. :D

In a rough comparison Retics are worth about 1000 USD each! Motoros are about the same take a bit mabye.

[ShadowStryder]

Okay guys, thanks for understanding. :D

In a rough comparison Retics are worth about 1000 USD each! Motoros are about the same take a bit mabye.

Wow, 1000 USD. Lfs by me has had a 4-5" for last couple of months
priced at 59.99

[abortedsoul]

Holy sheep! I got a retic for $25.00. Will ship to Aus for only $750.00! lol j/k, I don't know the first thing about sending fish internationally. Keep us updated on your decision, though! Can't wait to see how your project does, if and when it gets underway.

Best of luck!

-Matt

[Bogwoodbruce]

That is a hell of a lot of money. Damn i didnt realise it would be that much over there.

[Eric A]

You bet ya guys. Thats it will cost more money geting 1 trio of motoro than the whole tank setup. It would want to be insured lol.

Aborted Soul. Your on if you can find a way to smuggle in a pair?

[abortedsoul]

You bet ya guys. Thats it will cost more money geting 1 trio of motoro than the whole tank setup. It would want to be insured lol.

Aborted Soul. Your on if you can find a way to smuggle in a pair?

Oh, they have an import ban? I don't want to get in trouble with the law, but if I happen to just have some accidentally stuffed into my clothing...
:ROFL::ROFL::ROFL:

[Eric A]

Don't worry, it's only an import ban, once you have it thru the airport and into my custody then you can't get in trouble. Throw in a Planiceps, and theres your life savings lol.