Noob Ray keeper. need some breeding tips!

Jesseliu13 · Dec 17, 2014

Some of you may have ready my other post as a Beginner ray keeper. While having water quality issues still i am dealing with it. Rays eat every day but water still not getting much better. purchased some stability from kens to counter this, but wont come in until next week... But my rays are comfortable.
So I got 2 large marbled motoros. Male is about 10-12 inches in diameter with rolled claspers. Female is about 12-14. Female is noticably bigger. im just eyeballing. Noticed My Male is getting a bit frisky pushing her to the corner near the current. Female just aint having it lol... but I dont cockblock the male. I let him do his thing.
So i have a couple questions:
1. How do i know when a female is pregnant?
2. How long does it normally take for a pup to be born (give or take)?
3. What do i do when it is pregnant?
4. Should i still get some tankmates with the rays (was thinking either - Silver Dollars, Tinfoil Barbs, Geophagus)

If i could get some tips it'd be really really helpful.

Keister · Dec 17, 2014

If this could be moved to the ray section that will help.

The female will become noticeably larger thickness wise when pregnant. You should be able to see pup movement on the top of her disc towards the tail in the where she swells with food from eating.

Her gestation should be I believe roughly 120 days (someone correct me if I'm wrong with that number)?

You may see actual breeding attempts then you know the male is actively trying to breed. You may also notice your water get cloudy from sperm and possibly a sperm plug in your female. Then she should be pregnant but nothing is positive. The only 100% way to really know if she is pregnant is pup movement in her.

When she is pregnant feed the crap out of her as her appetite will become a lot larger to feed the pups inside her.

Don't get tank mates until you get everything stabilized as you don't need to make your water any worse with more bio.

Also you will need to separate the pups when born so they aren't eaten or injured and the male should have immediate access to the female so he can breed her right away to get the next batch started!

Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

Jesseliu13 · Dec 17, 2014

Keister said:
If this could be moved to the ray section that will help.

The female will become noticeably larger thickness wise when pregnant. You should be able to see pup movement on the top of her disc towards the tail in the where she swells with food from eating.

Her gestation should be I believe roughly 120 days (someone correct me if I'm wrong with that number)?

You may see actual breeding attempts then you know the male is actively trying to breed. You may also notice your water get cloudy from sperm and possibly a sperm plug in your female. Then she should be pregnant but nothing is positive. The only 100% way to really know if she is pregnant is pup movement in her.

When she is pregnant feed the crap out of her as her appetite will become a lot larger to feed the pups inside her.

Don't get tank mates until you get everything stabilized as you don't need to make your water any worse with more bio.

Also you will need to separate the pups when born so they aren't eaten or injured and the male should have immediate access to the female so he can breed her right away to get the next batch started!

Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

OMG.... Cloudy water... Im not sure if that is water parameters from bacterial bloom anymore... and ive been doing daily waterchanges.... I was not planning on putting the tankmates in until the water had perfected itself... Im currently experiencing some terrible water quality issues as my male ray doesnt seem to be able to swallow anyfood... it chews it up like no tomorow and particles fly legitimately everywhere. My female eats everything whole. and does well. but i need to mix up their food. Swai/Basa is a terrible fish fillet to feed as its extremely delicate and flaky.

Jesseliu13 · Dec 29, 2014

Ok Update. Water has cleared up, and fish are super active and getting frisky. The male is extremely harsh and biting it's disk and trying to turn over the female... but the female is just not having it lol... hes having mad difficulties... Should i just let it run it's course? or should i be doing something...