True, but you Cali and Florida guys get everything else in quantity and for a lot cheaper than us midwest guys can get it... heck, most of the fish I see on here never even make it to my city, unless its special ordered online... and that INCLUDES stingrays!haynchinook334;4066542; said:
Feelings of inadequacy...
- Thread starter Conner
- Start date
I think it is awesome that you keep any kind of ray. I have studied them and wanted to keep them for almost 20 years and still don't have one. Hopefully one day I will have an appropriate set up time and money for them. Hopefully when the time comes DB will have some for sale.
Do I get loyal customer discount, or trade in value?vamptrev;4066809; said:you should be very proud, your rays look great!
dont worry i see a leo in your future
Maybe in a couple years, but I'll have to start saving seriously pretty soon.
I've experienced the feeling with other kinds of fish before. Such as getting my first gar, a Florida Gar. Initially it seems to be the coolest thing in the world, but a few days on MFK prove that it's the most common gar out there and everyone seems to have them.
Then I just stop and think that at least it's not a Needlenose Characin, and I feel a load better. I love my Florida!
Then I just stop and think that at least it's not a Needlenose Characin, and I feel a load better. I love my Florida!
You always want what you don't have. I remeber my first tank, a 55 with a redline snakehead, oscar, jack dempsey, and a couple of other common predators. I was 10 and I thought it was the coolest tank ever. Then I saw an african cichlid tank and I was blown away. Traded everything in and got a bunch of assorted africans. They grew up and started breeding, then I saw my first frontosa. Used the money from the store credit I had built up to buy a 90 gallon and start a colony. Used more trade in money to get 12 more tanks and even more breeding groups/pairs. All was well and good until I saw my first reef tank, I had to have one. Eventually got rid of everything freshwater and started with a 29 gallon reef, then a 55, then 180. Katrina killed off my reef tanks, now I am back into freshwater and loving every minute of it. Stingrays (3 motoros) and a tigrinus in a 240. Have others in mind for the tank, but taking it slow and picking out exactly the right specimens for the tank. I also teach a marine biology class where we raise and breed many types of freshwater fish and invertebrates and try to breed clownfish. 60 tanks (10 - 50 gallons) and 2 3500 pools hooked together. It's nice when you can bring your hobby to work and teach others about it.
Now I find myself thinking it would be great to have that first tank that started it all still. I had a bunch of fish in there, but they were all healty and loving life. Waaaayyyy overfiltered with massive water changes, lots of feeders, and they would all take them straight from my hands. I spent so much time with those fish, which is what made me fall in love with the hobby. That snakehead cost me $7 and ate at least $500 in feeders over it's lifetime. I now I can never have one again. I was bored with it and thought that I could get another one whenever I wanted, but thats no longer the case.
Point is, in this hobby you will always find something new out there that someone else has and you don't. That is all we tend to focus on. Not what we have that no one else has. No one has enough money or time to keep and properly take care of every type of fish out there. A friend of mine has 30 tanks 50 gallons or larger and he still sees fish he has never seen before and has to have. Enjoy what you have, if you are successful with the stingrays you have, it is only natural to progress into the more exotic ones later. This is a niche hobby as well, there are only so many people who are willing to pay $1000 for a fish. As the supply of leo's and henlei increase due to breeding programs here and abroad, the price will come down and eventually I guarantee you will have one in your tank.
Now I find myself thinking it would be great to have that first tank that started it all still. I had a bunch of fish in there, but they were all healty and loving life. Waaaayyyy overfiltered with massive water changes, lots of feeders, and they would all take them straight from my hands. I spent so much time with those fish, which is what made me fall in love with the hobby. That snakehead cost me $7 and ate at least $500 in feeders over it's lifetime. I now I can never have one again. I was bored with it and thought that I could get another one whenever I wanted, but thats no longer the case.
Point is, in this hobby you will always find something new out there that someone else has and you don't. That is all we tend to focus on. Not what we have that no one else has. No one has enough money or time to keep and properly take care of every type of fish out there. A friend of mine has 30 tanks 50 gallons or larger and he still sees fish he has never seen before and has to have. Enjoy what you have, if you are successful with the stingrays you have, it is only natural to progress into the more exotic ones later. This is a niche hobby as well, there are only so many people who are willing to pay $1000 for a fish. As the supply of leo's and henlei increase due to breeding programs here and abroad, the price will come down and eventually I guarantee you will have one in your tank.
It's only on MFK that you might feel inadequate. Everyone on here has awesome rays, but I don't think anyone on here would put another down for the rays they keep. We're all playing the game, some have just invested more. I think if you're dedicated enough you'll end up with some stunner rays. It just takes time.
In the meantime, walk into a chain pet store and tell someone you have a ray, you'll probably blow their mind. My friends like to argue with me about how stingrays belong in salt water. Then when I show them my rays, they "ooh" and "ahh".
In the meantime, walk into a chain pet store and tell someone you have a ray, you'll probably blow their mind. My friends like to argue with me about how stingrays belong in salt water. Then when I show them my rays, they "ooh" and "ahh".
