aquaman45;3970840; said:
Thanks Alan.
love the contents of the above......really funny,cant stop laughing....your a funny guy,its nice to have humour brought to the forum,all too often people are having a go at one another on forums rather than having real valid discussions like we we all do on this stingray section.....really is good to have a laugh whilst been deadly serious about our hobby.
Right to answer your questions.
These new Marbles i plan to breed in the future consist of my favourite female i produced from my breeding pair,theres another very similar female that i believe came from(Europe) Mark Huveneers stock which incidentally is the closest morph to my own pair,ive seen his parent fish on photos and they are strikingly similar to mine.The other is a wild caught female from Leevan,i pestered him for it and he gave in,not sure how that ones going to turn out but shes quite nice.Then theres the male that ive posted several times,hes really special,i have my friend Al here in the UK to thank for that one.So basically im a lucky guy who knows a few good people,thats why i have this collection.......no other reason.
I cant leave this without congratulating you on your fine collection,i reckon some of the rays you have posted so far are up there with the best......you have some real quality in your tanks and pond as do many of the people that have contributed to this thread,i reckon Marbles rays will be looked at in a different light by Stingray fanatics all over the world.
Support Marblism.....Lol !
Thanks Richard. I find it easy to be able to joke when you love something so much and know you're in the presence of people that feel the same way.
Considering your stock your compliments truley hit home. I attribute my collection to the same source as you do, good friends, and people that share a common love. I ended up with most of my collection from people that see my dedication to these animals and would like them to be looked after by someone that loves them much more then the stupid paper we exchange to get them. That stuff is irrelevant to me in regards to these beautiful animals, and some of the prices I have paid reflect that. And as long as they remain healthy I can honestly say I don't care how much they cost, love makes money irrelevant. A great deal of my collection has come from fellow hobbyists. Without them my collection could be housed in a 300 gallon.
Now...... IF I could just figure out why they aren't breeding I would really be happy.....
I'm hoping enviromental improvements will get them going. Natural colored sand on the bottom, metal halide lights, and eventually RO water to bring the PH down. Add this to a reduced stock list/load, larger water volume, a new filtering approach along with incorporating plants into the system, and heavier feedings, I'm hoping that I will elimainate all possible causes for them not breeding. I feel like I'm starting all over again after years of failure....... Oh, and the most important ingredient..... Patience. Unfortunately I have yet to find a place that sells that...... But rest assured when I do find it I'm gonna buy a bunch.
Where is Mark Huveneers? I KNOW he has some knockouts!!!!! Incredably high quality stock. I know he's probobly a super busy guy but I'm sure we would all REALLY appreciate seeing some of his stock. Maybe you could talk him into posting some pics?
I hope someday we can all trade stock to keep the gene pool clean and of the highest quality.
But since I'm on a different continent that seems to recieve the "cheaper" marbles I'm gonna go ahead and drive my busted arse car anyways.
I think once I can get these things breeding I will have lil monster trucks to race with Richards.
