A little thread on using supplements with rays

[Silent Bob]

I finally have a chance to talk about something I have been doing with my rays. A while back, I mentioned that I was adding a supplement to their meals. As some of you know from previous threads, the main diet for my rays is raw shrimp.

Side note...I am not looking to start an argument or go on about raw shrimp versus pellets. *This thread is being put together for the community to show my firsthand observations on the effects of adding vitamins to a ray's diet, not about which food is better.

Raw shrimp is the only food that I have personally tried mixing this supplement with. It can, however, be added to just about anything we feed our rays or fish. I have a friend who is going to try adding a similar product to his homemade gel food to see how it goes, and he will report back to me with his findings.

The only information I will give out about this product is what is in it. Once I have fully tested it, I will give everyone its name.*This supplement comes in powder form and is pure vitamins with a binding agent, that when mixed with your food, will not fall off in water. The main vitamins in this supplement are A,B,C, and E.

One of the first things that was easy to see is the amount of food that is being taken in by the group. Their appetites have increased by almost twice what they were originally eating. Activity with the rays has also picked up.

Here are a few pictures of the supplement being added to their food and also some videos to show them eating. I will add to this as time goes on to see if there are any other changes, such as faster growth rates or more vibrant colors. This is being given to all my rays from Motoros to brown hybrids to my black hybrids.

Anybody else adding a supplement to their rays diet? If so, feel free to contribute which one or ones you are adding. Brand names not needed but would be nice to see what specific vitamins you are adding to their meals and why.






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[bonesb66]

Interesting - is this "powder" widely available?

 

[Zoodiver]

It's good to see people doing their own research on this topic!!


I use Mazuri Shark/Ray supplements. I have found it to be one of the most time proven supplements speficically for elasmobranchs on the market without having to mix something at home/work. When I was at the aquarium in MN, we did a lot of in house testing to find what worked best for the money for our elasmo collection. With the time involved in making our own mix in house and the expense of the different parts, it became more cost effective to go this route and get the same quality in the end product. I know several zoos/aquariums ended up doing the same thing.

Full details of what goes into it:

http://www.mazuri.com/mazurivita-zusharkraytablets-2.aspx

 

[DB junkie]

It's good to see people doing their own research on this topic!!


I use Mazuri Shark/Ray supplements. I have found it to be one of the most time proven supplements speficically for elasmobranchs on the market without having to mix something at home/work. When I was at the aquarium in MN, we did a lot of in house testing to find what worked best for the money for our elasmo collection. With the time involved in making our own mix in house and the expense of the different parts, it became more cost effective to go this route and get the same quality in the end product. I know several zoos/aquariums ended up doing the same thing.

Full details of what goes into it:

http://www.mazuri.com/mazurivita-zusharkraytablets-2.aspx

So how would you recommend getting these into our rays? Break the vitamin pill up into smaller chunks and hide in shrimp or best to just toss in the blender with the rest of the food when making home made gel?

Seems spendy but if 1 pill does a half pound of food then they should last a while I guess.....

 

[Silent Bob]

It's good to see people doing their own research on this topic!!


I use Mazuri Shark/Ray supplements. I have found it to be one of the most time proven supplements speficically for elasmobranchs on the market without having to mix something at home/work. When I was at the aquarium in MN, we did a lot of in house testing to find what worked best for the money for our elasmo collection. With the time involved in making our own mix in house and the expense of the different parts, it became more cost effective to go this route and get the same quality in the end product. I know several zoos/aquariums ended up doing the same thing.

Full details of what goes into it:

http://www.mazuri.com/mazurivita-zusharkraytablets-2.aspx

Zoodiver thanks for that link and some background info on how you personally and other zoos have done this. Some interesting stuff in that link.

So how would you recommend getting these into our rays? Break the vitamin pill up into smaller chunks and hide in shrimp or best to just toss in the blender with the rest of the food when making home made gel?

Seems spendy but if 1 pill does a half pound of food then they should last a while I guess.....

Per the directions from the Web page -

Feed to sharks/rays by placing tablet into the food (shellfish or fish).
Feed 1 tablet per ½ pound of food.Recommendation: feed out within 12 hours of pilling food.

Not to bad of a price when your looking at 600 pills.

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[Zoodiver]

One thing I didn't think to mention is that this became cost effective when doing large amounts. For someone with a few rays, and not the demand I was up against, it may be cheaper to put it together yourself. We did this when feeding hundreds of animals.

So how would you recommend getting these into our rays? Break the vitamin pill up into smaller chunks and hide in shrimp or best to just toss in the blender with the rest of the food when making home made gel?

Seems spendy but if 1 pill does a half pound of food then they should last a while I guess.....

I vary the amount with the size of the animal instead of by weight of food. It was easy since we were hand feeding large groups, and had to track the intake of various animals to prevent over feeding. I used to give 1 tab twice a week to larger motor, flower, leo, hen and tiger rays to give you an idea of what sizes got what amounts. On smaller rays (pups, sub adults, etc), it was very easy to give them 1/2 tabs stuffed into a fish or shrimp.
Mazuri also makes an elasmobranch gel diet that comes in a power. That stuff is great as well. I use it and their aquatic omnivore gel for fish a LOT as part of a varied diet.

 

[Ade]

So what are the effects?
Do people who use suppliment find;

Rays grow faster?
Breed quicker?
Grow bigger?
Live longer or less than usual?

I guess time will tell?? But for those Feeding supllimemts for 1or 2 years or more could probably confirm if any of the above mentioned are happening..

 

[Zoodiver]

Healthier. Less prone to disease and stress.
I've never seen any increase in things like growth, breeding etc.... It's more in an effort to give them what they would be getting in the wild diet to keep life as natural as possible for them.

 

[Ade]

Healthier. Less prone to disease and stress.
I've never seen any increase in things like growth, breeding etc.... It's more in an effort to give them what they would be getting in the wild diet to keep life as natural as possible for them.

Its really difficult for me not to relate this thread back to pellets... etc..
But ill respect the OPs request..

Definatley would be more interested in hearing others who use vitamins...
And those that make there own ray food and also add vitamins. .

 

[Silent Bob]

Its really difficult for me not to relate this thread back to pellets... etc..
But ill respect the OPs request..

Definatley would be more interested in hearing others who use vitamins...
And those that make there own ray food and also add vitamins. .

I do appreciate that.

Anybody else going to chime in?

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