Flower Ray P.Schroderi Success stories?

[UnstoppableJayD]

Luckily I am cheerful this morning because I typed this long reply and when done it said I could not connect to server and it got lost so here it is again.

I have kept flowers on and off in my almost 7 years of ray keeping with the longest about a year and a half. I have had 11 flowers and one tiger. What I can tell you about flowers is they are high energy and burn lots of calories but are slow eaters. I kept mine with blacks marbles and jags. The other rays would clear the tank by the time a flower could eat one piece. The flowers I had loved ghost shrimp and would take almost a month to eat anything else. I would convert them to shrimp. Flowers also like to bite, they usually do not cause damage but are like a mosquito and can annoy the other rays. If another ray starts to bite back they can get stressed and may stop eating. They bite each other as well but tend to bite one ray more than others.

If you get a flower I highly recommend a 2-3 month maybe longer isolation to get them healthy and strong. I would have a backup system or divider you can use if they do get stressed you can isolate. They can go downhill really fast when the are under 10". If you are keeping with other rays be prepared for your feedings to double in time as you will most likely have to feed the flower longer so it can get enough food.

The tiger I had was larger and he loved worms and would not touch ghost shrimp. Must be a diet thing in the wild since they are in two different locations. As far as comparing the two minus the markings you cannot tell them apart. The one advantage of a tiger is you can get them larger where as a flower 8" is max. I will say that in full color and in person a tiger or a flower will put other rays to shame. If I were to get another one it would be a 12" plus wild tiger. The one I had was a wild 14" one and he went right in with the others just fine after a week of qt.

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Had my flower for 2 yrs and concur with everything Mike just said. But I cant emphasize how much slower they are at eating their food. Smaller mouths......chew and chew and chew........

Thanks for re-writing because this is exactly the type of first hand info I am looking for! You are reinforcing everything I have read on these rays so the 2 of you kept them for between 18 months to 2 years with some success... then they broke down?

I have to agree with the above as well. I've had a couple flowers and a tiger as well. First flower did not make it very long, if I recall it just wasn't a healthy import (this was 8ish years ago). The second one I tried fared much better. I had it close to a year before I sold it to go off to college. I kept it in with some larger motoros. As mentioned above, it was a very slow eater, but so long as I got it enough food the ray did well, she had no problems keeping up with the motoros. Very neat rays, especially if you get them on black sand, they really darken up and stand out well.

Do you know if this ray survived after you sold him?

Isn't a 500 gal to small for flower and tiger rays

I haven't kept any myself as I felt my tank was way to small for them


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Haha I havent heard my tank is to small in a long time... but i understand there potential size and that would be a hurdle down the road. For now i am just trying to gage the possibility of keeping one.

I personally have never seen a flower larger than 20" or so maybe a little larger, even on you tube. Seen plenty of Tigers larger. Doesnt mean they dont reach the reported sizes. Probably just because most dont live long enough.

I know John had some for sale a month or two ago. Supposed to have more soon. Would love to get some at 10-12".

I alomost bought one of the ones John had from that batch they were bigger probably 10 inches

pfffffffft. I could keep a half dozen of my custom starved till they are stunted midget rays in there for life.

On the subject of Flower/Tiggers...... I've never personally kept them YET. I hope to someday when I have a big pond again, but like many have mentioned I would plan on a species only habitat.

The Falks I have sound just like Mike described his Flowers. I tried off and on to keep them with other rays and after I lost one I gave up and now keep them by themselves. They have different feeding requirements. Less food but more often. Seems they can burn a meal off in an afternoon. Crazy long chew times. Very easily intimidated by other rays if they are even remotely territorial or too crazy at feeding time.

I'd never personally get one with the intentions of housing with blackies.....

Yea I know... interesting though the comparison to Falks... that is something I have not heard before.

Nah that's fine for a few rays depending on dimensions but I would say tiger and maybe flower need a 5-6ft wide min from the sizes I have seen


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I am not even sure anyone has had enough success to even know if it is an issue...

 

[T1KARMANN]

The thing is with a 500 gal by the time it's to big for your tank it will be to big for any potential buyers

Let's be fair when people say the have a 125 and they want a Ray everyone tells them the tank is to small so I think it's best to tell you the same

I have seen flying saucer owners one grow massive and fast I think his term was growing like a weed

Just something to take into account when buying potential tank busters what will happen to them if they make 10-15 years old


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[FishDog]

The thing is with a 500 gal by the time it's to big for your tank it will be to big for any potential buyers

Let's be fair when people say the have a 125 and they want a Ray everyone tells them the tank is to small so I think it's best to tell you the same

I have seen flying saucer owners one grow massive and fast I think his term was growing like a weed

Just something to take into account when buying potential tank busters what will happen to them if they make 10-15 years old


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That goes for most rays, the shed aquarium in Chicago IL has a huge tiger ray and leo display. I bet they had a dozen of each species and they easily would measure 30"+ across. I know lots of folks that would chop their leg off to get a leo even though they have that kind of size potential but you could not give a tiger or flower away at 20". I guess it is what you are in too that will help ease the pain of the risk.

You know this with your monster rays, if most of use kept our rays long enough to let them all get 20" plus the food bill would be so high you would have to take a loan out to buy food.

 

[ShadowStryder]

That goes for most rays, the shed aquarium in Chicago IL has a huge tiger ray and leo display. I bet they had a dozen of each species and they easily would measure 30"+ across. I know lots of folks that would chop their leg off to get a leo even though they have that kind of size potential but you could not give a tiger or flower away at 20". I guess it is what you are in too that will help ease the pain of the risk.

You know this with your monster rays, if most of use kept our rays long enough to let them all get 20" plus the food bill would be so high you would have to take a loan out to buy food.

If you know someone willing to give away a tiger or flower of 20" I would take it in a heart beat.
The food bill is a lot less for those of us that just keep 5 rays and less. You guys that keep 17 and more well I dont know how you do it.

 

[T1KARMANN]

That goes for most rays, the shed aquarium in Chicago IL has a huge tiger ray and leo display. I bet they had a dozen of each species and they easily would measure 30"+ across. I know lots of folks that would chop their leg off to get a leo even though they have that kind of size potential but you could not give a tiger or flower away at 20". I guess it is what you are in too that will help ease the pain of the risk.

You know this with your monster rays, if most of use kept our rays long enough to let them all get 20" plus the food bill would be so high you would have to take a loan out to buy food.

Funny you should mention food bills I have found my older rays have slowed down a lot with food over the last few years
I find they eat like crazy up to 18" and 6 years old then slow down
Not sure if this is because they are growing a lot so need more food but my smaller rays eat more that the big Rays for sure

Anyway back to flowers if they can be homed long term go for it


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[swedeboy78]

If you have the room for one, try one but go for a healthy specimen. You won't regret it.
I've had mine for nearly 2 years now. I elaborated on my experience with her in my recent post in the media lounge.

They're stunners for sure.

 

[bonesb66]

I kept a group of 6 tigers and found them also to be slow eaters.
My opinion would be that they're not bulky enough to mix with black rays and would just be overwhelmed with the sheer depth of them.
I would keep them again but only in a species tank.
Had great difficulty weening them off earthworms, can also vouch for them requiring several meals a day which is obviously quite a commitment.


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[keepinfish]

i might add, i had mine 2-1/2 years and did well with black rays and hystrix. BUT when he crashed he crashed quick. Something stressed him, maybe it was water, maybe it was more aggressive rays.

Needing a 500+ gallon tank may be something you will need eventually, but they are sloooooow growers! My male went from 6"-12" in 2-1/2 years.
So may take 15 years to get too big for our tanks at that rate..lol

 

[T1KARMANN]

i might add, i had mine 2-1/2 years and did well with black rays and hystrix. BUT when he crashed he crashed quick. Something stressed him, maybe it was water, maybe it was more aggressive rays.

Needing a 500+ gallon tank may be something you will need eventually, but they are sloooooow growers! My male went from 6"-12" in 2-1/2 years.
So may take 15 years to get too big for our tanks at that rate..lol

Dam that is slow growth

Do you think maybe it died because it wasn't getting the right food and amount to grow at the speed it needed


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[keepinfish]

Dam that is slow growth

Do you think maybe it died because it wasn't getting the right food and amount to grow at the speed it needed


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very possible. he at hikari pellets. He was a very good eater very aggressive at feeding time.. maybe too aggressive and that prevented him from eating as much as he could