i'm thinking about starting a new tank with a few rays in it. what's a good ray for my first. can i keep l;ive plants with it. do they usually go up the sides of the tank and do they ever cling to it (like a hillstream loach). how big a tank should i have. and can i mix it with my poly and/or oscar.
first ray.
- Thread starter BIGgourami
- Start date
I ignored the warnings and purchased a retic as one of my first rays. She just would not eat. It was a stressful month without it eating until it evevntually died. I would suggest to avoid retics.
I understand that motoro rays are one of the easiest to start with. My limited experience does confirm that. The problem with motoros can be that they are one of the larger rays to keep.
I understand that motoro rays are one of the easiest to start with. My limited experience does confirm that. The problem with motoros can be that they are one of the larger rays to keep.
listen to nintri, i too had started with a retic, most stressful month of my life, it never ate. started doin backflips, curled up like a taco. n was struggling for weeks after the entire month that it never ate. i then took it out n froze it because it was only getting skinnier by the day n i couldn't bare to watch anymore.
start with a motoro, there awesome rays.
start with a motoro, there awesome rays.
as for tank size your looking for something that has a foot print of atleast 24"x72" the hight is not as big of a concern. Most rays will swim up the sides of the tank but they do not have the ablity to "stick" to the glass. They actually don't even have swim bladders and require the speed to get them a float up in the tank.
i've seen my motoro hang out against the sides of the glass, it seriously looks like there suction'd to the glass. maybe he's not really, but looks cool.
my first two rays were retic and they never died. I personally believe some people do not have the right set ups for rays and that is why they die, however, some rays do get ship to the states are are doomed from the trip here.
ethnics;683642; said:i then took it out n froze it because it was only getting skinnier by the day n i couldn't bare to watch anymore.
quote]
ohh....
you freeze your fish.ehh, i find it's most humane to boil or at least heat shock them (quicker)
but yeah i'lltake youre advise and stay away from reticulated rays. are there any smaller ones than the motoro.
my first rays were a humerosa and a yepezi both purchased as guyana rays and they eat black worms right away and soon transferred over to trout worms. I also have three retics that I saved from a person who was going to euthanize them (very long story) and he had them eating black worms and they now eat everything.
The important factor with any ray is to have a good supply of live food (black worms for most and especially retics) and get the ray fat. I have my rays and have had three more in my shop and they have all survived, I believe in large part to my constant supply of black worms.
So my answer is get what ever ray you want retic or other, give em clean water at 85 degrees or higher, cover your heater and have a Sh@t load of black worms on hand.
oh and good luck,
The important factor with any ray is to have a good supply of live food (black worms for most and especially retics) and get the ray fat. I have my rays and have had three more in my shop and they have all survived, I believe in large part to my constant supply of black worms.
So my answer is get what ever ray you want retic or other, give em clean water at 85 degrees or higher, cover your heater and have a Sh@t load of black worms on hand.
oh and good luck,
huh? are those rays salt or fresh? cause i don't think i'm ready for a large SW commitment right now. beside i don't know enough about rays to keep any of the "big boys" so if there are any smaller (i want to say) less boystrous rays i'd like to know
please and thank you.
please and thank you.
zev;684076; said:
lot of truth there, but at least in my experience, retics are a harder ray to get to eat, I think largely because of the way there are shipped and held, at least round here theyre the cheapest rays in my area and you can tell they are thought of that way usually they come in half tailed and skinny as all get out, motoros are the best by far after a fair amount of reading, and a litlle experience, Im haveing a few issues with mine, and after looking around a bit i think its largely because when theyre small they grow fairly quick so they use up a lot of food energy. def get a motoro, or the "guyanas" the lfs I work for has had good luck with both and thats in crappy pet store tanks.
hope this helps