Getting a p.motoro pup in a month :)

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stranger23

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 24, 2010
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England
Hi everyone im new to this forum so a little about me i have many animals including, newts, fire belly newts, panther crab, rainbow crab, dart frogs, veiled chameleon, rats, blue lobster, axolotls, tropical fish and kids lol :) my next adventure is a stingray and before i get it im looking for as much info as i can, its a p.motoro pup will be just over a month old and feeding well, im going to put it in a quarantine tank that is 4 ft long by 2.5ft wide with an external filter and a internal fluval 4 with a heater with a guard on to protect the stingray from burns and sand substrate (is childrens play sand ok to use?) with a few bits of bogwood for decoration, this is a temporary home as we are also setting up a 8ft long by 3ft wide tank as a more permanent home for him to go in with a few tank mates just need to get the tank properly cycled also would it be best to put a few fish in first or the stingray because i dont want to get an ammonia spike and kill the stringray and i know that can happen with a new tank. Also any other info you can give me would be great as i want to have as much info as possible to make sure the ray is kept properly but im finding it hard to find info. one thing i cant find a definite answer to is whether stingrays grow fast or slowly? some say fast but others say only an inch or two a year? Thank you for any help you can give me
 
The growth really depends on what type of ray you get and the type and frequency of your feedings. I have retic's which are much slower growing and top out at a smaller size than a motoro but to give you an idea I feed mine what they can consume in about 5 minutes once a day and my female that I got just 3 years ago is now at 13 inches and is pregnant with her second litter. Male who is also around 3 years old is closer to 10 inches and has been fully mature sexually for about 10 months. I feed nightcrawlers, market shrimp and pellets primarily. With the nightcrawlers being their favorite. When I got my female she was just around 4 inches and roughly 6 months old wild caught. Hope that helps some :)
 
Thanks for your reply, im going to give a varied diet but how do i feed? do i just put food in the tank and let it fall to the floor or put in near the ray? i would try hand feeding but also not sure how to go about starting that.
 
feeding depends.... do you have other fish in the tank? If no other fish you can feed any way you want drop it in or hand feed. If you have other fish you will have to be a bit more creative. I used long tongs until I was comfortable with hand feeding. Or a large turkey baster if it is smaller food like black worms. Variety is the best for them and if you can get them on frozen or pellet it will save you a ton on your feeding bill cause I can tell you they get spendy to feed on live food. I get my nightcrawlers from walmart though and that does save some, and I am lucky my BF is a seafood distributor :)
 
I feed live blood worms twice a day along with chopped up night crawlers at night. They eat much better at night than during the day. They like low light conditions. I scoop out their waste 2 or 3 times a day to keep the ammonia levels down to a minimum. Try other foods too but be prepared to net them out if they go uneaten. I have several and they like having other rays around. I have Retics and Motoros together and they all get along great. Good Luck!!
 
Thank you for your advice, im going to look into what food i can get where so im all prepared for when he arrives. Im thinking of putting a bubble wall in the tank will this be ok the ray wont tangle itself up in it will it?
 
Personally I do not think bloodworms are big enough for rays unless very young, they are just too small.

My pup eats whole lance fish and she is under a year old.

It is nice to see that you have done your home work as it seems like you are ready to go.

My pup (marble motor) has grown by about 3 inches in 4 months. I feed twice per day.
 
i must admit ive had a few impulse buys in the past mainly when we were just starting out but ive learnt my lesson and knowing how tricky it can be to keep a ray alive im going to spend the whole month learning about them, altho we are buying it from a pet shop i know its not gone thru the horrors of being imported as it was born in the shop and they are not letting them go until they are eating properly which is shocking to hear from a pet shop normally they dont care and are just after your money so im very impressed with them. im going to be moving tanks around and things to make sure the ray is in the best place possible to minimise stress (having 2 kids running and screaming around it all day probably wont help it stay stress free) im currently looking at setting up a tank for ghost shrimp to see if i can get a population going so i dont have to keep buying them as i think most of my animals would like a tasty treat now and then.
 
Ghost shrimp can turn out to be a bit of an addiction for rays and it may mean that they do not take other foods if fed a lot. Some say that they can be a source of parasites too but I imagine this is less of an issue.

I would feed worms (from a pesticide free source) as a treat, try to get them on sinking massive and carnivore tabs (by hikari) along with some sinking cichlids pellets and then add in frozen foods like smelt, lance fish, mussel and krill superba (large shrimps) etc.....

Where in uk are you buying it from?
 
in im northampton, i do quite often travel up to 40 miles to visit fish shops :) so can get places to buy foods just need to find where they are in the first place
 
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