Getting Some Rays :)

[mareshow]

all right so i've been doing alot of research over the past few days and i think i've made a decision, my local LFS has some really nice locally bread rays and they are in excellent condition (fat tails, not skinny at all ) so i'd just like to know some more information from some of you experienced keepers.

I should tell you a little info on myself, i have discus and am upgrading my tank to a 6'x2'x2' and would like to keep 2 P. reticulata, which are there for my choosing so if you guys could be kind enough to share some of your wealth of knowledge on these that would be great

Also as for aquascaping i was going to go for about an 1 1/2" of the whitest quartz based sand i could find and make it pretty fine as well. and then have a rock/driftwood/plant setup in the corner and have the rest of the bottom pretty much clear.

i should also mention the size of the rays. the male is 5-6" disc and the female is about 8" disc, and i plan to drip them in for about 3-4 hours, heres the scoop though my tank is at 84F and the tank they are being kept in is about 78F how do i raise the temp safely?

thanks for your imput

 

[Gshock]

Reticulatas are 99% wildcaught, unless what you see right now in your lfs is something else. Not sure about the sand, but, rocks must be smooth, no jagged edges, and I suggest you dont plant in your ray tank, they all get uprooted within minutes by the rays. Lower your tank temp to 78 and then gradually raise it back up within 2-3 days, don't do this all at once or you'll be shocking your rays. Also, I dont think your lfs has retics, 8" retics are pretty hard to come by. Any pictures? I also see that you're in alberta, are you getting these rays from big als by any chance?

 

[sharp tooth]

as you drip the rays there water will warm up. just run the drip quite quickly at the end and allow the temp in there container to reach the temp of the tank over time.

you could lower the tank temp, put the rays in then raise it again but i bet your discus wont like it much. make sure you have plenty of 02 pumping in the tank.

your plants wont last long as rays love to dig and move substrate about.

when i do a wc my tank drops 3 to 4c in about 30mins and then warms back up over the next few hrs.

 

[mareshow]

Hi and thanks for the quick responses, i spoke with the owner of the store and says he gets them from a guy who breeds them locally which i like, next time i go i will take pictures , and no they are not from big als, big als doesnt carry them and the rays they do have range from $200-for a really skinny deathly looking one, $1000 for a motoro, and $4000 for a pair of 6" really colorful rays (i dont remember what they were lol) but yeah definately not from big als, i dont trust them there, they are from another store which i trust because the lady who i deal with there knows her stuff about rays and personally keeps them(has for 3 years ) so i trust her and they were really nice and fat! and i think i'll keep the discus in their current tank and lower the temp of the new one, put the rays in and then raise the temp and then add the discus

 

[sharp tooth]

good plan, except you not putting rays in a brandnew setup? it will need cycleing and martureing for a while before ide want to keep rays in it.

 

[mareshow]

i'm actually going to be cycling it with German Blue Rams and not to mention i use purigen, i havent lost a discus yet so also will 75% WC a week be enough or?

 

[Gshock]

i'm actually going to be cycling it with German Blue Rams and not to mention i use purigen, i havent lost a discus yet so also will 75% WC a week be enough or?

Better to do 50% twice a week instead, with 75%, more waste is built up at one time. Still hoping for some pics though, I've never seen captive bred retics at 8"

 

[mareshow]

alright i'll get the pictures and i like the 50% twice a week better anyways lol for discus and rays, as for pics, you should see these rays, they are gorgeous, extremely well cared for the only problem is that they are currently in an 40 gallon breeder (at least i think thats the size of the tank) but they get about 25% WC every day on the stores system though that may be over all i'm not too sure (and thats what they said i'm kinda skeptical of it...)

 

[mareshow]

Alright so heres the pictures as promised i was wrong with the measurements though i think they are more like 6.5" let me know what you think and was she right on the species? are the really retics? P.S. sorry the pics are kinda blurry...

 

[mareshow]

a couple more pics