When I started having rays. I was dirt poor. I got a hystrix the size of my palm, and housed it initially in a 20 gallon tank (back then, Leo's were 300 $...and i couldn't afford that either! I cringe when I look back). It stayed there happily, and brought me luck...lots of luck.
There wasn't any MFK then nor an easy access to the internet, and I would probably say, that this was the only site that provided insights on rays...(which i am amazed is still in the top 5):
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/5590/ray.html
My ray's initial diet was bloodworms, and guppies that i had to kill for him because he was too incompetent to catch them on his own.
After 6 months with the ray, and him bringing me luck, i was able to afford a 150 gallon tank, and I housed him there. He lived another month in that tank, but passed away because he did not survive the 5 day power failure
(i had a battery operated oxygen but that wasn't enough)....
The ray waited for me to come home that day, went close to the glass as I tapped it, and a few seconds later, was motionless.
I'll never forget my first ray, and how intelligent they are. I could only say, that even as primitive and uninformed as I was before, and having such an insufficient tank size (to begin with), water changes are key, do it 1-2x a week, and always talk to your ray when your a beginner, i guess they're more forgiving that way. Also, when you spend alot of time with your ray, you can see a difference in their attitude or demeanor to spot whether u might need to fix something.
Food for them may "seem" expensive, but just don't drink that starbucks coffee each morning, and that pretty much covers their daily food costs...with a few to spare.
Hope this was helpful! I'm not as informed or detailed as these guys here, but this is my 2 cents, and if there was something I would equate with these big guys here, is that I love my rays as much as they do
There wasn't any MFK then nor an easy access to the internet, and I would probably say, that this was the only site that provided insights on rays...(which i am amazed is still in the top 5):
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/5590/ray.html
My ray's initial diet was bloodworms, and guppies that i had to kill for him because he was too incompetent to catch them on his own.
After 6 months with the ray, and him bringing me luck, i was able to afford a 150 gallon tank, and I housed him there. He lived another month in that tank, but passed away because he did not survive the 5 day power failure
(i had a battery operated oxygen but that wasn't enough)....The ray waited for me to come home that day, went close to the glass as I tapped it, and a few seconds later, was motionless.
I'll never forget my first ray, and how intelligent they are. I could only say, that even as primitive and uninformed as I was before, and having such an insufficient tank size (to begin with), water changes are key, do it 1-2x a week, and always talk to your ray when your a beginner, i guess they're more forgiving that way. Also, when you spend alot of time with your ray, you can see a difference in their attitude or demeanor to spot whether u might need to fix something.
Food for them may "seem" expensive, but just don't drink that starbucks coffee each morning, and that pretty much covers their daily food costs...with a few to spare.
Hope this was helpful! I'm not as informed or detailed as these guys here, but this is my 2 cents, and if there was something I would equate with these big guys here, is that I love my rays as much as they do
I have 9 rays as we speak, they are from 6-7" - 10-12", so they have a long way to go, and will cost more in the future.. When i buy food for my fishes, i go in the freezer disc at the store, frozen shrimp, frozen fish, everything frozen is alot cheeper.. For myselfe i gues i use around 20-40$ a month, thats not very harsh..
