ID these rays please (with pics!)

[kev82]

What type are these? The were imported as hystrix, but I'm having doubts, and thinking it might be retics or perhaps orbignyi.

These were imported from europe and are ~$500, so I'm just wondering what type this might be?

They are a male and a female, the female is a little skinny, while the male is quite buff. They are both the same size, or about 5-6" disc size

Female:

Male:

I haven't purchased them yet, but probably will, just wanted to clear this up first.

 

[ray777]

Not hystrix, look like orbyni

 

[Nic]

humerosa or orb sp. they are not hystrix... the price is high but I don't know how hard it is to get rays

 

[cartersvillealex]

Yeah, you could get this for under $100 US no problem here in the states.

 

[kev82]

Well I'm not in the states.

1 neon tetra goes for around $5 here, just to give you an idea of the prices here. And this is pretty much the first time any rays have been imported here. And this is the cheapest they get, I bet a motoro would set me back close to $1000.

Do you guys reckon it'll be hard to get these feeding? Considering the condition they're in, and that I probably won't have any access to live foods, just frozen and dried stuff.

 

[Nic]

You can't get any live blackworms¿?¿ it shouldn't be that big of a problem... I've used frozen bloodworms on rays before to help fatten them up.... barebottom tank is my recommendation I used to basically cover mine in bloodworms....

 

[kev82]

Oh and another thing - I can keep them in barebottom quarantine tanks that are 20g - fully cycled, running on a 100g system with a drip system on it. Should I keep them in those first to fatten up, and then move to my 150g, which will be their future home for the next 1-2 years? Or should I just put them in the 150g now? Tankmates there are one silver arowana and a few clown loaches.

 

[hollywood69]

i personally would not buy a ray if i couldn't buy live foods, especially blackworms, and earthworms

 

[kev82]

Well, live foods are pretty much out of the question in Iceland, except maybe in the summertime when you can catch worms yourself... The market is just too small for operations to breed creepy crawlies


So any more tips on how I should start out with these, and what kind they are?

 

[Rosewood022]

I agree with everyone else: Orbignyi or Humerosa (very hard to tell these two species apart). They are sold in Michigan as "Guyana" rays. In my experience, they are somewhat difficult to keep and to get to feed. I've owned several, only one survived for a long period of time. Without access to live food, I don't think I'd buy these, especially with the $500 price. Motoros seem to be less picky about their food, and would probably be a better choice for feeding frozen food (We feed frozen smelt and frozen shrimp to our adult Motoros).