Motoro and retic Growth Rate

[grmanrocks]

so i went fish shoppin today, just lookin.

well i found a little motoro, and was wonderin,

my biggest tank is my 100 gallon (60x18) and i kbnow its too small for them for life. so my qestion is,how big would he be beofre he would be uncomfortaable in my tank? how long would a little motoro (about 4 inches in diameter) be able to live in there comfortably?

i also came across a few little retics and was wonderin the same thing for them.

thnx in advance

 

[Brent]

i think it would work less than a year
and then you'd need to upgrade to at least 180 or 240

 

[hollywood69]

ive had 2 retics in my 100 gal for 5 years, you can control their growth by feeding patterns, but motoros are very hungry all the time and will eat you out of tank and home, retics are more controlled and actually stop when full

 

[grmanrocks]

so, after some more reasarch on motoro growth rates i found that they r highly variable with about 3-5" per year being average. is that too slow? at that rate i would have 2 years before a 5" motoro would reach 15"..............

hoping to get some more opinions on this as i wont be able to upgrade for a while

 

[Brent]

so, after some more reasarch on motoro growth rates i found that they r highly variable with about 3-5" per year being average. is that too slow? at that rate i would have 2 years before a 5" motoro would reach 15"..............

hoping to get some more opinions on this as i wont be able to upgrade for a while

in a year a motoro is going to need wider than a 18" tank

 

[Big Daves Rays]

I really think it depends on the ray. I have a motoro that I've had for 3+ years now. She started out growing very slow. Maybe an inch in a year, but this year she has grown 3" at least. But I have had other rays that grow very fast all their life. I have a male that grows very slow as well. I feed every other day until they are full. Before getting a ray I would seriously weigh everything out and make an educated desicion. Yeah, 100 could be cool for a year or maybe 2, but what happens after that. Back to the LFS? Are there locals who could possibly take it? Things to think about ya know.

Perhaps more people could chime in and give their 2 cents.

 

[ethnics]

i doubt anyone would have a hard time finding a new home for any size freshwater ray. i know of hundreds of fish keeepers across america that would gladly help me out by takin it off my hands.

 

[cichlaguapote]

I wouldn't buy a motoro unless you are def. upgrading. Retics I've heard grow slow but I don't like them for beginner rays IMO.

 

[T]

the 100 will stump the motoros growth and size.
my friend has 2 red ear sliders about 1 inch diameter shell. and she had them in a small plastic thing for 2 years. and guess what.. there still 1 inch diameter....
in the end itll work out. but iono if u wanna do that to ur ray

 

[grmanrocks]

I really think it depends on the ray. I have a motoro that I've had for 3+ years now. She started out growing very slow. Maybe an inch in a year, but this year she has grown 3" at least. But I have had other rays that grow very fast all their life. I have a male that grows very slow as well. I feed every other day until they are full. Before getting a ray I would seriously weigh everything out and make an educated desicion. Yeah, 100 could be cool for a year or maybe 2, but what happens after that. Back to the LFS? Are there locals who could possibly take it? Things to think about ya know.

Perhaps more people could chime in and give their 2 cents.

it never occurs to me to return large fish to the LFS, i either upgrade or ship them to other responsilbe fishkeepers at my own expense.

ive been thinking bout gettin a ray for a long while, like 2 or 3 years.

right now im leaning twords the retics, they just didnt look too good. they seemed alot thinner than the motoro.r they supposed to be like that? u couldnt see any bones/catrilage or whatever, they just wernt robust as the motoro, is that what theyre supposed to look like? shud i just go back and ask to see them eat?

thing is i have to overnight them to myself, cuz i cant take them on the plane. i have no problem shipping a healthy ray, but i dont want to risk it wiht a ray in bad shape. thats why i was leanin twords the fat little motoro.

so i guess it has alot to do wiht the ray, as far as how fast they grow?