Motoro and retic Growth Rate

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
i wouldn't go with retics for a first time ray. there stubborn and require way more attention. a motoro is way more hardy and eats heavily and easily. i never got my retic to eat, it died after 30 days. my motoro is freakin crazy and i can't get her to calm down lol. she eats everything. she gets angry when my rtc has shrimp and she dont cuz she can taste it in the water so she chases the rtc around til the rtc swallows it. i end up feeding her 4-10 shrimp per feeding but i enjoy it because i wanna see her grow.
 
I would agree retic is a bad choice for a first time ray. To be honest the motoro is a better ray. Not because of the price but because it's hardier and usually less problems getting it to eat. If I was buying a ray for myself esp. to ship I would buy the motoro. Just make sure you upgrade, give it to the right person when the time comes.
 
ya, im not decided yet, i like the motoro, hes super cute, but its just seems like hes gonna grow way too fast for me to keep up with. but if u think i shud go for it, then thats just one more point on the pro side
 
Well I'll say this. I wouldn't buy a motoro if I had a 100g and weren't looking to upgrade. But out of the two the motoro is a safer buy.
 
If you are a fairly experienced fish keeper and do a lot of research a retic isnt a bad first ray. Stock up on black worms, make sure it is eating before you buy it, be extra careful when transferring it to your tank, and keep your water in top shape. All it takes is research and understanding.
 
rallysman;631074; said:
If you are a fairly experienced fish keeper and do a lot of research a retic isnt a bad first ray. Stock up on black worms, make sure it is eating before you buy it, be extra careful when transferring it to your tank, and keep your water in top shape. All it takes is research and understanding.
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ive been keeping fish for a LONG time, like since i was 5. and i have had some success with fiohs that have been labed "fragile". i just know that rays can be fairly difficult and wasnt sure as to how long a more fogiving motoro would last in my tank. my water is always pristine, 0 ammonia , 0 nitrites, and less then 20ppm nitates, i also do dialy waterchanges. its a 100 gallon talk filterd by 2 Aquaclear 110s and a Rena XP3. Black worms rnt a problem, even tho id rather feed them soomething like frozen shrimp or frozen bloodworms, i can most certialy provide the ray with the blackworms if he wont accept nething else right away.

im gonna hit few more stores while im here, i may even venture into pennsylvannia, but i am almost certialy taking some sort of ray home with me, its been 7 years scine i passed up my first shot at one, and if i dont find any other then what i have found already i will most likely opt for the retic simply cuz the price is much more forgiving and i personally think i can handle it. i alos dont wont the daunting task of finding a home for and shipping a large motoro later on down the road, when i already may have to move my gar.

so if i was to get the retic, how likely would it be for it to accept frozen bloodworms or shrimp? they may not even be retics, they are "teacups" and from the best id i can give them, they look like retics to me.
 
grmanrocks;631177; said:
im gonna hit few more stores while im here, i may even venture into pennsylvannia, but i am almost certialy taking some sort of ray home with me, its been 7 years scine i passed up my first shot at one, and if i dont find any other then what i have found already i will most likely opt for the retic simply cuz the price is much more forgiving and i personally think i can handle it. i alos dont wont the daunting task of finding a home for and shipping a large motoro later on down the road, when i already may have to move my gar.

so if i was to get the retic, how likely would it be for it to accept frozen bloodworms or shrimp? they may not even be retics, they are "teacups" and from the best id i can give them, they look like retics to me.
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I haven't had good sucess with a retic, it never accepted frozen shrimp after much starvation seriously thought it was accepting frozen krill, and it eventually died in the hands of someone else from starvation.

This coming from someone who has gotten many wild fish to eat frozen/pellets. It's also much harder with retics and rays in general as you have to get the food to the bottom an make sure they recognize it.
 
Just to give you an alternative perspective in regards to all the negativity concerning retics - I have a custom 100g (footprint is 48"X26") with a female retic and a male CB motoro. The motoro has a bit more of a personality (splashes at the surface for food) but both are great rays. Both rays were a similar size when I first introduced them. They both compete aggressively for food, have comparable appetitites and have been growing at similar rates.

I haven't found the retic to be any less hardy than the motoro. She's a little more fussy about food but I didn't have too much trouble getting her to switch from blackworms to frozen shrimp and nightcrawlers. She's shown a little more reluctance to try Hikari carnivore pellets than the motoro.

That being said, I did have a retic in the past which was sickly from the start and never managed to convert from blackworms to any other food despite starving. So I think the starting quality of the ray is critical.

I think the general tendency is to to feed rays a lot. I tend to not overfeed mine (2 meals per day, a frozen shrimp in the morning and a nightcrawler each at night) and they've filled out nicely but have been growing slowly. I'm willing to admit I'm not a ray expert, but both my rays are consistently healthy and active with thick tails and no visible bones. At their current growth rate I envision them living in their current home for quite a while.
 
My Retic accepted frozed after 3 weeks when I mixed it in with the blackworms.
 
if you buy a motoro at 5" or less, you should be okay for maybe 2 years. some say they grow fast, some say they grow slow. but some have huge rays in small tanks. everyone says it aint good for them, but its really up to you brotha. it all comes down to the keeper. control your motoro's eating habbits. feed every other day in controlled portions. i feed mine 10 shrimp every other day and she's about 8". feed yours 5 every other day. or 2 a day. or 3 a day spread out over the day. 1 when u wake, 1 in the after noone, 1 b4 u sleep. dont fill her, but keep her fed.
 
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