Rays on a budget- My (somewhat long) story w/pics

[Clearwater guy]

Ok, on to the new litter. I took 120 pics, but most of the pup pics didn't turn out well at all...certainly not any better than the pics of them in the plastic tray. I'll work on good pup pics later, but first the parents.

First pic is mom, 2nd pic is possible dad, 3rd pic is possible dad also. He's a Leo hybrid, but he has a lot of motoro in him, so with the way genetics work, his features may or may not show through if he is the dad...

I had no intention originally of not knowing who the dads are....but I didn't want to wait 6 months for the Leo hybrid to learn on his own...

 

[tscharf]

Mike those rays are beutiful. I have you to thank for getting me excited about rays, all the talk about how fun and interesting they are and then the pictures of ur gorgeous rays just really make me want to get one of my own. Like you said though once you get one it ain't easy to stop, I know my first one died but im already thinking about getting a second one after I get one to replace the ray I lost

 

[soulpatch]

This thread has inspired me to bother my wife non stop as well until she allows me to build a plywood pond/tank in the basement for rays. I think it woudl be an awesome experience with my god son. might even let some of the kids from the neighborhood come in to see the rays at feeding time and such.....least while they are in the house they are not out on their skate boards and bikes around my motorcycles and cars....

 

[tscharf]

Haha just watch out with that man, parents these days are crazy. You think your doing something nice they think ur being a perv.

 

[soulpatch]

I know all the parents so that is not the issue there. Hell the parent's would probably see it first while they are over having a beer with me complaining about their kids. HA HA

 

[tscharf]

Haha sounds like you got lucky and are living in a pretty good neighborhood then. Lucky ***

 

[tuaniee]

thanks mike

 

[paulW]

Just read the entire thread.

I visited a Talipia farm once.. Maybe you already know this, but I will say what I remembered. Keep in mind, they were trying to optimise for maximum growth.

I think they kept the temp at 85.
They left the lights on 24/7, and had automatic feeders going constantly. Apparently, as long as the lights are on, they will keep feeding/growing.
They kept the Tiplia in huge indoor "pools".. they had some invention to inject NaOH when the pH go too acidic.
I remember the guy saying that their population density was 7 lbs of fish per 10 gallons! Of course,they had super filtration, but it was kind of insane how tight they could pack those fish in.

IIRC, they bought fingerlings from another source and grew them out.. that might be another potential customer for you.. selling fingerlings to farms..

 

[paulW]

Oh I just thought of another comment. You have one post where you counted out something like 3000 fry/fingerlings.

I used to have a wholesale account, I would order 400-500 fishes at a time.. At least with my supplier, it was kind of a given that I would get an approximate amount.
Like in my order for 400, maybe I get 60 Bolivan rams instead of 50, and maybe I would be five short on something else.

I think you need a more efficient way to sell these tilapa fry.. Maybe you could get a decent scale, weigh the water, add fry and based on the weight increase, estimate the number of fry? Talk to your customer.. Because I don't think it's worth the time to count out 3000 fry every time you ship. You are obviously cranking them out good, so if you accidently give the customer 100 extra, that's worth it to save hours of counting (try to err on giving them on the high side).

Again, just trying to help.

 

[Clearwater guy]

Thanks Paul. There is a lot of info there that I still need to utilize. I have yet to get a scale that would be accurate enough, and I need to establish accurate weights for these fish. There's a lot of ways to do it, but it still boils down to me being able to properly acclimate them for shipping.

Mike