Theory on Ray Feeding

[iwiied]

My theory is .. if you take the time to chop up their food to smaller pieces (in my case, shrimp) even though they will eat the bigger chunks just as good. The small size of the pieces in the stomach will mean more surface area for the digestive enzyme to work on digesting the food which means more nutrient to their cells which will cause them to grow at a faster.
any opinion?

 

[skylineiz]

what hits the ground first...?

1 Tonne of bricks
or 1 Tonne of feathers?


point is, they eat as much as they can anyway.

try it out but i don't think that if they can only eat 1 whole shrimp normally, they wont eat like 2choped up shrimps....

 

[le patron]

im skeptical, but give it a go and let me know how it works out

 

[Nic]

it would be the same way either way imo...

 

[vamptrev]

it would be the same way either way imo...

ditto, same either way except mine can swallow the smaller pieces easier so it keeps my tank cleaner....

 

[DudeInSI]

what hits the ground first...?

1 Tonne of bricks
or 1 Tonne of feathers?


point is, they eat as much as they can anyway.

try it out but i don't think that if they can only eat 1 whole shrimp normally, they wont eat like 2choped up shrimps....

Factoring in the surface area and the air resistance, I'd say bricks =)

 

[tank125]

He is saying that the food is more digestible, not that you can fit more. This is working with the assumption that no mastication occurs (mechanical breakdown = chewing) and that a piece of shrimp will pass through the digestive tract without getting fully digested. I have not noticed undigested food as feces.

So in other words the OP is saying that small pieces are more digestible because of the higher surface area ratio.

 

[FishDog]

I picture the smaller pieces getting stirred up during feeding and making a mess of the water. I would rather feed my ray a whole worm than several chunks. As long as they are not pooing the whole undigested food out then all is good.

 

[all blacks]

if anything, it may (or not) aid digestion as you say, but I don't think it has any direct effect on growth rates.. unless you're making the protracted argument that quicker digestion = more feedings = faster growth.

 

[skynoch]

With shrimp I find if it's cut up they will eat more at one time and there is less of a mess. Unless we're talking my 15" plus rays then whole shrimp work out the same as cut up. I'm using the large size shrimp.