Motoro Stingray Journal

[mattlee]

a few of you that have followed my other journals will be aware that i took the plunge and purchased 2 motoro pups, 1 female from wild parents that is the offspring of a breeding pair at my local maidenhead aquatics and 1 male that was purchased from wharf aquatics who was supplied them from a local breeder.

the female is about 4-4.5 inch disc and the male about 5-5.5 inch disc. they are currently being kept in a 5x2x2 with a blackghost knifefish and a megaladoras catfish.

until yesterday i had my huge oscar Keith in with them but after he started to show too much interest in them he had to go im affraid

the set up -

unipac limpopo substrate, a couple of pieces of smooth driftwood and a few smooth rocks

2 x FX5 filters

2 x Rena 300w smart heaters

im using tap water at pH 7.4 and a nitrate content of 10 from the tap thats quite hard.

i am currently doing 1 or 2 water changes a week of about 50%. im testing the water daily and when the nitrates get to about 20ppm then a water change is done.

here are a few pics starting with the female

the male

both together - female at the front

 

[simonas]

superb!!

I shall be watching this with interest its still an ambition of mine to keep and try and breed the rays

I failed miserably with a reticulated ray a couple of years ago however they were notoriously difficult to feed whereas the motoros meant to be easier

Good luck I hope they work out for you

 

[mattlee]

thanks Simon.

this is very much a trial and error attempt so to say. ive done plenty of research and have many books at hand to fall on so fingers crossed it will work out ok.

when i first bought the female from maidenhead aquatics she would eat prima as a staple and bloodworm once or twice a week as a treat but since having her she now refuses prima and will only take bloodworm!

ive tried her with prawn, prima, several pellets, mussels, frozen discus mix, brine shrimp etc etc etc. everything i have to hand ive tried but she will only take bloodworms.......

the male however will take bloodworms, mussels, prawn but no dry foods.

im slightly concerned that their diet isnt varied enough and am hoping that they will take to dry stuff soon as tbh. they dont look skinny or anything but it cant be ideal for them. they are both still active and as far as i can tell are healthy, i just wish they would eat dry stuff or more variety.

im feeding them twice a day at 5.30 am and at 5.00pm ish.

 

[micko]

Looking forward to this thread. Your Rays look amazing.

 

[mattlee]

one thing i have been thinking about is adding a group of small dithers. something like a group of 15+ small bodied tetras.... my reasoning is to fill a huge empty space and too try to provide the rays with the chase of live food should they be tempted. although im not sure they would get there before the BGK and megaladoras catfish!

another option is to add a pair of my rainbow cichlids and let them do their thing providing a nice fish egg meal and maybe fry snacks for the rays.

the other option is to add a group of livebearers to provide fry as snacks.



i know some people may see this as cruel but we are in the predatory section of the forum and im just thinking of trying to provide the rays with a variation within their diet. the only downfall to any of these ideas is that the BGK nad catfish will get all the fry/eggs and the fact that if i do the live bearer thing i could end up with hundreds of platys


good idea or not?

 

[MBOU]

You think your rays are fussy now??? Try giving them the option of a live food... you'll never get them off it. Would avoid offering them anything live...

Have you tried Hikari Massivore Diet? The tablets are big but if you press down on one, it breaks into 4 bits, perfect for small rays.

I always fed a few worms to get them moving about and hunting... then dropped in bits of hikari pellet. If they ate the pellets... blood worms went in, if they didnt... they went without worms. They very quickly got the idea and learned to love the hikari food. Once they ate that, they ate anything.

EDIT: is that a plec in with them? You dont want that...

 

[simonas]

yes I used earthworms from a fishing shop when i had mine and it used to eat them chopped up

 

[mattlee]

You think your rays are fussy now??? Try giving them the option of a live food... you'll never get them off it. Would avoid offering them anything live...

Have you tried Hikari Massivore Diet? The tablets are big but if you press down on one, it breaks into 4 bits, perfect for small rays.

I always fed a few worms to get them moving about and hunting... then dropped in bits of hikari pellet. If they ate the pellets... blood worms went in, if they didnt... they went without worms. They very quickly got the idea and learned to love the hikari food. Once they ate that, they ate anything.

EDIT: is that a plec in with them? You dont want that...

yeah ive tried massivore with no success im affraid. ill keep trying though as i dont want them being total meat eaters if poss....

the plec has been removed. the stocking is 2 x rays, 1 x BGK, 1 x megaladoras catfish. i have also added 22 cardinal tetras today as dithers

yes I used earthworms from a fishing shop when i had mine and it used to eat them chopped up

earthworms are next on the list simon when i can find a fishing shop locally. its too dark when i get home from work to dig any up at the minute....

 

[IanL]

Pardon my ignorance,but are they actual "sting you and kill you" stingrays?

Stunning fish,BTW.... good luck with them..

 

[mattlee]

Pardon my ignorance,but are they actual "sting you and kill you" stingrays?

Stunning fish,BTW.... good luck with them..

lol yes they are real stingy sting rays...

have a read of this link.
http/www.potamotrygon.de/fremdes/stingray%20article.htm

 

[minnnt]

Nice thread Matt. The Cardinals sound excellent. If looking at possibly adding some Cichlids, how about something like a pair or trio of Keyholes? Although now you have the Cards in there i doubt you are considering adding anything else.

Good job mate, stunning!

 

[MBOU]

My motoro that had maybe 1-1.5" on your guys ate anything, including medium sized angelfish and definately anything smaller.

Dont assume because they are fast, that cardinals will get away! The motoros have this fabulous habit of swimming up to the top of the tank and gliding about and then suddenly dropping on the smaller fish from above.

Had to sit watching my tank in near darkness to see what they were up to as i couldnt figure it out!

Big breeding female motoro at MH @ Iver (RIP) at a 10" south american cichlid, think it was a green terror! they thought the cichlid would be fine as she wasnt in the habit of eating fish and when a customer brought it in, they put it in with her and she ate it in front of the customer never trust a stingray

 

[mattlee]

hmmmmm

well i now have 12 cardinals 10 have gone missing.......

i sat watching the tank in almost total darkness last night and saw nothing that caused a threat to the tetras. im not sure who the culprit is, my guess is the BGK or megaladoras catfish but not 100%. after reading mbou's comment it could have been the rays too

quite an expensive midnight snack for someone

im gonna be watching close tonight.

maybe ill try a group of livebearers and my rainbow cichlids next for the fry and egg snacks.

 

[minnnt]

OH WOW!! 10 down already?

Just seen an adult female moto at Wharf for £295!!!!

Assuming you bought the ones at £80 yeah?

 

[MBOU]

Expensive livefood!

Stick to much larger dithers like rainbows, adult/sub adult peaceful cichlids like Rainbow Cichlids, Keyholes, Large Firemouths, Festives or 3" ish severums etc...

Rainbows as dithers are good but probably not if you are strugglnig to get the rays too feed.

I forgot about the BGK, he is probably more a suspect at the moment i think.

And your cat for that matter...