Newbie introducing Boris the Blade

[Malawi_Matt]

Hi Ladies and Gents my name is Matt. I am from the East of England.

I currently have 20 tanks of various sizes ranging from 2' to 8'.

I am mainly into Malawi Cichlids but have now ventured into Oddballs.

I have a Shovelnose Catfish and have now bought a Motoro Freshwater Stingray.
Here is Boris

Does anyone else on here keep rays, any tips on feeding or anything else that i need to know?

 

[CFC]

Hi ya Matt,no tips on rays from me,well i do know they feed the ones in the lfs on a LOT of frozen bloodworm which they graze on.What species of shovelnose do you have?

 

[Malawi_Matt]

Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum tiger shovelnose... about 8", unfourtunately he is blind but no one else wanted him so i gave him a home. he feeds really well and is really tame. He is living in my 8 x 24 x 30 tank along with some large malawi Haps. So far he has managed to eat one of them which i think was already dead!

 

[CFC]

So far he has managed to eat one of them which i think was already dead!

I wouldnt count on it That is one efficiant fish eating machine you have there,wait till he gets to about 24" (which wont take long if he is feeding well,no more than 18 months),any fish under a foot will be food.Nice fish though i would like one myself but dont have the room to house one,i do have a 10" sorubim lima shovelnose cat,a smaller cousin that will only get to 20" max,mind you it didnt stop him from eating 2 congo tetras and a breeding pair of bristle noses in a week.I should hopefully be getting a M.tigrinus (zebra shovelnose),just waiting to see if some reasonable priced ones that ive been told about come in

 

[Malawi_Matt]

i know tell me about it but becuase he is blind he will find it very hard to catch the malawis!!!

I love the zebra variety still to expensive though. I am thinking of setting up a 7 x3 x 3 just for my shovelnose and then having a redtail as well? I have seen them together before without a problem do you think they would be ok?

 

[CFC]

The only problem with keeping a RTC with a TSN is that the RTC has a much quicker growth rate and will eat the TSN if it has a chance,if you get a RTC that is smaller than the TSN then the TSN will eat the RTC,with the BIG predatory cats it is best to keep them alone or with huge tankmates like pacu.
The fact that your TSN is blind wont hinder it,they are nocturnal feeders anyway and use there antenna to find their food,the fact that the haps are fast wont help them either as he'll eat them while they sleap,TSN's are ambush hunters and dont like to have to chase down their prey.

Hopefully the zebras ive been told about will be at a reasonable affordable price,theyre only going to be 1"-2" in size though,if you want ill PM you when they come in and i know how much theyll be going for.

 

[Mogo]

Hi Matt,

A few years back, the LFS decided to bring in some teacup stingrays, but all five we're refusing to eat. So, the manager had me take one home to see if I could maybe do something. Well, the little bugger just refused to eat and died. They had me bring home another one, and although I managed to get this one to eat, he just wasn't eating enough, and eventually died. I was feeding ghost shrimp, as the rays were very small, only about two inches in diameter, and even tried chopping up some earthworms. The second ray preferred the earthworms.

Anyways, from what I know, the larger rays are hardier and easier to keep. I can't tell what type of sand you have in your tank from the photo, but make sure you are not using silica sand, as it will cause scratches in your rays skin and leave it open to infections.

Here are some of the basics in keeping motoro rays:

Water temp 75-80 F
pH 5.0-6.0 (although I have read you can keep them in pH as high as 6.5)
As for softness, there is quite a bit of discrepency in the information I have found. Some books say they prefer softer water, but I have also read that they can be in water as hard as 10 dH. Let me check the master index for their natural habitat, yep, says 10 dH. You might want to get another opinion on this.

Rays prefer to eat live foods and should be fed 2-3 times a day. Blackworms, tubiflex worms, ghost shrimp or other shrimp (has lower nutritional value, and should be fed as a treat), earthworms (should be dead first), feeder goldfish, crickets (also must be killed first), small chunks of fresh fish. They key is to provide a varied diet. The cool thing is that rays can become quite docile and tame and will learn to be hand fed.

Hope this information helps, double check on the hardness though.

Mogo

 

[dolphin]

Hi Malawi_Matt

Welcome to the forum.

I have no info about feeding the ray, other than trying to feed it prawns.

Nice to see some one here with more thanks than me, (currently 18, 1088 UK galls)

 

[cool_jool]

Hi
Your ray looks fantastic! How big is it I can't tell from the photo. I am a newbie with neons so no help I'm afraid!!! cool_jool

 

[Jamnog]

beutifull fish i have no idea about sting rays tho. good to have you here

 

[Malawi_Matt]

thanks for all your replys. boris is a 10" disk and is feeding really well.

Dolphin what you got in all your tanks? its a pain in the butt having 20 tanks but well worth it i bet you will agree!

 

[cryosi]

cracking stingray that! my lfs has some asian soles , cant find anythign on them not even the latin name the gave me ! they reckon thes get 10.5 cms large! but i stumped cant even find the latin name now lol


so what other oddballs you got?

 

[Tanked]

that is a fantastic ray m8. unfortunatly I can't be of any help in care of him as I've never had one, but fantastic to look at none the less

 

[dolphin]

Hi Malawi_Matt

Nothing unusual in my tanks. Angels, Discus, Oscars, the odd catfish and a few clown loaches.