The 400's in their new home

Finally got the big boys into out new house. The 450 square is up and running with our big fish into it. Can't wait to get some black rays here soon.

Thanks again Dave, love the tank!

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Cool, can't wait to see them all set up and running..

Yeah me too! The square one is set up right now but we only have an fx5 on it because we literally just moved and need to get the sump and plumbing up and running. So the water is real murky lol. Almost lost a 24"+ catfish but saved him and didn't loose any other fish in the move! yay

Glad to hear you saved him.. Was it the RTC ??

TSNxRTC

Those are some BIG tanks, I would hate to do water changes on those.

Well actually if you put your FX5 to good use water changes don't take long at all.. I have a piece of 3/4" pvc hooked to an extra connecter for the FX5.. Nothing like pumping out over 900gph..lol Filling takes a tad longer but not too much.. One hose from the bathroom sink, one from the bar sink, and one from outside..lol I can do a full water change on my 300 in like 20-30 minutes..

Yeah I don't even remember the last time we did a water change on our 250. Like every 2-4 weeks is when we do a 20% or so change. We let our sump and canisters do all the work.

wow, i think the longest i've ever went was 2 weeks and i was scared to wait that long.. Plus i did a 60+% WC the day i left and 60+% the day i came home.. Plus VERY LIMITED feedings when i was gone.. But then again i've always done 50% wc's weekly, for the past 4 years or so..lol

wow incredible,,,leopoldi?rays are the black rays you speak of?

just curious,,

those are awesome tanks way to go

nice tanks

cant wait to see them all cleared up and stocked.

So hooked up the fx5 last night and it cleared the tank up in a couple of hours, thank god for craft store polisher pads haha.

Unless there is a problem, or a spike of some sort in the tank from left over food or something that is the only time we do water changes.

Yes, I am thinking about a group of leopoldis that was the original plan for the tank. Hopefully they would breed someday but I don't really care it would be just for fun anyways




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Glad to see it all up and running.. I hear ya, a group of Leo's would be sweet. Some day when i'm back in the ray game i'll get some Leo's.. That's one ray i never got my hands on..

Yep that's what my goal is. Had a couple retics, a couple motoros. Would love a flower someday too but I'm going to just go to the black ones! I ain't messin around!! lol

I hear ya.. My buddy in BC that imports rays for me just got back from Thailand and a few other spots and has some killer pics and video's of all the black rays and just amazing marbles he saw.. He's looking at importing some maybe this summer i think. I wish i had a few grand to drop and i'd go in with him..

Here's a teaser he sent me.. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

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Wow that pretty cool. Yeah I have a couple people I have in mind of getting them from, we will see when the time comes though.

Personally I'd go with mike at H20 or Vamptrev has been putting out some awesome pups. I've bought rays from vamptrev before and they were great quality and super healthy. Not to mention packed very good also.

I was thinking Mike at h20 and also Shawn from MNstingray or John at eczs.

Everyone has so much to complain about John being an ass but he has such a booming business he just doesn't put up with anyones crap and doesn't have time to answer 5 million questions. When I talked to him he seemed like a good guy and not to mention he gets some killer deals.

I had no idea vamptrev was breeding to sell. Last I talked to him he was just breeding and keeping most of them and had a waiting list a mile long for the remainder of the pups

I've heard some shady stuff about MNStingrays and def. ECZS, my buddy damn near had to sue him to get his cash back for fish he never even sent.. he kept delaying shipments, and then saying fish were sick and died, then tried to send him fish he didn't even want just so he didn't have to refund $$. so I'd be careful with him. But on the flip side my buddy in KY (fishdog/mike) has bought a few rays from him and says he's great guy.
Not sure how long vamptrevs wait list is now, between no-one having cash and lots of breeders out there now. It took him some time to sell his last one, and I think he just had another batch last week. They were tiny though so it'll be some time before they're ready to go.
I know it's just me but I'd go with mike, no complaints and his rays are always fat and healthy or he won't sell them.

Yeah thanks for the info. I always thought mike was over priced but I guess you get ehat you pay for, right? My goal is to breed them and get some locally around WA. Id like to see more people with them around here

Ashley wrote:Yeah thanks for the info. I always thought mike was over priced but I guess you get ehat you pay for, right? My goal is to breed them and get some locally around WA. Id like to see more people with them around here

sweet if you do let me know ......that is one i would like to have my self

Put a few powerheads in there and you'll have a DIY endless pool! I plan on getting a 300-400ish gallon tank in the main room of my place and aquascape the crap out of it! GATF and Armatus' will be my weapons of choice Great looking fish! Love the Gars.

Ashley wrote:I was thinking Mike at h20 and also Shawn from MNstingray or John at eczs.

Everyone has so much to complain about John being an ass but he has such a booming business he just doesn't put up with anyones crap and doesn't have time to answer 5 million questions. When I talked to him he seemed like a good guy and not to mention he gets some killer deals.

I had no idea vamptrev was breeding to sell. Last I talked to him he was just breeding and keeping most of them and had a waiting list a mile long for the remainder of the pups

Leos are my favorite Rays, best of luck getting a good pair. Be nice to have someone who can breed and sell at a great price to help those of us that can't afford the high price tag.

There's a breeder in Southern Oregon, Look for him on MFK, and I know Travis from MA is getting Large Leos this week. Becareful, Travis is not the best vendor to deal with, but like most vendor, if you get on their good side and spent a good amount of $$$, you'll have good relationships.

Your 400 makes me regret selling my 460!

I've looked into buying from Brent before in S Oregon.. All this talk about Leo's makes me wanna jump back into the ray game now.. . I wish I wasn't broke and could afford a couple.

hbluehunter,

Just a thought,

Start a Black Ray Group for the North West , Raise money from Northwest hobbyist.
$100 for each member, and each member is allowed to buy pups at $150 per pup limited to 2 each.
Use a lottery system to determine who gets to buy pups first. After all members gets 2 pups, then you are free of all obligations to the members. The Parents are yours to keep, allow members to buy additional rays for $250 each, there after the first 2 and all 10 members are satisfied.

This way we can allow 10-20 people in the northwest to enjoy black rays 3-5 years from now, without our significant other, "How much did you pay for that!?!"

So how much is one of this infamous black rays??

That would be great but they take 2-3 years to mature and possibly breed. And for a pure Leo pup around 4" you're looking at around $1000, and if you want a black diamond probably $1500 + for a pup.. That's a big reason why these rays are such a big deal, not to mention they are beautiful rays.. Some day I will own some, but trying to convince my wife to let me drop a couple grand on 2 rays is almost an impossible job..

Yeah I wish I had the money last year Shawn was selling a group of leos for $3500. 3 females and 2 males perfect breeding group.

That would have been a killer buy..

sonnys503 wrote:hbluehunter,

Just a thought,

Start a Black Ray Group for the North West , Raise money from Northwest hobbyist.
$100 for each member, and each member is allowed to buy pups at $150 per pup limited to 2 each.
Use a lottery system to determine who gets to buy pups first. After all members gets 2 pups, then you are free of all obligations to the members. The Parents are yours to keep, allow members to buy additional rays for $250 each, there after the first 2 and all 10 members are satisfied.

This way we can allow 10-20 people in the northwest to enjoy black rays 3-5 years from now, without our significant other, "How much did you pay for that!?!"

only problem with tha is that no one here could house them and they take up to five years to breed. if they even will breed with each other

On to topic: Post more pics!

On a side note: I wish my girl would hop on this fish hype with me. It would be so much easier to get the monster tanks I really do want.

I will try to get more pics here soon!

Does your girl like the fish at all? I wasn't really into it when I first met my boyfriend he had a couple 55gallons at that time. So one day he took me to the fish store and I got my eye on a little green spotted puffer and fell in love! ...And then the rest was history! lol

No but seriously, set her up her own little tank and pick her fish out there are come damn cute fish out there, she will get addicted! We now have 2 tanks over 400 gallons and I even am excited for the pond my man is building in the back yard, now thats addicted! lol

Good luck!

Ashley wrote: Yeah thanks for the info. I always thought mike was over priced but I guess you get ehat you pay for, right? My goal is to breed them and get some locally around WA. Id like to see more people with them around here

It'd be sweet to see Leos especially BDs in the NW.

sonnys503 wrote:

Ashley wrote: Yeah thanks for the info. I always thought mike was over priced but I guess you get ehat you pay for, right? My goal is to breed them and get some locally around WA. Id like to see more people with them around here

It'd be sweet to see Leos especially BDs in the NW.

Yeah I hear ya! I love the BD but I would only ever spennd over $2500 on a ray if I could buy locally. I would never get one shipped to me. $1200 for a leo is enough of a risk for me! haha

Brent down in Medford, or visit arrowanaclub.ca, there are a few guys in vancouver BC that has them and are breeding them. I beleive they are legal to cross the stateline. fingers cross for you. you'll have a waiting list if you can breed them.

Only fish she has ever made mention to were some African hybrids. She doesn't mind my fish hobby. She just wants to see us get into a house before I get any 250 gallon+ monsters then I can go ape nuts assuming I can afford it

Adonijah wrote:Only fish she has ever made mention to were some African hybrids. She doesn't mind my fish hobby. She just wants to see us get into a house before I get any 250 gallon+ monsters then I can go ape nuts assuming I can afford it

Oh yeah that makes sence. Do you live in an apartment now? My boyfriend and I just moved into a house. I was actually not into fish for a good couple months because our 1 bedroom apartment was just packed with fish tanks. It totally just turned me off to the hobby there for a while! Now im starting to get back into it.

Good luck!

heres some more pics

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and heres one of our newest pick up the GATF

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haha i love my flash suppressor (my finger lol) looks like e.t...... ouchhhhhh