Rank smell

[danotaylor]

G'day folks.
New to rays, have a trio 1M @ 12" 2F @ 15-17", in a 560gal 10x3x2.5 acrylic tank. The waste from these guys reeks!
Can other ray keepers confirm if this rank smell is typical or perhaps related to what I am feeding? Massivore pellets as mainstay, raw cut shrimp 3 times per week.
I have never smelled aquatic animal poop like this. Our basement reeks. My wife loves the rays but doesn't want to be down in the basement anymore d/t the smell.
I change 350gal of water weekly, and siphon out the visible poop daily. I have twin tsunami sump filters. Sand substrate only, no other decor. No tank mates.
Any input or advice would be appreciated!

 

[phreeflow]

Try withholding the Massivore for a week and see if that changes things.

 

[danotaylor]

Try withholding the Massivore for a week and see if that changes things.

Okies mate, will give that a go. I have a feeling its the massivore. Do you think I need to increase the shrimp or add something else or will they be ok for a week?

Are there any pellets suited for rays that maybe don't result in toxic poop smell?

Pretty sure 1 of my females is pregnant so maybe I should try to target feed her daily still

 

[Jexnell]

Massivore is a know culprit for stench. That has been posted several times here from people that use it frequently. Possibly you could switch them to a different pellet like NLS or Northfin. May cost more in the long run but a non odorous basement and wife approval may be worth it.
I looked it up Northfin has a 10mm carnivore pellet
NLS also has a 10mm pellets

Both may take a bit for the fish to get used to, akin to changing a McDonald's kid over to normal cooked dinners.
You can help by using the juice from thawing bloodworms or the like to soak the pellets before feeding to make them seem more tasty at first till they get used to them.
I probably would not do the swap during pregnancies tho, to be on the safe side, if you go that route.

 

[phreeflow]

You can try earthworms, whole smelt, silversides, mussels, etc.

I once saw a test where New Life Spectrum and some other pellet, possibly Northfin (can’t recall), came out on top for water quality. The person fed several tanks with different foods and tested the water quality over time and NLS polluted the least, suggesting that the fish digest most of the nutrition and less comes out as waste.

That and RD. convinced to me make the switch but to be honest, none of my fish ever relished NLS or Northfin the way they do Hikari foods. They ate Massivore like candy.

Also, if you’re going to feed a lot of market shrimp, or any fish food, it would be a good idea to add some fish vitamins like Vitachem or Sera Fishtamin

 

[danotaylor]

Jexnell I appreciate your insight mate! Thanks for posting I am fairly new to MFK so I haven’t seen such posts re massivore stench

The food was supplied to me with the purchase of the rays. There was 2 types, 1 was hikari and the other northfin. I would feed each on alternating days, but have been out of hilarious for 2 weeks, so at this point I’d say both create the stench.

I agree though, my wife would rather shell out a few extra clams to have a stench free basement!

Can any other ray owners vouch for NLS with rays being stench free? Or any other pellet suggestions? Has anyone tried aquaculture high protein feeds?

 

[danotaylor]

My edit timed out...

Can any other ray owners vouch for NLS with rays being stench free? Or any other pellet suggestions? Has anyone tried aquaculture high protein feeds?

I will investigate the availability & price of raw flesh feeds. I want to feed high quality, not necessarily cheap, but I have moderate budgetary restrictions to consider

Any thoughts on the ingredients of this stuff?

 

[RD.]

Agree about the Massivore. Smells like ass. Also, IMHO no need for high protein/high fat diet for rays in captivity. Captive rays don't need near the calories as those in the wild, especially once they pass the juvenile growth stage. Just something to keep in mind. If you want to remove the stink, and still feed a quality food to your rays, try these: Veggie Rounds Sinking (omegasea.net)

Salmon, Whole Herring, Wheat Germ Meal, Wheat Flour, Rice Bran, Dried Kelp, Shrimp, Pea Protein, Wheat Gluten, Spirulina, Herring Oil, Vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Inositol, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Citric Acid (Preservative), Vinegar, Mixed Tocopherols (Preservative), Rosemary Extract, Astaxanthin (Color), Canthaxanthin (Color).

Min. Crude Protein…40.98%
Min. Crude Fat………8.55%
Max. Crude Fiber……2.38%
Max. Moisture………8.14%
Max. Ash……………8.95%
Min. Omega 3……………1.32%
Min. Omega 6……………1.26%

They can be purchased in bulk 2.75 lb pail size.

These should be easy to source in OH, seeing as OmegaSea was/is based in Painsville OH. Not sure if anything has changed since Spectrum Brands bought them out in 2020?

Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB) has acquired Omega Sea, LLC (“Omega”), a Painesville, Ohio-based specialty manufacturer of premium fish food products primarily sold under the Omega One brand. Spectrum acquired Omega from an investment group led by Austin Capital Partners. EdgePoint served as the exclusive financial advisor to Austin Capital Partners and Omega Sea, LLC. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.


While I am still a fan of NLS, and even NF when my fish will eat it - those larger sized pellets are gonna stink too. Krill/Garlic etc, can certainly stink up a room over time.

Hope that helps.

 

[RD.]

And before anyone asks about NLS wafers......

Algaemax is a super food, but not geared towards a stand alone diet for rays. The old NLS wafers from 20 or so yrs ago, pre-Algaemax formula creation, was more along the lines of the Omega wafer that I previously posted. I had a couple of buddies in town that fed those wafers by the bucket full to their rays. One of them imported rays from the Netherlands, and Asian aros from Singapore. I never once saw a ray that didn't gobble those wafers up, they pounded them back like a fat kid eating M&M's. But those wafers are no more. Those guys were some pissed when Pablo changed the formula, and then dropped it altogether yrs later when Algaemax was created. Just a few of those rays in a group shot.

 

[danotaylor]

RD. thanks so much for the informative reply! I (and my wife) appreciate the info & look forward to clearing the air in our basement. I will certainly buy some of the omega veggie rounds! I feed omega one kelp pellets to my tropheus! It makes me laugh that their veggie foods have salmon & herring as the #1&2 ingredients. My trophs love the stuff & never had a case of bloat feeding it to them.
Good on ya mate. Cheers