fresh water sting ray

[one-envy]

i woke up the other morning to my dad, he told me he picked up a sting ray from our lfs. i was quite upset to hear this because my tank is not set up for a sting ray. it is an 85gal tank its tank mates are two 4in parrot fishes, one 5 in arowana, and a pleco. i have no clue in how to take care of the sting ray. i know that it is one that is from thailand though. it is a rather large sting ray, about 8-9 inches in diameter. does anyone know how big it will get? what should i feed it, the guy told my dad that he feed it bloodworms. will it do fine with my tank mates? is there anything i should know about these fish? any help would be thankful.

 

[juliethegr8t]

Wow, I don't know what I'd do if I woke up to being the unknowledgeable owner of a ray! I did a little searching since I know absolutely nothing about the freshwater type, and the following links will hopefully help you indentify and care for your new ray.

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

 

[CFC]

I have never kept sting rays but heres what i know about them,they must have a sand substrate with no obstructions so they can have the maximum surface area of tank bottom to swim on.They need excellent filtration and are intollerent of even low nitrate levels,water changes should be done at least twice a week.They can be very difficult to feed,they wil graze on huge ammounts of bloodworm but it is best to try and get them onto meatier foods as soon as possible,cooked prawns (ones intended for human consumption) seem to be a favourite,ghost shrimp may also be taken.They need big wide tanks of at least 120 gallons,but since you have a arowana i presume you will be getting a minimum of a 200 gallon tank in the near future??

 

[YngUrbanCMH]

Wow, that's an expensive fish! They usually go for $500-1000 here. Good luck, would love to see photos once you get him settled in.

 

[one-envy]

Thanks for all the information, it helps a lot. yes i plan on getting a bigger tank, 200gals plus in the future, probably a year or two into the future. right now im working on getting a pond built for my caimen, hes outgrowing it fast. i bought sand from my lfs yesturday, the sting ray seems to be enjoying it more than the gravel i had before. he seems to be doing quite well and is eating, he has eaten bits of shrimp we cut up and has even attempted to eat a feeder fish my dad put in there. i will get pictures up as soon as i can.

 

[cichlid_freak]

I love caimen. I wish I could afford one and really wish I could afford to house one. Just a few questions, how you gonna heat it? How do you feed it? How do you keep it from chewing on a finger or two of the neighborhood kids?

 

[one-envy]

you'd be surprised that i only payed $130 for my caimen and it came with a tank. its been warm over the summer here so my caimen, chomper, has been outside in my parents pond. its one of those little plastic ones you get from home depot or what not. my mom use to keep koi in it,but the neighborhood felines found the tasty morsals. we built a 3.5 foot high fence around it for the time being. there is a large heat lamp in one corner and my father aquired two large aquarium heaters that are hidden in the pond. my brother in law and i are currently working on building/digging a larger enclosure for him. we have a large back yard and my father just loves my caimen. my mother and sister dont care too much for him though. hes in the backyard so no kids to bother him. i use to feed him mice, but it got too expensive and raising mice was hell, so i switched to store bought chicken. he gets a dozen feeder fish a week also. ive been doing a lot of fishing recently and hes been benifiting from it.

 

[crimsontsavo]

Ohh one-envy, I used to have an aligator.
They are so much fun!
Mine ate what yours eats, chicken and fish.
They have so much character.
Mine was only about as long as my arm.
We kept him in my bathtub until I had a small pond dug for him.(one week)
Then off to the side yard with a fence some plants a basking area and of course his own pond,LOL.

 

[Malawi_Matt]

Hi All,

I keep freshwater Stingrays. Currently i have a 14" Male P Motoro and a 9" female. They are great fish but eat alot and also require regular water changes. They will acclimitize to most conditions although ultimately they need a low nitrates.

Feeding wise mine love blood worm, prawns and earth worms are a favorite!

If you post a pic i will ID it for you. They are very funny creatures and become very tame. Do not worry too much if it starts gliding on any filter oulet currents, mine does it all the time, it just likes it. As long as it feeds well you will have a healthy ray. Oh and one more thing do not treat with anykind of medication as they do not like chemicals!!!!

Thanks

Matt

 

[one-envy]

hey matt,
thanks for the info, i will post a pic as soon as i can. the sting ray is about 8-9in in diameter. he is brown, with no patterns. the outter part of his disc is white, about 3mm in thickness. has a white dot on the tip of its back, and the tail/stinger is white. the guy at the lfs told my dad that it was from thailand, i dont know if i believe that or not though. any help would be great.