Hey Guys Im New , Starting A Freshwater Stingray Tank , Here Is A Li

[kirtis_mcleskey]

Hey guys , I just registrered on this site today , and well here is a little about me

im 21 Male, I have had freshwater tanks for about 7 years, and Ive had Saltwater tanks now for 3 years.


Marine tanks are kool, yes , but what had a major influence on me wanting saltwater was because you could have white sand in the tanks,

I recently went into a petstore that I dont usually visit in a town abotu an hour away from me.
and the guy had a 75 gallon display tank with cichlids and some plecs right as you walk in the door .
and the first thing that I noticed about the tank was that it had WHITE sand in it, So I went up to the petstore owner and told him that I thought it wasnt possible to have WHITE sand in a freshwater tank , because ocean sand is calcium based and he says that lots of freshwater fish cant take that amount of calcium that saltwater fish could , I proceeded to ask him what kind of sand it was then and he told me it was called tropical white sand, from the NILE river.

He showed me how it doenst cloud up like silica sand does when you move it around ,

so I have started my 55 gallon tank again , and I am going to get this white sand and have some plants in it.


His tank looked like a Ocean kelp garden caue of the plants he had in it.

My friend a few years ago , got a freshwater stingray , that was about 8 inches in diameter, which I think is too big to be kept in the size of tank he had, but this petstore owner , said that he was getting one for this display tank he had in the window, and he told me he coudl order them in as small as 3 inches across in diameter,

SO IM wanting a freshwater stingray


He said that the ones under $50 are usually brown , is there a place online that you can buy freshwater stingrays that are spotted like some of the ones I have found pictures of on the net.


im just psyced at how pretty his tank was wtih the white sand to me its 1000 percent better looking than gravel

 

[Earthgirl]

Hi there kirtis_mcleskey !!

Please, please firstly do some research on fresh water sting rays!
Sand with high amount of silca is totally out of the question for our little frisbee (ehem CFC) friends.
It has this lovely tendancy of scratching and scraping the rays and is horrible for their slim coat.
The Brown sting ray you may see for about (depending where you are from) is the reg "teacup variety".
This just means that the ray is TOO young to be able to identify and IMO will not make it cause they need ALOT of attention and to be picky and anal about their water.
Spotted ones are more than likely the Motoro, which IMO is the best to start out with. (though I had no choice in which to start out with living so far north)
55 gallon will do you for a little time, but you need an AWESOME filter, I say either the overflow system or the eheim method. I have an overflow and love it!
There are other tricks of the trade when it comes to rays and if you are serious in getting one, PM me or some of the other gentlemen here (CFC is really good for advice, though a tad bit testy ) I would be glad to help!


Earthgirl

 

[Lynden]

The key to any fish is research. At my LFS, they have had all kinds of stingrays, ranging from 150$ to 400$, the names escape me now, although they included teacup and motoro. Earthgirl, they do have a Big al's in edmonton right? If my total pet can order them, i cant imagine a Big als not being able to.

My LFS commonly kept theirs in an average display tank, around 30 gal. The one they have now is a 90. They have often kept them with little things like neons and guppies, which truely amazes me. In the 90 they have the one in now, the equipment and the feeding is not very far away from the equipment and feeding regime in a normal FW. My LFS people can be screwballs however, so im not gonna trust them. Im sure someone as experienced as yourself will be able to keep them with a little research.

 

[kirtis_mcleskey]

well im not saying I dont need advice, i do , I have never kept one before


my friend that had his, had it for a long tim and he had a small filter on the tank and did water changes everyday

the only reason he lost it , is cause he stopped feeding it cause of his lifestyle lol but i dont need to go into what that was



right now I have a emperor 400 on the tank and a millenium 3000 filter.

the guy at the petstore said that thsi sand is not silica or calcium based,

from the nile and its some kind of rock , but its really really fine grained almost like sugar

I was amazed at how much prettier a freshwater tank looked at that store with that sand in it.

It was just as white if not whiter than CARRIBEAN reef sand

 

[Earthgirl]

We have a big al's but there has been some sort of ban on catching rays now (i dunno, this what I hear up here) and the prices start at $250 for me.
Sounds like pretty sand and I have NEver heard of a ray being kept in a 30 gallon tank. 90 sounds to small for me, but I like big tanks, that is why I have 2 baby rays in a 230 gallon.....
I have never heard of this sand, but know I am intriged. I want white sand, mine is just reg play sand!
Good luck and keep us posted, I wanna see another ray keeper!!

 

[_Cal_]

Freshwater white sand is made for freshwater, Ive had mine for almost a year now, with no problems. As for stringrays, their expensive, and I believe a 55 gallon is way to small for them.

 

[CFC]

I would not advise looking into any stingrays unless you have at least a 150 gallon tank, even the smallest species Potamotrygon scobina (which is unfortunately not very common in the trade) will grow to a disc of 12 inches across and the so called "teacup" rays can grow in excess of 18 inches across. They are also high level waste producers which can make the water parameters in a smaller tank unstable and nothing kills more rays than unstable water parameters.
If you are still going to look into them then DO NOT buy any ray under 6 inches in diameter, very small rays are extreemly delicate and difficult to feed so as a FW stingray begginer there is a high chance your fish will not make it, even experienced ray keepers try to avoid keeping rays under 6 inches as they are so prone to just dying for no reason. Choose a good sized thick bodied specimin which has been in captivity for a minimum of 6 weeks and you have personally seen feed, if needed place a deposit on the fish at the store and leave it there for a few weeks before taking it home, the first few weeks in captivity is when most losses are experienced and if a ray hasn't fed within 6 weeks then it probably isnt ever going to.

 

[kirtis_mcleskey]

ok , I was planning on getting a larger tank soon

im close to thsi website www.glasscages.com, which i have bought from befor eand they have good tanks and CHEAP to , i was going to upgrade , later on when he gets bigger

but ill look some more, just depends on if hes eating at the fish store or not

is there any pretty pleco fish/

all ive seen the petstoer have in is grey ones

 

[ringham]

Hello,

I have been looking at fresh water sting rays for a few weeks now, and I wish to soon get one. BUT is it compulsory to keep a sting ray with a sand substrate? Is it not possible too keep them in a tank just with fine gravel?

 

[CFC]

Stingrays need to be able to burrow into the sand as part of their normal behaviour so gravel is not the best substrate for them, young rays also like to search through the sand looking for food by blowing a jet of water into it to uncover any edible items as they would in the wild so gravel would limit this which could lead to the ray being stressed by its instinctive behaviour being restricted. All in all gravel is not recomended for stingrays (though some people have done it) and if you really cant do sand then a bare bottomed tank is the next best way to go.

 

[Earthgirl]

I have seen some ray keeprs with gravel, Rounded Smooth Gravel though. Their rays were older and like CFC said, rays love to blow in the sand as youngings to look for food.
Sand is mostly recommended.
Whenever you have startling movements infront of my tank, those two rays of mine instantly burry themselves for cover (like you are gonna reach into a tank that I can't reach the bottom and grab one ), so sand is what I would recommend.

As for plecos, you should stay away from the common and Royal, I have heard that that they Definately like the slime coats on sting rays. I have a Bristlenose and a gold Nugget in my tank and have had no probs. But the instance that you either see the plecos atttacking the rays or interested in the slim coat, bye bye pleco. Some ray keepers keep Royals in with their rays, but I will not take the chance.