Small, Easy To Find Stingray?

[TotallyTropical]

I've been doing my research on stingrays, since I've wanted one for the past 2 months. I'm not quite sure how big of a tank I need for a small stingray, and what the smallest (but easiest to get, no ordering needed is best) stingray is. So, what I need answered is:
 
1: What is the smallest freshwater stingray?
2: Can it be purchased in an LFS?
3: What is the minimum tank size for it?

 

[DrRob]

1, They get down to about 10 inches across, the challenge can be finding out which one you've got, as they have an annoying tendency to look like each other.
 
2, In the UK, yes, no idea about Canada. If I was looking for one I'd probably be checking aquabid or equivalents or contacting breeders.
 
3, Big, ideally very big, they like very good water quality, beyond discus levels, they're very active, particularly at night, and they require big turning circles, so the tanks really ought to be big front to back and in width, with height not really being such an issue. I love these fish, but I'd be wanting a 6ft by 3 ft footprint to really do them any justice personally, although I'm fully aware that they can be kept in smaller. I've seen them in 4ft by 2ft footprint tanks.

 

[always4lora]

The problem with the most readily available ones are they are normally retic rays which are normally imported cheaply and not as hardy as others. Histrix and Scobina rays would be good for a small ray but both are hard to get hold off. 
 
Given my above comments you will do well to find one without ordering one, see if your local fish shop can order them and then you can check the state they;re in and also check they're feeding well. I'd imagine you have a few good oddball shops like we do in the UK which you could ask to get them in for you.
 
Tank size.. I'd go 6'Lx3'Wx2'H or 3'H bigger the better really, you have to remember a 12-14 inch disc is rather big and then you have the tail which is also big so you're talking nearly 2ft tip to tip.
 
 
They're not a cheap species to keep due to the upkeep of food, cost of large tanks and good filteration and the fish themselves. In the UK you won't find scobina and the hystix rays will set you back a min of £150 if you can find them. Retics are cheaper but also harder to keep. 

 

[MBOU]

I think the above has about covered it.. I kept Reticulatus, one of the 'small species' and they grew extraordinarily quickly, especially the female.... She was touching front to back, ray to tail tip in a 5x2x2 when she was 1-1.5 years old (including the fact that they weren't newborn when imported!), she was ready to be moved into the 8X3x2 that's for sure!
 
They are incredibly active and to often like swimming mid water and certainly up and down front glass. They don't want a cluttered tank as they need serious space to move but love things to keep them occupied, toys, balls, groups of pebbles for them  to look for food in etc...
 
Personally, I would be *very* unhappy at keeping any ray in anything under 6X3X2 again (unless it was a youngster and I already had that tank to move it into.. considering how mature tank needs to be... its no good saying 'i'll upgrade next year' as will take you most of that year to have tank really stable).

 

[yargnits]

12" - 14" i think is considered a small ray 
 
most regular rays are actually quite easy to identify but most peoples first ray is motoro or retic. both can grow quite large and whilst it used to be said that 6x2x2 was ok for life its now sugested that a slightly bigger tank is needed. personally i think a footprint of 6'x2.5' with the height being 2ft . i wouldnt recomend 18" as its just not deep enough for the larger rays. 
 
that said i know somone who bred his motoros in a 6x2x18" (length breadth height ). 
 
imo the reason most people and books say that retics are the most difficult to keep is because they are the cheapest and often the first ray that people try to keep and subsiquently are the the first ray for any ray keeper to have lost mainly due to lack of experience. 
 
i would recomend you buy a captive bred ray thats already eating a food that you can easily continue to feed (rays eat alot more than most fish being so big and active) from a local source as it will be a little easier to keep having been raised in a tank rather than removed from the wild and captive bred rays are generally easier to breed also. 
 
a captive bred ray will cost more but you will get the benefit in it being a bit hardier in tank conditions and you shouldnt have problems getting it to eat something reasonable ( wild caught rays can be difficult to get onto a reasonable food).
 
compared to a few years ago there is loads of info out there about keeping rays now so as long as you read up first you shouldnt have much trouble. 
 
good luck and happy ray keeping