The Stingray Guide

[Fate2006]

PIN IT PIN IT PIN IT! YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! great!! very helpful, god did I learn a bunch

 

[CAC]

Yeah im just wondeirng, if this does get pinned, then when would that happen, because its gone a long way down the forum allready...

Thanks, Mike

 

[CFC]

At the moment i cant decide whether it can be pinned or not, it IS a good article and i can see a lot of work has gone into into it BUT we have always preferred that articles and profiles are written by people with hands on experience with the animals.

I'm gonna put it to the other mods and see what they think before making a final decision.

 

[CAC]

Ok, yeah thats fair enough, but most of its right, and i think that personal experiances from you, Cane, k.o.d, T1K etc could be added aswell (T1K has allready added some info).

Mike

 

[steelhealr]

I agree with CFC. When an article is pinned, in general, it has been the opinion and philosophy of most of us here that writer should have experience with the animals that he/she is writing about. Although we can write an article, there are nuances...or..just small things that you just can't get out of a textbook or web search. This article was well done, but, coming from an aquarist that has kept stingrays for a few years would carry much more weight. As an example, I pinned a piranha article here...an animal much maligned...by a TFF member here who keeps them, feeds them and treats them humanely and as pets.

JMO.
SH

 

[k.o.d]

Have kept rays for several years now, currently I have Leopoldi, Hystrix and Yepezi rays

His homework is good and his write-up is excellent, I would have no problem accepting that as a good basis for anyone wanting to start keeping rays

The whole idea of learning the species before you get one is pretty much the point in case here, he may not have one but he sure knows the basics.

T1 is highly knowledgeable, as is Cane and CFC, have met 2 out of the three chaps and would trust what they say.

We keepers can answer the day to day niggles of the fish and how we keep ours, but as a guide, it is good, and hard work should be rewarded

Sorry, just had to add my tuppence worth.

 

[andywg]

An interesting dilemma is caused here. On the one hadn you want it to be experience so someone hasn't just gone around and plagiarised other sites for information on how to look after a fish and posted it without knowledge. However most of this information has been drawn from this very forum.

Seeing both sides of the coin I am more on the side of letting this be pinned, after all, what is to stop someone just saying they have kept them, making a couple of pics look low quality and putting the info there. So long as the info is correct...

Edit--

Some of the things missing are subtle signs of what to look out for, with the classic "death curl" being one of them. Maybe if some of the more experienced ray keepers added on some of the more subtle signs they have found and these were incorporated it would become more pin worthy?

 

[nmonks]

I'd say pin it. For one thing -- we all agree it covers all the basics, and if nothing else, it's somewhere to send newbies to read up on the common questions.

While I like the idea of TFF Index entries being done only by experienced keepers of the species in question, I think for FAQs and the like we can be a bit more flexibile. I've written ones here that discuss, for example, Endlers and swordtails, neither of which I've kept in my life. My brackish book includes stuff I've written about species I've never kept, but been given information by people I trust. Certainly no fishkeeping writer will have kept all the fish he or she writes about. To some extent, we all have to draw from other sources of experience other than out own.

The key thing is whether the writer is putting down hackneyed old stuff taken from other books and web sites, or actually quoting the experiences of serious, talented fishkeepers. I think this guide satisfies this criterion. The information is solid, the experienced stingray keepers have weighed in and made corrections where required, and the article is easily as good as anything in the average aquarium book. In short, it has the makings of a perfectly serviceable FAQ.

Cheers, Neale

 

[CAC]

Thank you.
Andy, yes i havent yet put anything in about ray health, and how to know when things are wrong, but I know quite abit about the death curls, burying and the like so i could add it in (unless someone else wanted to...)

Mike

P.S. Cane has added some info too

 

[CFC]

Well i see no reason not to pin it then, but i expect to see a large tank full of rays in your future Catfish Are Cool

 

[CAC]

Dont you worry CFC

Ill try and add some health stuff tonight

Thanks everyone

Mike

 

[cane76]

well done mikey congrats
you obviously have a big love for rays and its about time you got one

 

[CAC]

I know, tell me about it

Mike

 

[steelhealr]

Congrats on the work done. SH

 

[CAC]

Have added a section on health, and a small section on sexing.

Thanks alot SH

Mike