Would This Work Out Okay?

[fish-r-fancy]

Hi I found a really good deal on a 100 gallon fish tank that I really hope to buy. However this comes with 4 fish 2 oscars, a tiger shark catfish and a red bellied piranha. I know that the piranna does not belong in this setup because they should be kept in groups and because it doesn't go well with the other fish. So because of that I'm going to have to trade the piranha into the lfs fora credit. With the credit I want to get a freshwater stingray. Probably a teacup or a motoro. I have a couple questions:

-Will this tank size be large enough for these fish, along with the ray?
-Will the ray and these fish listed above be capatable together?
-Which ray do you reccommend for a beginner?
-Also I've never heard of a tiger shark catfish, are these eay to care for?
-I'm also interested in eels and knifefish, would they be ok?

I will try to get the measurments of the tank and pictures of the fish from the seller and if I do I will post them. From the picture it looks like the tank is 4 feet long and 2 feet from front to back. Thanks

 

[T1KARMANN]

the tank is just about big enought for the oscars

i would sell the shark cat to

the oscars polute the water real bad as they are very very messy eatter so i think you would find it near imposable to keep the water clean enought fro a ray

the tank is also way to small for any kind of ray

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Okay I will get rid of the oscars and the shark catfish too. The tank is even to small for teacup rays? What is the minimum tank size for a teacup stingray? All of the info that I find on the internet differs from site to site. Thanks

 

[demonmagus]

I think for rays you need a deep tank, like 3 foot. Wait for more knowledgable people though (is that even a word )

 

[CFC]

The smallest tank you are going to get away with for any ray is 180 gallons (6x2x2) but prefferably a odd shapped tank with more width than height (i.e 30" wide 24" tall) to provide a large foot print is better, i know 100 gallons seems like a lot but i'm sorry to say it just isnt a big tank in the oddball keeping world Those of us who keep rays here have all got tanks in excess of 200 gallons and pretty much any one of us will tell you we think our tanks are too small and would like bigger for them.

 

[pacuboy]

You can keep a shoal of redhooks or black bared silverdollars in that size tank.

 

[cane76]

hold out for a 6x2x2 they are always going cheap on ebay/aquarist classified

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Ok thanks for all of the advice. Do you guys no any good sites except ebay and craigslist to get used tanks on? I'm on ebay and craigslist every day and there is really never anything close to me. I'm going to try aquabid.com but does anybody know of anything else? Thanks

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Ok, this is the newest tank that I hope to get soon. The tank is 120 gallons and measures 24 inches deep, 25 inches tall and 48 inches long. The tank's glass is half an inch thick. This tank doesn't include any fish but does include 2 glass covers, 2 Marineland Emperor Bio-wheel filters that filter a combined 800 gallons of water an hour, a powerhead, air pumps with bubble curtains, heater, gravel and some decorations. I know that I will have to upgrade the filtration a bit. Does anybody have any suggestions on what other filter/s to add? Do you reccomend the Marineland Emperor Bio-wheel filters? Can I use the powerhead in a freshwater oddball tank? Will the fish that I want be bothered by all of the movement (airstones)? About the heater I have been reading about how eels and stingrays can be easily burnt by the heater, what do you reccomend doing to prevent this? To cycle the tank I'm going to get a ton of feeder minnows to cycle the tank so that the fish that I choose to put in the tank can then eat the minnows. How many minnows do you reccomend? The fish that I wish to get are a tecup stingray, any type of eel, a knife fish, a black ghost knife fish and any other fish that you reccommend for this size tank. I have a couple questions about tank decorations: 1 will any of this fish be scraped/scratched by gravel? 2 Do these fish prefer a bare tank because I have some lace rock, fak driftwood and fake plants that I want to put in. Thank you all very much.

I also forgot to add that I will be doing weekly water changes.

 

[beblondie]

About the heater I have been reading about how eels and stingrays can be easily burnt by the heater, what do you reccomend doing to prevent this? Either buy or make a heater guard.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

I've never seen a heater guard for sale. How do you make one?

 

[CFC]

The tank is still too small for stingrays, tea cup is just a term used to describe a young ray with a disc roughly the size of the base of a tea cup, most "tea cup" stingrays are Potamotrygon orbygini (reticulated stingray) although sometimes they are other similar looking species. No matter what size they are now you still have an animal that is going to get to at least 12"wide and have a tail at least 12" long behind that, thats a big slab of fish that requires a lot of room to turn around move about freely. In a tank that is too small the ray will be stressed constantly which in turn will lead to health problems and eventually death.

If you can't provide a tank that is at least 6x2x2 feet, or prefferably bigger with a back to front width of 30 inches or more then stingrays are not for you.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Alright I'm saving up for a tank that is at least 6x2x2 feet. What do you guys reccomend for filtration on a tank this size?

 

[CFC]

A couple of large canister filters or a wet/dry sump are needed to filter tanks of this size with the emphasis placed on biological medias with a large surface area for maximum filtering capacity.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Okay thank you. I think I will go with 2 fluval canister filters.