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Hi

I was out scouting aquarium shops on the weekend and i came across 2 freshwater stingrays.. has anyone ever seen these before? i didnt even know they existed! however at $1100 each i dont think ill be running out to buy them anytime soon!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Do you know which species they were? Not many go for $1100...

Regardless of what species it was, they are all very hard to care for and are best left to extremely experienced hobbyists. Their care requirements are much more strict than even those of Discus.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

There some shops in my area that sell them. I'll have to agree that they are pretty expensive. There is one at one lfs that is really interactive and aggressive towards you when you stand near the tank which is at eye level. The sting will follow you back and forth and it will charge at you. I also viewed another species that was being feed feeder fish and that was quite a sight to watch. The sting had trap the feeders on the front glass on it underside and then try to get the feeder towards it mouth. It was quite impressive to watch. The first feeder got away once and the second feeder give a good chase at first. Don't really know to much details on the specifics of the species but I though I would like to share what I saw.

sorry i dont really know what species it was.. i was just really surprised cos i thought they were more marine than freshwater! it just said freshwater sting ray on the glass along with the price.. they looked way out of my league thats for sure! how many different species are there? is there really much they can share a tank with or would they eat your fish as well? they looked pretty dosile...

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Do you know which species they were? Not many go for $1100...

Motoro rays. Everything costs more here.

If that price scares you the price of the usually humongous aquaria suited for adult freshwater stingrays would scare you even more, then theres the maintenance, the incurable disease issues, the water quality, the feeding requirements... even teacup stingrays need fairly huge aquaria for successful long term maintenance.

Experts only, and probably wealthy experts at that.

Personally I think its a good thing that theyre really expensive, puts the beginners and the comedians off nicely .

ps rays will often eat almost any fish they can cover or wrap up, so even fish nearly their own size are not always safe, having said that, well fed specimens rarely bother.

Last edited by longhairedgit at 21-Nov-2005 10:34

Dave, motors go for a tenth of that price here in America. You Aussies have it bad....

A store here used to sell them. They kept them in a large hex tank with sand. The one ray would always come up to grab your fingers if you set your hand on the side of the tank and it liked to be pet. Now they are switching to mostly saltwater with only 1 row of freshwater tanks and turning the big hex tank into a reef with simulated tides. They were only about $300. The tank setup for them would probably cost more.

Last edited by sham at 20-Nov-2005 23:39

Ahh, they have 4 of those at Auburn. VERY tempting, if only I could flood my loungeroom...

For now i'll just go and oogle them in the shop

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett