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Does anyone know anything about stingrays and suitible tankmates, and tank size?
Daniel

PM Shini, he knows tons about them. They are a rather difficult group of fish, both freshwater and marine, can be very expensive, and they require a lot of room. That's about all I have to offer though.

EDIT: I fixed a typo.

[span class="edited"][Edited by aggiemarine 2004-06-21 18:55][/span]

Appropriate home:An aquarium with at least 50 gallons of water, an exterior power filter with a BIO-Wheel, and a maximum of 1/4 inch of gravel. The water temperature should be between 75 and 80 degrees F. Sting Rays will eat Ghost Shrimp and larger shrimp sold in supermarkets for human consumption. You should remove the shrimps shells. Sting Rays also eat angleworms and pieces of fish. Freshwater stingrays are available in Singapore & Malaysia and is seasonal. Prices will range from US$100 & above. Since most stingrays being sold in the fish shops are caught right off the Amazon & Equador basin, do not expect the stingrays to live to an old age. Besides maintaining a conducive environment, it is also important that the right diet & water PH be emphasised. Therefore, keeping freshwater stingrays should be done by an expert who has the time & money to invest in this expensive creature. Compatibility : Peaceful, to the point of being virtually ignoring other fishes.





JTF attached this image:
[img]http://www.fishprofiles.net/attachments/380484.jpg"]

Credit where you take things from JTF...

All information above is from:
http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/wild/sting_rays.htm
and
http://www.seremban.net/fishcorner/fc181298.htm

They are pretty fragile creatures. I was thinking of setting up a stingray tank and was talked out of it. They can be really picky eaters and very easy fish to become malnourished.

What do you wanna know about stingrays?

Most stingrays will not be fine in a tank anything less than 125 for the smaller species, and preferably more. 240 should be fine for a single specimen of a medium size species, and a large species... well let's say I actually haven't seen a person keep the adult of a large species in anything other than a pond. To keep a number of stingrays, the cheapest way to do would be to have a pond, considering you're going to be viewing their top anyway.

Stingrays can be pretty much kept with anything they won't eat or won't eat them. The only exceptions are highly aggressive fish that may pick on the rays, and plecs, which have a habit of sucking on rays.

Stingrays are all highly sensitive to nitrogenous wastes, not just ammonia and nitrites, but also nitrates. It's a must to do large water changes regularly; some stingray keepers even do changes twice a week! This is quite a doozy for a large freshwater tank or pond, so you'll have to be committed. They are also sensitive to medication, so a UV sterilizer is a good idea to prevent disease.

Another reason stingrays are a big responsibility is their high demand of food. Unlike your average bottom feeders, stingrays can actually be highly active, and burn a lot of energy in the process. Two to three feedings everyday are a good idea, and occasionally you'll want to give them a big belly; the humorous thing is that when their full of food, it seems like they grow a really fat butt. Anyway, shrimp and worms are both good ideas for food, but you can pretty much feed any sort of seafood, though you may want to rinse out the oilier ones like salmon.

I really want a stingray, but to leave them in the care of my parents when I go off to college just isn't a good idea, as they're not really fanatics about my fish in the first place... If you're not really devoted to stingrays, you probably shouldn't even touch them, since they're way more difficult than a Discus will ever be. :%)

And BTW, I have seen stingrays as cheap as $50.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Shinigami 2004-06-21 22:26][/span]

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Hmmm, you can get a hillstream loach and pretend its a stingray