Stingrays

GThiele113

What do you think the easiest and smallest stingray is to care for. Im thinking about getting one for my 125 gallon. I already have sand in it so it wouldnt be a problem. Around how much do they cost?[/quote]

bettababy

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A small and pretty common species would be the teacup rays. You can find more info on them here... http://www.aquariacentral.com/fishin...h/stingray.htm
The thing to know about the rays is that 125 is not going to be a permanent home for any of hte rays. The teacup is about the smallest on the retail market, and they average about 26 inches around at full grown. A 125 will get you about 1/2 of the way there...
Sand is important, but also softened water, pristine, clean water... and lots of good foods. Rays are prone to skin irritations, and water quality is a big cause of that, as is coarse rocks and/or gravels in the tank. Rays need heavy circulation, so lots of filters and/or powerheads will be needed.
Feeding a ray can get quite expensive. They need shrimp, and other fresh (raw) shellfish to eat, and can be quite fussy about what they'll consume.

I would strongly suggest doing a lot of research about all of the ray species, and in the mean time I will see if I can find any other freshwater species that don't get quite so large... but I'm not remembering anything much smaller than the teacups, or as commonly found for sale.

Gump

The term teacup is a general term used by fish stores for small stingrays. The link that bettababy provided shows pictured Potamotrygon Reticulata which is the smallest South American species. The retic stingray grows to about 14" diameter disk with about a 20-24" total length with the tail. The males get about 12" disk.

Like all species they are sensitive to water conditions and nitrates must be kept low. This can be a challenge as stingrays require a lot of food and also produce a lot of waste. They should be feed meaty foods like: prawns, squid, fish, muscles, clams, worms, etc...

I wouldn't suggest any stingray unless you have some experience with hard to keep species. A 125 gallon would work for a grow out tank but not for life.

GThiele113

Im DEAD SET on getting one. I've been researching for months now and I'm going to get one sooner or later, thanks for all the information

herefishy

Had 'em, enjoyed 'em, and got rid of 'em. This fish, as Dawn inferred, is quite a difficult fish to keep. It's requirements are quite hard to maintain, even in the most elaborate of setups. Water quality is of the utmost prerequisite.

It's food requirements are unique, and can be difficult. Some, albeit very few, maybe 2%, will accept pellet foods. By far the biggest majority will only accept live feedings. I used to feed mine ghost shimp when it was smaller. Even then it was nothing for it to devour a dozen in a day. It finally reached the size that live soft shell crawdads were one of the main courses. I occasionally got it to eat thawed shrimp, but those occasions were few.

By the way, Gump, the picture is of a Potamotrygon laticeps, not a reticulata as you say. They are very similar in pattern. Coloration is a little different.

GThiele113

alright. thanks for telling your experince

bettababy

GT, I was just wondering... I noticed in your other post that you have quite the mix in your 125. Is this the same 125 you were considering using for a sting ray? Be forewarned, you can't keep a stingray with any of the fish listed as your current population. It's simply not possible to do this and still have live fish... or live stingray.

GThiele113

already realized that, thanks again