ray chewing/scratching my acrylic tank?

snake8myelbo

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Nov 24, 2008
1,078
3
68
ut
My female motoro is chewing/biting my acrylic tank. I also see some scratches where this is happening! anyone experianced this? the guy i bought the tank from, bought it new. he had some rays and the corners are kinda scratched up. he said it was from a fish....not the ray. i think it was from a ray. was it built with cheap acrylic? anything i can do...
 

turkeyboy85

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Oct 14, 2007
3,163
4
38
mn
my female motoro would do the same thiing when she was hungry she scratched up the whole front of it, you can buff it out but ... takes alot of work. I would put some egg crate in front of it
 

vamptrev

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 23, 2007
8,227
863
924
Chesterfield MI
ya it scratches real easy :irked:

my tanks have scratches everywhere
 

snake8myelbo

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Nov 24, 2008
1,078
3
68
ut
Damn, I'm glad I went w/ a glass tank for the rays now.

haha ya i would have too but i cant carry a 600 gal glass aquarium lol
 

aquaman45

Aimara
MFK Member
Jan 6, 2009
3,778
657
135
England
I think the only advantages with acrylic is that its easy to move been lighter than glass if you ever have to re possition it plus it has a superior capacity to hold heat inside been a better insulator.........But you dont realise just how easy it is to scratch till you drain it down and access the damage done over a period of time,luckily when its full of water minor scratches almost disappear.If your very fussy about the odd scratch and your eye is focused on scratches rather than your fish then its not for you..............Stingrays have a very abrasive lower mandible(bottom jaw).....its this constant grinding thats causing the damage you speak of.
 

aquaman45

Aimara
MFK Member
Jan 6, 2009
3,778
657
135
England
Forgot to mention the other great advantage of acrylic aquaria over glass is that its also a much stronger material,often used in clubs and pubs for obvious reasons.....much safer!
 

spotfin

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jan 2, 2006
4,716
900
900
Maine
I have noticed my rays like to chew on a large piece of driftwood. Would it make sense that rays need something to grind their teeth on? Perhaps in a tank without decorations they chew the next best thing-the sides or bottom.
 

T1KARMANN

Giant Snakehead
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2005
10,105
127
147
56
London UK
i have never had a problem with my acrylic scratching

you will find if you have sand in the tank then some will stick to the rays disk and then when the ray goes up and down the acrylic it will scratch

i use the small pebble gravel and my tank is 5 years old without any scratches from the rays
 

aquaman45

Aimara
MFK Member
Jan 6, 2009
3,778
657
135
England
spotfin;3920489; said:
I have noticed my rays like to chew on a large piece of driftwood. Would it make sense that rays need something to grind their teeth on? Perhaps in a tank without decorations they chew the next best thing-the sides or bottom.
Very true.Rays do like to rasp from time to time,ive got a female Pearl that constantly rasps on a stone thats mixed amongst the small gravel,this stone is becoming smaller and smaller,must be getting some minerals from it or simply has a fetish for stones,ive had them grind at bogwood also.
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store