Stingrays Blowing in Sand

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KING1307

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 29, 2009
158
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Ontario
I have a question for ya'll. I've got these two retic's and one seems to be constantly blasting mouthfuls of water down into the sand substrate as if he's looking for something. What is he looking for? Are they digging for some sort of hiding critter, like some sort of snail, or shrimp they would find in their natural enviroment? Any input is welcome!
Thanks
 
hmoobvwj

hmoobvwj

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Feb 13, 2008
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They are doing what any ray would do in nature. Looking for food....
 
W

wonword

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 21, 2008
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St. Paul, MN
Both of mine do it constantly, they are looking for small inverts or fish that would naturally hide under sand or leaf litter.
 
K

KING1307

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 29, 2009
158
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right on, is there anything that i can put in there to reward the work? as in some sort of feeder that hides in sand and would act as a part of their diet?
 
hmoobvwj

hmoobvwj

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Feb 13, 2008
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If they are the only fish in the tank, I would suggest some ghost shrimp or any other type of smaller crustacean. Otherwise you don't need to worry about it...whenever my little guy does it, I usually give him a nightcrawler and he will usually go about on his business then.
 
K

KING1307

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 29, 2009
158
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not the only guy in the tank, theres 2 rays, a gar, angel, dwarf gouramis and a little yellow lab cichlid, no worries cause he's scared of everything that moves. I dump in about 50 ghost shrimp about once every 3 weeks and give them frozen blood worms about 4 times a day. unfortunately i can not get my hands on any nightcrawlers or live blood worms right now. but is there anything that actually lives in the sand that i can dump in there?
 
F

FireMedic

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Dec 13, 2007
805
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Middle of somewhere, Oulu Wisconsin
Nothing worth adding. There are many benthic (bottom dwelling) invertebrates but none you want colonizing your tank. You could, if you have the time and want to expend the effort, cut some worms into very fine pieces and use a "poke-stick" to lodge the pieces into the substrate.

Not too many, not to deep. This will most likely entertain you and the ray for a little while.

Respectfully,
FireMedic.
 
K

KING1307

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 29, 2009
158
0
0
Ontario
FireMedic;3930289; said:
Nothing worth adding. There are many benthic (bottom dwelling) invertebrates but none you want colonizing your tank. You could, if you have the time and want to expend the effort, cut some worms into very fine pieces and use a "poke-stick" to lodge the pieces into the substrate.

Not too many, not to deep. This will most likely entertain you and the ray for a little while.

Respectfully,
FireMedic.
Click to expand...
haha im sure it will entertain both me and the rays. Thanks for the info
 
S

sbuse

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 1, 2009
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mine do this to get black worms out...most people (including myself) try to get the rays off black worms though...my rays would chase the ghost shrimp push them into the sand and leave them...they never ate any that i saw, just picked on them...it was way to funny to watch...100 shrimp running inch by inch as the ray inched closer... then...the ray would punce on on, blow sand all over it...then leave it 3/4 covered in sand and stuck...move on to the next one...they did this for hours and hours...never eatting one
 
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