Temp home for rays while I repair my tank - ideas?

davenmandy

Peacock Bass
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Feb 1, 2012
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I need to make a temporary home for my stingrays while I repair the seams on my acrylic tank, it appears that they are starting to go. I have never done acrylic repair, and I want to make sure I do this right and am not rushed, so I want to place my rays in a temporary home that they will be happy with over however long it takes me to repair the tank, no clue how long that would be. I would prefer something that they would be comfortable with and not just survive in. I have been told to look for a kiddie pool, but I am concerned about the stinger on the rays piercing it, maybe a hard plastic version? I was also told to find a big rubbermaid tote, any idea where to look for these or how big I have to buy? I have 3 14-20" Leo rays.

What can I do termporarily in terms of filtration or heating? My 400 runs on a 90 gal sump which is positioned under the tank in the basement, not sure how I would rig it to a tote or kiddie pool, PVC overflows or do I just go canister filters? Would building a pond in the basement be as cost effective as other temporary homes (Unfortunately I don't have a fortune or I would just buy a new tank)? I have never looked into building a pond, don't know much about them.

Anyone have any other ideas, or suggestions on how to keep my rays happy through this hopefully temporary setback? I live in a place where finding stuff like this is very difficult if not impossible, so I will likely have to pay for shipping on everything, even the weld-on #40 to repair the acrylic I have to order in. If I can find a cheap tank to transfer them over to that would be ideal, what is the minimum footprint I should look for, I am thinking 6x2x2 180 gallon? I know these guys are sensitive, just want to make sure they are comfortable. I don't have any spare canister filters (unless I can fix my fx5 that just broke last weekend) nor heaters or anything like that. I would honestly just pay for another big setup if I can find one used, but they're like a blue moon around here. Can't afford a new one as much as I would love to.
 

asteele.19

Gambusia
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Aug 11, 2014
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Kiddie pool would probably be easiest. Take your media out of the sump and through it in a Rubbermaid tote. Pump the water to the top of the top, and have an opening towards the bottom that would pour back into the pool.
 

davenmandy

Peacock Bass
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Feb 1, 2012
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Thanks for the reply. Gotta admit I am a bit confused though, can you elaborate about the tote media setup and how it works with the kiddie pool? From what I am udnerstanding is that the tote is actually in the kiddie pool, so I take my output pump and pump it in through the top of the tote and a hole at the bottom of the tote has the water going back into the kiddie pool? I have sponges/floss as my mechanical/bio filtration and then a whole bunch of bio balls, so I would essentially mimic the wet/dry inside of the actual kiddie pool? As for the kiddie pool, something with hard plastic obviously so the rays don't pierce it, how many gal approx. would you suggest?
 

xraycer

Arapaima
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Sep 5, 2013
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What Asteele is saying is build a temporary sump filter that will be placed above a kiddie pool. Using a large plastic container to hold your biomedia. The water pump will be in the kiddie pump, pumping up water over onto the top of plastic container. The water then travels down the container going through the bio media and then draining back into the tank by way of holes drilled on the bottom of the plastic container
 

xraycer

Arapaima
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Forgot to add, place filter pad on top of the bio media to provide mechanical filtration (to trap debris).
 

asteele.19

Gambusia
MFK Member
Aug 11, 2014
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Michigan, United States
You got it! cheap and easy wet dry. As far as water capacity, I can't help you there, nor with the hard plastic or rubber liner. I am not a stingray guy. They are in my plans for the future, but don't have the time or space for the currently.
 

davenmandy

Peacock Bass
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Feb 1, 2012
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Oh okay I get it, so essentially I have to make sure the holes at the bottom are large enough to effectively drain into the pool and not overflow the tote based on the size of my pump, but still have the capacity to hold some water, so the reverse of what is going on regularly speaking. I guess this is going to take some trial and error, to make sure enough media is submerged and water is getting filtered through and also not overflow. With my sump in basement I am wondering if I can get away with makeing a PVC overflow that would handle at least 1800 GPH and just go that route? I could even set up the auto drip to work with that potentially as well. Does anyone know if a PVC overflow can be built big enough to drain 1800 GPH or do I have to ball valve my pump? Problem may be heating the water if the pool will be on my concrete basement floor.
 

xraycer

Arapaima
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Sep 5, 2013
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The great part about this system is that if it overflows, it'll just go into the kiddie pool and not the floor. In regards to floor insulation, you can probably use rigid foam insulation that are sold at home improvement stores like Home Depot or Lowes (don't know if you guys have these stores in Canada). I've never tried this so I'm not sure if you can just set the kiddie pool right on top of the foam or if you'll need to set plywood on top of the foam for rigidity.
 

davenmandy

Peacock Bass
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Feb 1, 2012
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Wouldn't I want some sort of a cover so my rays don't jump out? Like when they do their crazy on the glass freakouts they love to do. Furthermore how are you suspending the tote above the pool, just hang it from the joists above type of deal?
 

xraycer

Arapaima
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Sep 5, 2013
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Easiest way I can think of: cinder blocks on opposite sides of the pool, with 3 2X4 studs running across the pool and set upon the blocks. Then set the sump on top of the studs over the pool
 
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