Need some imput. I'm getting back into rays after 6 years.

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Venom Stinger

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 22, 2006
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Arlington,Va.
i have been doing alot of reading these last few days and i see alot has changed.

im going to get a pair of pearls and i want some help on whats best out there now.
i used to have 6 rays ( 3 leo's, 2 motoros and a humorosa) in a 150g. i did over 500g of filtration. i used Seachem 7.0 regulator and prime.
I did 90% water changes every week and never had a problem.

now..to all you king ray keepers....what do you use?

thanks alot for all the help.
v.
 
3 leo's that were 6".... 2 motoros that were 9-10" and a 5" hum.
and thats too much for a 150g tank doing over 500g filtration....
honestly, i thought the first bs reply would be about my 90% water changes!

Ok..can i hear from someone that knows what he is talking about please?
 
Whts the question? What do we use?

Big tanks, lots of food, drip system, bio reactors, uv's etc?

Depends on your plans... Keeping long term? U getting more then just 1 pair of pearls in the future?
 
in my opinion with rays there is no such thing as "enough" if "enough" is all you can provide rays aren't for you... they are large animals that eat a lot and produce a lot of waste. im not saying having 6 pup size rays in a 150 gallon with overkill filtration is necessarily terrible, but for life,that is by no means adequate , at BARE minimum i would go for a 6x2 footprint tank for a pair of pearls, i shoot for 8-10x water turnover rate on all my tanks, as far as water changes, based on filtration, feeding habits and stocking levels i do at the least 50-75% a week on all my tanks.. bio reactors and drip systems are also key in larger setups.the largest tank i have now is a 300 7x4x25, along with a 210, 220 and a couple smaller 6x18 tanks. and ill let the other ray keepers chime in that keep larger tanks.
 
OK..i guess i should have been a little clearer.
i know that a 150g tank isnt good for life. it was just a temp tank unti i finished my in wall which was going to be a 8x3x3.6
i have had 17 different stingrays over a 6 year span. i moved to phoenix where they are illegal and didnt want to ship everything including my rays due to cost more then anything...
so..i know how to keep them...i am just wondering what everyone is using on thier tanks for water quality.
UVs is a good question...and a bio drip? meaning a wet dry right?
what does everyone use for water control and PH...ect.
 
Whts the question? What do we use?, drip system, bio reactors, uv's etc? Keeping long term? U getting more then just 1 pair of pearls in the future?

yeah...see i have never heard of a bio reactor. and a drip system i guess is a wet dry?
i have heard that a well kept tank doesnt need a UV. but does it help for breeding?
I am keeping them long term and will get a female BDR in about 6 months.
 
drip system and wet dry are two different things. drip systems are used to bring freshwater into the aquarium at a certain gph per day, different people use different sized emitters on different sized tanks. do a general search on either the main page or in the "filtration diy" section. there is TONS of info and tried and tested setups. i would personally go with a custom sump setup. there are some awesome diys on this forum that show you step by step how to make one, also do a search on youtube there are a ton of videos that walk you through how sumps and wet drys function.
 
99% of the time the best thing you can do to control your ph is leave it alone. Unless the water from your tap is lower than 6.5 or higher than 8.5 just leave it. Take it from someone who has been there starting rays off in a smaller tank with an eventual upgrade is not a safe plan. Things change, tanks get delayed, fish grow faster than their supposed to. At some point you will probably feel guilty for keeping a ray in a 150 gallon tank if you keep them until adulthood.

A bio reactor is a large container containing Kaldness media which is fluidized using an air pump they are used for bio filtration by a bunch of people you could probably find some examples if you search the forums

A 24/7 drip system is a constant supply of fresh water which is usually achieved by putting a drain at the desired level in your sump and dripping water into your tank at the desired gallon per hour. In my case I drip 3gph into my 300 gallon which adds 72 gallons of freshwater per day. After that water mixes with the old water and gos down the drain that equals out to about a 28% water change per day and around 90% per week if I remember correctly. The best part is you never have to touch a hose. Depending on the area you live in you will need to remove either chlorine or chloramine from your water supply before it can be dripped in the tank

Any more questions?
 
my advice is finish the big tank 1st then get the rays

if you can run a water feed into the tank then let it drain back out via the sump then thats great and you will have no need for water changes as that will do it for you

if no water feed can be sorted do min 25% water change per week 2 is better the 90 you used to do is to much in one go

use a good substrate i cant understand why people do bare bottom they are missing out on what rays do best dig for food

i like to keep the temp at 84-86 some say lower but thats what works for me

get the rays feeding on hikari pellets

a UV is good peace of mind

a sand filter is a good adition but not needed

have as much turn over as your weirs or drain pipes can hamdle

try to get 2 females from one breeder and a male from another to mix up the genes most people buy brother and sister then inter breed this is not ideal but some people have no option

rays are very easy to take care of and breed you just need to give it time buy your rays and sick with them for 3 years and they will breed all this buying and selling people do is one of the reason people dont breed

no need to add stuff to change the PH rays do fine in lots of different PH just adjust you tank to your tap water slowly my rays have been in a PH of 8.5 now for 2 years they have breed and are doing great its big changes in PH rays dont like

if you can keep fish you can keep rays as long as you know the basics about water parameters no Amon or nitrite
nitrate is not a problem as long as you change the water reg

good luck
 
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