Help me keep my ALANTIC STINGRAY long live and happy!

[Oddball]

Don't get too defensive concerning the posts left in this thread. You're offering setup info piecemeal, and altering the info, as the days go on. We can only respond according to the info actually left.

"DIdn't i said it is just my holding tank???" Responses went on for 2 days before you offered an elaboration to your 1st post's opening line:

13th: "My new 8inch diameter Alantic stingray in my 40g breeder tank. Here are pictures....."

15th: "It's in the 40g for holding until it goes into my 1,300g diy tank. It is still under reconstruction."
16th: "it will go into a 4x4ft pond 2ft high."

Is the ray going into this tank or the 240 gal pond you're now describing? And, is the pond indoors or outside?

"So it is ok to have My Alantic stingray in cold water? i have the water tempeture a 76degree."
- Shows you didn't read the info I left which states a temp of 15 to 17C (58 to 62F) but can tolerate up to 35C (95F). An outdoor pond will easily drop below this rays lowest tolerance of 58F in Ohio.

"have had a book about stingrays 5months before i did ever buying a stingray".
This book doesn't once mention the Atlantic stingray, any ray of the genus Dasyatis, or any marine species of ray.

You should be forthcoming and very detailed about the facets surrounding your current setup so that member's responses can be as detailed and accurate as is needed to get your ray the best care possible.

 

[Redtail_Watcher]

well your right, that is why 4 days ago i was able to get a hold of a 5x5ft pond liner, so i can put it in a 4x4 instead. hey it don't really matter to me much if it is in a 4x4 because i'm starting to run really low on space to put my fishes and my tanks, that is why i built my 1300g in my bedroom.( on top of it i live at home, yes there are restritions.... for now until i move to a house or a apartment.)

But I still really like to know, what do size tank do yall keep your stingrays in? (specs, Please?)

I glad yall let me, having yall sharing your knowledge with me. I am thankful, because the real reason i am here as a MFK, is that i want to learn more exprince and know how from others.
and thanks again.

 

[Oddball]

I recently stopped maintaining atlantic rays in lieu of maintaining species I haven't spawned before. I still have their tank. It's a 350gal with a 8ft x 4ft footprint. It gave the rays alot of elbow room but, wasn't tall enough for them to "ride the edge" and be able to handfeed them from the lip of the tank.
Dasyatis sabina can reach a wingspan of nearly 2ft. A tank of at least 3ft depth and 6ft in length will provide minimal room for 2 rays without any overlapping. Rays will "top" each other for establishing heirarchy within a group. If a recessive ray is always touched by another ray, it'll always feel stressed. So, you need enough footprint to allow each ray its own space. A single ray should also have a minimum tank with the same length and near the same depth. The overall length of the fish needs to be considered when choosing a tank. Dasyatis sabina can reach over 40" in total length.
Oh, I made an error in my previous post. I reread the entire FW Stingray book by Ross. I did, in fact, find a paragraph listing Dasyatis. My bad.

 

[Redtail_Watcher]

so a 4x8ft x 2ft highth is the standard for a stingray right??

 

[Oddball]

Actually, that's my own standard. I use either large footprint rectangular tanks or large round polyethylene bins with lexan "windows" installed for side viewing. I see 96" x 36" footprint tanks as being the most popular among ray keepers. 72" x 24" tanks are the commonly recommended minimum footprint tanks for small species of rays. 72" x 36" footprint tanks are most recommended as minimum space with rays that get the same size as atlantics. And, of course, size recommendations increase with larger species until you get to the olympic-size swimming pool needed for Himantura chaophraya.

 

[Redtail_Watcher]

Sweeeet pictures! I'm not going that far of, monster just yet though... but My Dream tank is a 12x30ft tank 7feet high so i don't have to worry about in how much size of a fresh water fish grows. I want to house all of them monsters!

 

[Redtail_Watcher]

I been think of lately to make a 4x8 x2ftH what is the minumin for glass thickness? I'm thinkin a 1/2 inch for tempered glass. is that okay? because i seen 2, 18-19inch motoros housed in 17inch highth. in a 300-500gallon tank before with quater inch tempered glass at Aquriuam Adventure.

 

[Oddball]

That'd be a 478gal glass tank. Too expensive to build yourself. Just buying the bottom pane of glass would require home delivery and several strong backs to move and place. The last time I priced a piece of glass that size it came to over $800 for the glass plus an hourly rate for delivery/moving. You can save a couple of grand overall by constructing the tank out of plywood and installing just one pane of glass to the front of the tank. 3 sheets of 3/4" CDX plywood will give you the same dimensions and the leftover pieces can be used to construct top braces. Check out the DIY forum for plans and links to build your own tank.

 

[Redtail_Watcher]

i been thinking of making the bottom and the back of the glass out of plastic. do you think that will be better as in durablity and glueing it together?

 

[Oddball]

By plastic, I assume you mean acrylic. That's even more expensive than glass. And, you can't use silicone, or glue, on acrylic. Acrylic needs a bonding agent that actually melts the area to be bonded to fuse pieces together. You especially can't mix materials with acrylic and get a bond any stronger than a gasket seal. This type of bonding would require a strong frame to allow such a seal to hold. And, if you build a frame to hold the pieces in place, you may as well build a conventional plywood tank with fiberglass epoxy coating and silicone in a front pane of glass.