I really don't think the rays are seen as any kind of threat. They really seem to go ignored. I would tend to think that to the wolf another fish would be viewed as more of a threat then a bottomdwelling scavenger. I've seen the way my Wolf eyeballs the Brycon. It sure seems like the wolf pays much more attention to fish pacing the middle of the tank then rays on the bottom. The rays pounce on and top the wolf and it doesn't seem to mind much.
I understand that all this could change when they get larger. Let's stop for a second and take a trip down memory lane. When Armatus was fist introduced to the hobby what was the general consensus on attitiude? Same as a wolf. Can cohab when small then when large kill everything. What happened with Armatus? Coincidently they became less aggressive the cheaper they got. Down to $50 each and what a change in attitude. Then you saw groups of them, they were in community settings, and general opinion of the fish changed. The same exact thing is already holding true for Aimara. Pricetags can be intimidating, but once people get past them and more people get thier hands on them many times the general opinions change.
Maybe they are just stupid fish, but then again, maybe the way they are raised plays a huge part in thier behavior later down the road?
I would have never even thought to try this combo, BUT the problem was I couldn't tear my eyes off of all the pics samurai-h would post of all his different Aimara varients and his rays. If he trusted his enough to keep with Falkneri and BD I see no problem with trying a similar combo.....
As far as pups in the tank, there's no way I'd keep preggo rays with an adult Aimara. Never intended to even try it. If the Aimara pans out and works in my big tank then a divider will go up for the preggo rays.
I think we can all agree there are much more manacing teeth out there kept in ray tanks then Aimara. I'd think an ATF would have a much easier time scooping an eye out then an Aimara. I think an Aimara would probobly give more clues and warning signs of the combo not working then say an ATF. Could be wrong, I've never had ATF, but I know there's plenty of proof out there that those razors can easily split fish. The huge difference between the 2 to me is the fact that when one of those fish is put in a corner or feels threatened it has more of a tendency to retaliate.
