Hello everybody, I've kept a saltwater tank for 6-7 years now and am switching over to freshwater rays. I am getting bored of the saltwater world and it seems like freshwater is cheaper in the long run (don't have to buy salt and minerals all the time).
Anyways, I've read through all the stickies on this page and there is a ton of great info in there but most of it seems old and I was wondering if people have any new or better information available? I've ordered the "Freshwater Stingrays from South America" aqua-log book and I think that will be a great read to help broaden my knowledge on the Rays.
Here's a little background on what I'm planning to do for the tank. Please feel free to critique my setup or help steer me in a new direction. I love constructive criticism and would greatly appreciate it.
Tank: Trading out my old 125g tank for a 210g tank. Found a local person selling a 72"L x 24"W x 28"H tank with a single overflow stack in the center/back of the tank that has 2 inlets and 2 outlets. I think this will be a good starting tank to house 2 rays. I can upgrade in the future if I want more rays or if the ray's outgrow this tank.
Sump/Filtering: I read through the ungodly long reactor/filtration sticky and like the idea of a moving bed filter with K1 media. I plan on having 2 55g drums for filtering. Both outlets from the display tank will go into the first drum which will have a few layers of filter floss to pull out large particles, under the floss will be some ceramic media and bio filter plates I have left over from the saltwater setup (https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/xport-no3-biological-filtration-plate-brightwell.html). This drum will drain into the 2nd 55g drum which will be filled with K1 and circulated with an airstone. Plan on purchasing an Alita air pump 60lpm rating, not sure what's a good airpump since I never used any in the saltwater world. Then return line will go back up to the display tank, using a pan-world external pump, cant remember what it's rated for.
I plan on putting a heater in the K1 drum and attaching an Inkbed temperature controller to it. Probably just reusing an old heater I have laying around.
I'm reusing the 55g drums from my saltwater setup. They used to be used for storing RODI water and for mixing saltwater.
Waterchanging: I have a litermeter III leftover from my saltwater setup and i was thinking about using that as a drip system to change water constantly every day/week. There are some pros/cons to this and I'm open to changing it.
Pros: I can control exactly how much water is entering/exiting the tank down to the mL. Already have this equipment so it wouldn't cost anything to setup. Also has an ATO feature so I wouldn't have to worry about evaporation.
Cons: Has to be connected to a power source. Has to have a 3rd barrel of water ready to pump into tank.
I have a leftover RODI system from the saltwater tank as well, I plan on using that for filtering my water before it goes into the tank. I wont be using the RO or DI filters though. I plan to use a 5micron and 1micron pre-filter in the first 2 canisters then a carbon block in the 3rd canister. Disconnecting the RO membrane/filter from the system. This is probably a waste of resources and I could sell the RODI system and just buy 3 canister filters instead but I can live with it for now.
The biggest drawback to this water changing/drip system I see is that it is not 100% automated. I have to turn the water faucet on to send water through the filters into a holding tank, then turn off the water when it's full and let the litermeter III do its normal water changing thing. In the reactor/filter sticky thread, it looks like a lot of people hook up a line directly to a water source that's always on and feed it through the filters and into their tank with a valve that controls the amount of water constantly coming in and no need for any electronic device to do the water changing.
Lighting: I am just going to reuse my Maxspect Razor lights on this setup, it's probably overkill but I can turn the brightness way down and control it very well. Probably turn the blue hue off so it looks like normal sun light.
Stock/Aquascape: I plan on having 1 decent sized piece of driftwood in the tank that only touches the bottom of the tank in a few locations so the Rays can swim under it.
I plan on reusing the 100lbs of sand I had in my 125g saltwater tank for this tank. I have already washed out all the sand after I took apart the saltwater setup and took out old shells and sharp objects. I plan on washing it again before setting up the new tank. I can't remember what kind of sand it is, but I bought it as live sand in bags and it's an average light brown color.
Planning on having 1male and 1female ray in the tank. Not sure what species yet. I've never kept rays before so I don't want to spend a ton of money while still learning. I know a few people locally that sell marble motoros so I might start with those. I live a few hours away from Chicago Stingray so I could purchase from them as well, wouldn't have to ship the rays.
I wouldn't mind adding another fish or 2 to the tank that swim higher up in the water column but I want this to mainly be a Ray tank. I don't want a large Arowana in this tank. Maybe a Datnoid or something else of similar size. I've done a lot of research on Discus as well but I think I'd be overstepping my boundaries trying to setup a Ray/Discus tank right from the start.
What does everybody think about that plan? Sorry for the long read, I can post some pictures of the equipment I have or plan on having for this setup if anybody isn't sure what I'm talking about.
Anyways, I've read through all the stickies on this page and there is a ton of great info in there but most of it seems old and I was wondering if people have any new or better information available? I've ordered the "Freshwater Stingrays from South America" aqua-log book and I think that will be a great read to help broaden my knowledge on the Rays.
Here's a little background on what I'm planning to do for the tank. Please feel free to critique my setup or help steer me in a new direction. I love constructive criticism and would greatly appreciate it.
Tank: Trading out my old 125g tank for a 210g tank. Found a local person selling a 72"L x 24"W x 28"H tank with a single overflow stack in the center/back of the tank that has 2 inlets and 2 outlets. I think this will be a good starting tank to house 2 rays. I can upgrade in the future if I want more rays or if the ray's outgrow this tank.
Sump/Filtering: I read through the ungodly long reactor/filtration sticky and like the idea of a moving bed filter with K1 media. I plan on having 2 55g drums for filtering. Both outlets from the display tank will go into the first drum which will have a few layers of filter floss to pull out large particles, under the floss will be some ceramic media and bio filter plates I have left over from the saltwater setup (https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/xport-no3-biological-filtration-plate-brightwell.html). This drum will drain into the 2nd 55g drum which will be filled with K1 and circulated with an airstone. Plan on purchasing an Alita air pump 60lpm rating, not sure what's a good airpump since I never used any in the saltwater world. Then return line will go back up to the display tank, using a pan-world external pump, cant remember what it's rated for.
I plan on putting a heater in the K1 drum and attaching an Inkbed temperature controller to it. Probably just reusing an old heater I have laying around.
I'm reusing the 55g drums from my saltwater setup. They used to be used for storing RODI water and for mixing saltwater.
Waterchanging: I have a litermeter III leftover from my saltwater setup and i was thinking about using that as a drip system to change water constantly every day/week. There are some pros/cons to this and I'm open to changing it.
Pros: I can control exactly how much water is entering/exiting the tank down to the mL. Already have this equipment so it wouldn't cost anything to setup. Also has an ATO feature so I wouldn't have to worry about evaporation.
Cons: Has to be connected to a power source. Has to have a 3rd barrel of water ready to pump into tank.
I have a leftover RODI system from the saltwater tank as well, I plan on using that for filtering my water before it goes into the tank. I wont be using the RO or DI filters though. I plan to use a 5micron and 1micron pre-filter in the first 2 canisters then a carbon block in the 3rd canister. Disconnecting the RO membrane/filter from the system. This is probably a waste of resources and I could sell the RODI system and just buy 3 canister filters instead but I can live with it for now.
The biggest drawback to this water changing/drip system I see is that it is not 100% automated. I have to turn the water faucet on to send water through the filters into a holding tank, then turn off the water when it's full and let the litermeter III do its normal water changing thing. In the reactor/filter sticky thread, it looks like a lot of people hook up a line directly to a water source that's always on and feed it through the filters and into their tank with a valve that controls the amount of water constantly coming in and no need for any electronic device to do the water changing.
Lighting: I am just going to reuse my Maxspect Razor lights on this setup, it's probably overkill but I can turn the brightness way down and control it very well. Probably turn the blue hue off so it looks like normal sun light.
Stock/Aquascape: I plan on having 1 decent sized piece of driftwood in the tank that only touches the bottom of the tank in a few locations so the Rays can swim under it.
I plan on reusing the 100lbs of sand I had in my 125g saltwater tank for this tank. I have already washed out all the sand after I took apart the saltwater setup and took out old shells and sharp objects. I plan on washing it again before setting up the new tank. I can't remember what kind of sand it is, but I bought it as live sand in bags and it's an average light brown color.
Planning on having 1male and 1female ray in the tank. Not sure what species yet. I've never kept rays before so I don't want to spend a ton of money while still learning. I know a few people locally that sell marble motoros so I might start with those. I live a few hours away from Chicago Stingray so I could purchase from them as well, wouldn't have to ship the rays.
I wouldn't mind adding another fish or 2 to the tank that swim higher up in the water column but I want this to mainly be a Ray tank. I don't want a large Arowana in this tank. Maybe a Datnoid or something else of similar size. I've done a lot of research on Discus as well but I think I'd be overstepping my boundaries trying to setup a Ray/Discus tank right from the start.
What does everybody think about that plan? Sorry for the long read, I can post some pictures of the equipment I have or plan on having for this setup if anybody isn't sure what I'm talking about.
