20 Gallon Stingray Tank????

[Varial7]

I was at a lfs about 6 months ago when a saw two 6in. motoro rays cramed into a 20H. I was just there today and the two of them are still alive! How is this possible the filter was just a standard box filter. They made it work? Can someone please explane how this could make sense.

 

[TMB]

they probly get different kinds in maybe when they sell them or something im not sure.

 

[Varial7]

No they said they were the same ones they never sold and i asked them to feed it and they gobbled up there food and they apeared very healthy. I just doesn't make sense.

 

[jeffers]

if it was 6 months and they were 6" when you first saw them and they are still there. then these rays might eat but are not healthy. sounds stunted to me. motoros grow fast when healthy. especially in a 6 month time.

 

[Just Toby]

Are you sure the box filter was not a back up to a sump system - as in systemised shop?

I hope this thread does not tempt anyone to try it.

 

[Varial7]

I hope no one trys it however it did trouble me how it can happen. However the box was the main filtration as it is on all threir tanks. 100% positive that there is no sump. It was at a local petland discount

 

[soupa2]

dont be supprised because my lfs have tea cups, motoros, in a divided 55gal.. i houses like 3-5 motoros, and 3-5 tea cups in this divided half 55gal with one aquaclear 50 filter. all bunched up in one side of the divider.. and on the bottom is a 75gal which houses 1x flower 16" in dia and 1x jarguar 15-16". the filter for this 75 gal is an eheim 2213.. it's normal to see this kind of operation going on

 

[dr_sudz]

The filters are well established and they keep on the water quality, tho the stunting is highly suspected. The rays would likely have issues long term.
(I'm just guessing here don't know where these fish really are)

 

[Just Toby]

The filters are well established and they keep on the water quality, tho the stunting is highly suspected. The rays would likely have issues long term.
(I'm just guessing here don't know where these fish really are)

I honestly think that if they are feeding the kind of diet they should then the water quality is going to be all over the place - I would imagine each time they have a dump the PH falls and the Ammonia rises but they must know something about water quality to have kept them alive in challenging conditions.

Does anyone know the long term health affects of stunting - I imagine some fish would just stay small and live as long but do not want to encourage this - many of us in the hobby stunt fish, you only have to look at the size of fish in the wild to compare to the hobby - most of the monster redtail pics as wild caught and you often do not see the full size fish in captivity.

If you stunted a pair and then bred from them would the offspring be likely to stay small? Is this not the sort of thing Dog breeders did years ago?

 

[Varial7]

I hope this doesn't encourage others to try this. I belive stunting is inhuimane and any way we can prevent it we should. I was wondering posible that they have an amquel dosser that delivers a few drops an hour to the tank. Is that possible and what are the possible long term effects of that. Being a clownfish breeder i know that adding these amonia detoxifiers to a baby/growout tank stunts the growth of the clownfish allot. Could this happen to rays. Are they sensitive to these chemicals?