A few questions in advance

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
It's not that I can't afford the tank, I don't currently have the space for a large tank, my bedroom is full, and my office (which is the only other location where fish can be) isn't big enough for an 8' tank. If that wasn't my dogs' yard door, I'd block it off with a tank.

PLUS, my dad won't let me have a stingray in the main part of the house. The piranhas, or goldfish, he could care less about, but he's made it clear that he's not comfortable with the idea of a stingray in easy reach (as though it's going to climb out of it's tank and attack him...)

I would switch out 3 of my tanks to fit a big one, but, it won't even fit past the top of our stairwell (you should've seen our attempts at moving a futon up there) Our 75 gallon is a problem to get up and down!!

Thanks for the information though!
 
Also teacup stingrays are just a name wholesalers give to small rays, these can range in species. So dont go around looking for a teacup or you could end up with a motoro or something, be specific ask for a retic. Retics need a tank bigger than 75, i got my two at 4-5 inches and put them in a 150gallon tank thats 24 wide, and I still do water changes every 3 days (bec retics are very sensitive, an amonia spike would most likely kill them.) they are now pritty much adults and are 9 inches (ive only had then for a year and a half), plus you have to consider there long tails. Also I agree with Miles, keeping rays is exspensive, if you cant afford buying the appropriate sized tank then it's going to be hard to keep up with the expenses of keeping a ray like food, electricity bill, water bill, etc.
 
Again, MONEY ISN'T AN ISSUE!!

I have no space for an 8' long tank.

There are only 2 rooms I can put fish into, my bedroom, and my office; My office is small, and there is no space for an 8' tank out here. My bedroom is FULL!! I have an iguana enclosure, 2 75 gallon tanks, a 55, a 35, 2 29s, 2 10s, with stands, and a futon (I downgraded my bed for space) and my dog's wire kennel. I had to consolidate space, and put one of the 75s on my dressers.
 
Well you might just put your stingray plans on hold until you can find the space.. because space will become an issue faster than you would think with Rays.

Tell your dad he's crazy, and needs to quit drinking the sensationalistic media kool-aid, and realize that if I stabbed Steve Irwin in the heart with a mechanical pencil, and he pulled it out.. well.

Stingrays are only dangerous if your a dolt.
 
Yea, he's not a big pet person either way, and fish just confuse the hell out of him.

"They're nice, they're pretty, but.....what's the point?" At which point I cover the fishes' ears and say "Don't swear in their presence!!"

I have a few months to talk him into it, maybe I could rearrange my office (it's 12 ft one way, 8 ft the other) My desk and the door are on the 12 ft sides, there's a window and another doorway on the 8 fts. Plus, a heater vent UNDER my desk.

Hopefully though, I can talk him around and get the tank built for a ray. ^^ (not right now though. ><)
 
Many people have raised very healthy rays that have started out in smaller tanks. A 4 by 2 by 2 (120 gal) is perfectly fine for a 5 inch motoro for at least a year to 18 months. If you want the PC answer I will tell you to go buy a 360 gallon tank for your 5 inch motoro. :) Ask the people who are reccomending 8 foot tanks for a baby motoro how big their tank was when they purchased their first stingray.

same story if you purchased a silver arowana baby. yes down the road you had better be prepared to have a large tank to comfortably house the animal but you cetainly do not NEED a 500 gal for the 3 inch arowana.

It seems that in your case when the time comes you will have the money to upgrade your ray from a 120 to a larger home and as long as your living situation/space constraints are taken care of it shouldnt be a problem upgrading.

Good Luck
 
Good luck, lmao my parents wond let me get anything bigger tank than what I have, and I want like a 250g so baddly!!! lol but hope everything turns out good with u getting ur retic, just do ALOT of water changes.
 
lmao and my parents had the exact same reaction when I told them that I was getting a stingray for my tank. They asked me if it was more poisonous than the manta ray that killed the crocidile hunter lmao
 
RARE AFISHINADO;1333746; said:
Many people have raised very healthy rays that have started out in smaller tanks. A 4 by 2 by 2 (120 gal) is perfectly fine for a 5 inch motoro for at least a year to 18 months. If you want the PC answer I will tell you to go buy a 360 gallon tank for your 5 inch motoro. :) Ask the people who are reccomending 8 foot tanks for a baby motoro how big their tank was when they purchased their first stingray.
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Sure.. keeping a ray in a 120 can be done, easily.. even a 75. but most 'beginners' end up killing rays in these tanks, and fail to upgrade them when the time comes.. The maintenance is more difficult, the urge for tankmates is irresistible, and the notion of 'upgrading in the future' gets pushed back further in the mind, the better the ray does.. then gee, one day an ammonia spike killed your 12" motoro 'because he had done so good for so long, and there was no need to upgrade'..

So, rather than give people advice based on the bare minimum, why not give them advice on an ideal?

IMO, If you still live with your parents.. there will be alot going on in the future, and having a big tank with a fish like that is irresponsible, as more than likely it will have to be 'sacrificed' when things come up (college, girls, reality).. hopefully you can find the animal a good home when life comes knockin'.. :D
 
lol I agree completly with you Miles, im 16 and im just lucky that my parents let me get a 150, and my rays are doing awsome. But in a few years im hoping to get something bigger but like you said then theres college which is only two years away, so hopefully when the time comes my little sister (who also loves my rays) could take care of them while im gone for school but you never know.
 
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