a quick q bout tank mates?

[ermgravy]

hi guys, its been a while, my conection is down and i have new job and weird hrs.... ive come over a mates ti still a pc to ask some advis... tank in question is 7'x30"x24". and im looking to upgrade to a 10'x4' by aug. tank is currently stocked with:
14" blk aro,
15" fl gar,
2x 13" bowfin,
12" royal knife,
7" bgk,
5x 5" dats,
6x 8" polys,
6" JD,
8" O,
4" GT,
4" rainbow shark.
7" sailfin plec.

it all works verry well, cichlids are all very doxcile, bowfins don bother anyone or each other, its just a bit strange but it makes me think a ray may do ok in there, i am kinda up 4 trying but after reading miles thread im a bit worried about water quality? the tank used did have all my fish in it for a couple of weeks whilst i setup new tanks and filters and its still runing all the old filters i had on it from then:
2x fx5's
1x 303 (just filled with bio media)
1x interanl bio filter (just filled with bio media)
3X fuval 4 interanls with carbon and poly pads, for flow anmd extra polishing.

so would a 8" common motoro be ok in this setup till aug? then as 10x4 for life? i ask cause ive only ever "what if'd" a ray before but my lfs has one for £40 and its very tempting!

 

[Miles]

Competition for food and water quality are going to your primary dilemma..

Try feeding some fresh shrimp to your tank.. How many pieces do you need to put in to have a single one hit the ground? You would have to overfeed the tank to get food down to the rays, or take time every single day to hand-feed your rays, without having the dats, cichlids, or others snatch it out of your hands..

Other than that, alot of those tankmates will stress a ray.

If your ray was larger, more adult sized, where they don't stress as easy and tend to act more like a cichlid, less like a discus.. it might work.

You would have better luck with establishing the 10x4, putting in a large aggressive ray in the tank FIRST, letting it become well established, and then slowly add the tankmates later.. If you use a big ray and let it be the first fish in the tank, you will have much more success than trying to add a ray to tank full of established, meat-eating, super-hungry, predators..

Hope that helps!

 

[ermgravy]

ok, thanks miles!