Adding new sand before or after adding ray

[nmadsen4]

My mom lives in new mexico and wants a ray. She has experience in fish keeping but this is her first ray.

Is it ok to add the new sand after adding the ray? she's looking at a flower around 6"

 

[Tor-Eriik]

She should add new sand before, a new ray wouldnt want the stress that comes along with changing substrate.. Rays are pretty fragile to stress.May i ask what size tank the is planning to have this flower in?

 

[nmadsen4]

Its a male at 6", her current tank is a standard 180 running an fx5. If she goes through with it her current stock would be removed of course.

What if she adds the sand lets say 1 month after the ray is introduced? would this be adequate time between the ray addition and the sand?

 

[tonysnow]

It will be enough time in a month only if your ray settles in and is eating fine. the good thing about sand is it reduces alot of stress on your ray. which is a big deal when introducing a young ray to a new tank.the condition your ray comes in is a factor aswell. I say add the sand first. my ray burried himself for a few days when he was young before he started to explore and eat.

 

[nmadsen4]

thx all for info and recommendations!

 

[johno27]

What is the substrate she has in there now?

Another thing you might want to look into is a second filter. This is helpful because you can alternate cleaning them so you don't disturb too much of the BB. Rays create a huge bio-load and having a well seeded filter is a must. If a second filter isn't an option just be careful cleaning the fx5.

I would also possibly suggest starting out with a motoro as I have heard flowers can be very sensitive. Maybe someone who has kept both can comment on that.

Either way as long as you do your research ( which you seem to be doing) rays are awesome and I am sure she will love them

 

[lierudy]

Hop ur mom will have a good time keeping the ray. Keep us posted.

Btw.. what kind of sand will she be using?