i am going to get a stingray and was wondering what would be better for a stingray bare-bottom, sand, or gravel? i have problems with each substrate though. with bare-bottom there is no substrate to house bacteria, and sand is going to be hard to put into the tank since it is already full of water, and the gravel i have already i think may be to heavy for the stingray.
Bare-Bottom, Sand, or gravel
- Thread starter mastergamer254
- Start date
you cannot due gravel since the underbelly of the stingray is very sensitive. i had mine in sand and just put it into a bag and opened it towards the bottom of the tank. it will get a little murky for a few minutes but it will not cause any problems. stingrays like to burrow under the sand. it is quite interesting. they flutter their sides which causes the sand to go on top of them. GL
for a stingray youll need a really good filter, with a good rule maybe about filtering twice the tanks capacity. with barebottom, bacteria house themselves on the walls of the tank, and mostly in the filter media, just make sure you have more than one section of biological filter and only replace/clean one at a time and youll be fine. you go sand if your worried though.
instantthc;2179352; said:
yes you can keep rays on gravel there are alot of keepers on here who do.... i used a 3/8 river pebble in the past and also have used finer river pebbles...as long as gravel is not sharp it is fine...
for fresh rays i prefer bare bottom easy to see the rays eat and maintain better water params... its all personal preference as everybody will tell you what they like better....
I use very fine sand with my rays and they seem to be happy with it. You have to only put a little sand on the bottom though because of all the amonia that builds up in it. ( i learned the hard way before when i had about 1 inch of sand in my tank tried to clean it with the python but i guess sifting the sand released more amonia causing my ray to die) now i have two with just enough sand to bury themselves(can even see the glass bottom in a few areas) and they enjoy it.
I guess the amazon river contains zero gravels huh ? just pure soft and non sharp sand around the river bottom ..... LOL
I think you guys get carried away with the way you want your tank to look with the excuse of having the best substrate for the ray.
Most river bottom contains HUGE driftwood, tree stump, huge sharp rocks, more rocks, many many more rocks, pebbles, more tree stump and etc. NEvertheless, the rays seems to be doing fine and having a blast cruising through each cracks, crevices and opening.
Bare Bottom - I can see the benefit of bare bottom for maintenance purposes and monitoring eating habits. I am too all for it.
Gravel/pebble - Gravel is fine, but you'll have have apower head to blow out each crevices as food tends to get stuck in between.
Sand - Sand is also fine...the only thing about man made sand is that all grains are uniform in size and shape. This tends to creates a "seal" that seals of anerobic gases that can bring down your pH to a very acidic level. Most freshwater sand bed should only be 1" at the most and you need to stir it up every week or so to provides some good disturbance to the sand..
SOrry if I am being a little to pessimist, I think we're all under estimate what fish do in the wild...
stan
I think you guys get carried away with the way you want your tank to look with the excuse of having the best substrate for the ray.
Most river bottom contains HUGE driftwood, tree stump, huge sharp rocks, more rocks, many many more rocks, pebbles, more tree stump and etc. NEvertheless, the rays seems to be doing fine and having a blast cruising through each cracks, crevices and opening.
Bare Bottom - I can see the benefit of bare bottom for maintenance purposes and monitoring eating habits. I am too all for it.
Gravel/pebble - Gravel is fine, but you'll have have apower head to blow out each crevices as food tends to get stuck in between.
Sand - Sand is also fine...the only thing about man made sand is that all grains are uniform in size and shape. This tends to creates a "seal" that seals of anerobic gases that can bring down your pH to a very acidic level. Most freshwater sand bed should only be 1" at the most and you need to stir it up every week or so to provides some good disturbance to the sand..
SOrry if I am being a little to pessimist, I think we're all under estimate what fish do in the wild...
stan
I use sand. It's interesting to watch the rays search for food through the sand. First they make a pit with there boby and then they blow'n'suck the sand. Remember to clean the sand first and sometimes later.