The ray itself can run you from as little as $50 all the way up to several thousand depending on the species and what kinda deals you can find.
Costs of setting up a proper habitat for them vary almost as much. I just got done spending around $5,000 between building materials and filtration for a 12'x7' stingray pond, but thats for about a dozen rays. I wanted something large and with windows, so it costed a lot more to build, at the same time you could build a pond using 2x4s for framing, plywood for walls, and a pond liner, that would be big enough for a couple rays, for around $500, but then you don't have windows. You can go with DIY filtration or professionally made ones, both work, just depends what your preference is, for me I am doing a little of both.
Once you get around the upfront costs, provided your rays are healthy, I don't think there up keep is all that expensive. Just to give you an idea of the food bills you should expect, to feed 16 rays, all around 12", I go through about 20-25lbs of tilapia and 2000 nightcrawlers a month. Total cost for all that is around $300. As to power and water its not that much, we have cheap power here but I would say no more than $50 a month for a single ray pond.
Costs of setting up a proper habitat for them vary almost as much. I just got done spending around $5,000 between building materials and filtration for a 12'x7' stingray pond, but thats for about a dozen rays. I wanted something large and with windows, so it costed a lot more to build, at the same time you could build a pond using 2x4s for framing, plywood for walls, and a pond liner, that would be big enough for a couple rays, for around $500, but then you don't have windows. You can go with DIY filtration or professionally made ones, both work, just depends what your preference is, for me I am doing a little of both.
Once you get around the upfront costs, provided your rays are healthy, I don't think there up keep is all that expensive. Just to give you an idea of the food bills you should expect, to feed 16 rays, all around 12", I go through about 20-25lbs of tilapia and 2000 nightcrawlers a month. Total cost for all that is around $300. As to power and water its not that much, we have cheap power here but I would say no more than $50 a month for a single ray pond.
