cortez sting ray questions

[ninjazx777]

hello my name is matt
I currently have a 300 gal agressive with softies 100lbs live rock DIY led lighting,
300 gal mixed reef mostly lps and sps 100lbs live rock metal halide-vho lighting,
75 gal sps dominant 50lbs live rock DIY led lighting ,
125 gal softie anemone reef 75 lbs of live rock Diy led lighting,
40gal breeder mangrove swamp DIY led ligting,
56 gal frag tank 2 AI led fixtures lighting,
240 gal sump with filter socks 150 lbs of live rock also has sps frags metal halide lighting,
ACIII pro,
liter meter auto water changer and top off,
octopuss xp-5000 external skimmer with swabbie,
avast marine internal skimmer with swabie ,
mrc dual calcium reator,
ozotech ozone generator,
avast marine ozone reactor,
avast marine mr10 with carbon,
avast marine mr16 with bio pellets,
2 bulk reef gfo reactors ,
mid west aquatics sulfer denitrator,
seachill half horse power chiller.
I heat with my hot water heater through a titanium heat exchanger
2 800 watt finex heaters as back up
all tied tied together
water parameters currently
amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrates 0-5
phosphates 0.05 ( I struggle to control this but is never higher then .08)
alk 9-9.5 dkh
temp 78-79
sg 1.024
mag 1300
cal 480

I change 8 gal of water daily through the liter meter
I only use reef crystal salt

my 300 gal agressive is 96"x30"x24" it has a 3" fine sand bed 100 lbs of live rock contains a blue hippo tang, sailfin tang, 2 snowflake eels, banded snake eel, fox face rabbit fish, marine betta, harliquin tusk, red scorpion fish, stars and stripe puffer, and a pink tail trigger
my questions are

if I remove most of the live rock can I keep a cortez sting ray in this size of a tank and with my water parameters and tank mates?

How many could I keep in there?

where is the best place to buy a cortez sting ray?

I know that triggers and puffers dont work with rays but the stars and stripe puffer and the pink tail triggers are the most doscile of there species would I have to remove them if i get a ray?

thank you for all your help
matt

 

[Zoodiver]

my 300 gal agressive is 96"x30"x24" it has a 3" fine sand bed 100 lbs of live rock contains a blue hippo tang, sailfin tang, 2 snowflake eels, banded snake eel, fox face rabbit fish, marine betta, harliquin tusk, red scorpion fish, stars and stripe puffer, and a pink tail trigger

I'd say those fish might give you problems when adding a ray.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Your tank is already fully stocked.

 

[ninjazx777]

so if I get rid of the snowflakes, the tusk, trigger, and puffer i would be ok for a cortez ray? one or two?
Is a 96"x30"x24" tank big enough?
also I know corals are a no no but does that include softies?

keep in mind the tank may be only a 300 gal but I have over 1000 gal total water volume and most of my fish are small so i dont think filtration will be a problem I also forgot to mention I have a 29 gal fuge too.

I also will take out all the fish and house them temperarly in a 100 gal stock tank until the rays are adjusted to the tank then reintruduce the rest of the fish so there wont be any tritory issues

 

[Pufferpunk]

You must consider the bioload of all your fish at their adult sizes.

 

[krj-1168]

Agreed - a 300 gallon tank with 11 fish is already crowded enough.

And puffers, tusks, and triggers tend to be very poor tankmate choices for benthic sharks and most rays.

 

[Deano1956]

I think you have gotten some good advice above, the rays will be open target for puffers and triggers. All your tanks are tied in together? 1000 gallon is a fair amount of water with those fish if thats all you have. True Cortez Rays are'nt all that availible around my area and most places call a California Round Ray a Cortez. My personal opinion would be a Cortez should have a bigger footprint tank for life but for a while you could do it with a juvi ray