Has this been done/Can it be done?

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pacu22

Candiru
MFK Member
Jul 15, 2008
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I wanted to keep a few rays in a planted tank, but I know they will screw with the substrate. So here is my idea: I want to put a layer of substrate suitable for plants and then put a layer of plexi-glass on top of this layer. The plexiglass will have multiple cutouts where the plants will be planted, but the rays will have a bare bottom. Does this make sense? And would it work? I know that the substrate will not be getting much water circulation, is this ok?

Please comment
Thanks for reading
 
oh.. cool idea.. crazy enough to actually work.. you could make the "top bottom" in to separate sections.. that way you could go with very thin acrylic (lower cost) and you would be able to pick it up to clean/change the sand.. if you would frame the tank you would never see the substrate at all.. cool idea! I likey! If you'd go with gravel you wouldn't have the rays stirring up sand..
 
What about a PVC piping system for the plants and lay the sand over everything. Put a pump on the PVC system and a screen to hold in the sand, that way the substrate in the pipes gets some water flow.... just thinking out loud.
 
I had a planted 125g tank with play sand substrate. I had several 6-8" stingrays in there at a time, and they didn't "unplant" the tank at all. They mostly moved around the base of the plants and poofed into the loose sand.

For it to work, I think you need to give the plants enough time to establish a good root system before adding the stingrays. Also, the larger the stingrays are, the more likely they are to damage or completely uproot the plants.

The link in the post above is a good way to do it. Build a shelf in the water column so the rays can swim under it, and then plant into substrate held on that shelf.
 
tomago;4529627; said:
What about a PVC piping system for the plants and lay the sand over everything. Put a pump on the PVC system and a screen to hold in the sand, that way the substrate in the pipes gets some water flow.... just thinking out loud.
Click to expand...

I love overly complicated projects
they're a pain to maintain however..
 
If you have acrylic covering the substrate, more gunk will be trapped in the substrate since you can't gravel vac areas with the acrylic over it. Won't it cause pretty poor water quality over time?
 
Conner;4529636; said:
I had a planted 125g tank with play sand substrate. I had several 6-8" stingrays in there at a time, and they didn't "unplant" the tank at all. They mostly moved around the base of the plants and poofed into the loose sand.

For it to work, I think you need to give the plants enough time to establish a good root system before adding the stingrays. Also, the larger the stingrays are, the more likely they are to damage or completely uproot the plants.

The link in the post above is a good way to do it. Build a shelf in the water column so the rays can swim under it, and then plant into substrate held on that shelf.
Click to expand...



^^

I think what this guy says is worth a try. Try to use really hardy plants too.
 
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