How hard are they to care for?

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oddballfish

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 4, 2010
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WA
Hi Im looking in to getting some Rays and other larger fish. Im wondering how hard they are to care for and if theres any you would recommend for a beginner. Im getting possibly up to a 500 gallon indoor pond this summer. Also what sort of Plecos or catfish would you reccommend with theses guys. I have raised discus which I thought were pretty easy from what people said on being hard.
Thanks,
Brooklyn
 
I wouldn't purchase a ray until you have a suitable home ready. I would say for a male motoro pup which would be a great beginner ray you can get a year out of an 18" wide tank and a few years out of a 24" wide tank but the larger the volume of water you have the easier they will be to care for.

The most important thing is to stick to a religious water change scedule, have plenty of bio filtration, and feed the appropriate amounts of the right foods.

I would read through the stickies and maybe do a search for what people are feeding and using for filtration etc.. If you have any more questions feel free to ask there are a ton of knowledgable people in the ray section who can help you :)

On a side note plecos are usualy a no no with rays they can suck on the rays disk. Most lare cats will work as long as they are the correct size
 
With an 300+ gal. established system (bigger is better), weekly water changes and proper filteration, rays are easy to keep. I dont recommend plecos and cats. Plecos can suck the slime coat off the rays and most cats are either lunch or can attack and kill rays as they become adults. That being said, many people do keep Tigrinus, and Juruense cats sucessfully with rays. Silver/Black Aros and Bichirs seem to do good with them (as long as they are large enough the rays cant take them down). Motoros are a great beginner ray. Many of the more expensive rays are very hearty as well. If you have raised Discus you should be able to keep rays no problem.
The key is...established/cycled tank and water changes. Short cuts will lead to a sad and costly mistake.
 
My tigrinus gets along great with my new motoro pair. He recently started laying on top of the rays when theyre resting and they all have been doing very well together enjoying the company haha.
 
I figured Plecos and Catfish were a no go. So what scavanger fish would be good I have Clown loaches? I definaly was hoping to put my Angels, Leapord Ctenpomas, Discus, and bichirs in with the rays which mine are all 5+ in. Will these be okay tankmates?
 
Angels and discus can be a problem if they pick at the rays. Clown loaches will end up dead unless they are very large or you have a very placid ray. The ray can also be dammaged by the loaches barbs if he trys to eat them. Brichirs can sometimes be a problem during feeding time since they share the bottom with the rays.

The rule of thumb with most tank mates is to monitor closely and be ready to move things. I have had my rays take down things I thought where big enough to be fine several times even after a year with no problems

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I use clown knifes in my ray ponds as scavengers to clean up anything the rays miss.

As far as how hard they are to keep that is up to you really, when people try to keep rays in tanks that are to small or don't have adequate filtration then ray keeping is very hard. On the other hand when kept in large tanks with plenty of filtration and regular water changes rays are no harder to keep than a cichlid.
 
JohnG said:
As far as how hard they are to keep that is up to you really, when people try to keep rays in tanks that are to small or don't have adequate filtration then ray keeping is very hard. On the other hand when kept in large tanks with plenty of filtration and regular water changes rays are no harder to keep than a cichlid.
Click to expand...

John hit it on the head with this one. Provide what they need and they will be very enjoyable for you.
 
So I have decided Im gonna setup a 500 gallon this summer once Im all moved and settled in my new home. So I would really like to know what the best tank mates would be for Rays? Also how many rays would u reccomend in a 500 gallon?
Thanks.
 
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