Male motoro burying itself

[Andradde1994]

Morning friends! This is gonna be a long one haha sorry for any mistakes in writing... English is not my first language... So please have some patience ? So... My beloved girlfriend just got me the fish of my dreams on friday... A beatifull male motoro stingray... Already eating pellets and about 12" in diameter... Hes very healthy looking and active when he thinks nobody is watching... But ive got some beginner questions (not beginner aquarist... But never had a stingray before) ? I saw him eating pellets when we went to pick him up... The guy let me feed him and he ate a little bit... Not much... But ate a little bit... From there it was a 2 hour drive home and we got here arround 1am (guess that adds to stress level)... Since them i tried feeding him the exact same pellets and he seems interested... Goes after it but if he really ate some... It was one or two pieces at most... And them immediately burries itself on the sand and stays there for about 30 minutes or so... Is this mormal behavior? Its only two full days... I know hes not really addapted to my aquarium yet... But im really loving this fish... Cant even sleep well just thinking about it haha Wanna be ABSOLUTELY sure that everything is ok and that im doing all i can to make him feel at home... Also... Name suggestions are welcome! ?

About the size of the tank... I know this one is not the best one for him... She thought he was smaller... But i already have a way bigger (specially wider) tank that its going to be up and running in a few months... So i think hes going to be fine in this one for a little bit... Also i took out most of the wood i had in there to give him as much space as i could.

Heres some pics:

 

[Simonas]

He looks quite dark doesnt he. Mine bury sometimes but dont stay there too long as rays in my experience are quite active fish.

Main thing is your water? Have you tested it and are the parameters spot on because if they are not the ray will not be happy.

They're greedy fish , I feed my mini marble pair that have a disc size of about 10" each about 5 mussels a night and they have carniverous tablets in the morning

 

[Andradde1994]

He looks quite dark doesnt he. Mine bury sometimes but dont stay there too long as rays in my experience are quite active fish.

Main thing is your water? Have you tested it and are the parameters spot on because if they are not the ray will not be happy.

They're greedy fish , I feed my mini marble pair that have a disc size of about 10" each about 5 mussels a night and they have carniverous tablets in the morning

Yeah... He looks a bit dark... I love his color tbh ? My parameters are good... Nothing out of the ordinary... Amonia, nitrites and nitrates even lower than the tank he was in before... And ive seen him for about 3 months on the previous owners house... hes not much less active than he was in there... And i see him getting a little more active each day... Swims arround... Lifts all the substrate he can... Goes up to the glass... So... Thats a good sign i guess... The only thing thats bothering me is he buriyng itself every time i feed... Doesnt stay there more than 30mins... Today it was less than 5... Gonna try and give him some pieces of fish and see if he likes it more than pellets

 

[Rhyno8]

Yeah... He looks a bit dark... I love his color tbh ? My parameters are good... Nothing out of the ordinary... Amonia, nitrites and nitrates even lower than the tank he was in before... And ive seen him for about 3 months on the previous owners house... hes not much less active than he was in there... And i see him getting a little more active each day... Swims arround... Lifts all the substrate he can... Goes up to the glass... So... Thats a good sign i guess... The only thing thats bothering me is he buriyng itself every time i feed... Doesnt stay there more than 30mins... Today it was less than 5... Gonna try and give him some pieces of fish and see if he likes it more than pellets

When my motoro rays were smaller they used to bury themselves after every feed. They still do it sometimes now as adults. He’ll settle in give him some time. Monitor your water levels adding a 10” ray Is a descent addition to the bio load. On a side note be wary of the cichlids with him as they grow and mature they’ll become territorial rays don’t deal with aggression and stress well.

 

[Andradde1994]

When my motoro rays were smaller they used to bury themselves after every feed. They still do it sometimes now as adults. He’ll settle in give him some time. Monitor your water levels adding a 10” ray Is a descent addition to the bio load. On a side note be wary of the cichlids with him as they grow and mature they’ll become territorial rays don’t deal with aggression and stress well.

Thanks for the advice... Gave him some fish today and he ate like crazy! ?? but im watching my cichlids very closely... i have a lot of them in this tank... some would say i have too much lol but that helps a lot with aggression... even my synspilum or citrinellum arent too much aggressive... and none of my fish seem to mind the ray... never seen any aggression towards or any marks on him... for now at least... but im ready to take action at the first sign of trouble for sure