New Arowana!

[abortedsoul]

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[abortedsoul]

nice! does urs eat when u just brought it home?
My arowana eat in the beginning, not after I added some fish >.< so becareful~ ^.^

He hasn't eaten yet, although this is his first night. I'll give him a week before I start getting really worried.

 

[abortedsoul]

Post pictures of the whole setup please, Sounds interesting...

I already have, in another thread! I will post here, as well, in just a little bit.

 

[abortedsoul]

its tail looks damaged
ph burn?
or fighting?
should grow back u though, just make sure it doesnt get infected

I figured it looked a bit damaged; I have the recommended dose of aquarium salt in the tank; is there something else I should do?

 

[Eleven Bravo]

the tail will heal itself.

 

[abortedsoul]

So, here's my setup. Pics are crap, but I took them with my digital camcorder, so bear with me.


Here is my tank setup:
***125 gallon standard glass
Inhabitants: 1 Teacup Stingray, 1 Silver Arowana, varying amount of feeder Ghost Shrimp
***Raised 10 gallon modified turtle tank spillover
Inhabitants: 12 misc water plants, one gray goldfish named IGOR!!!
Filtration: Fluval FX5, Fluval 204 (powering the overflow), Bucket full of Bioballs / filter floss
***Stage 1 Media: Prefilter, AmmoCarb, Ammonia Chips
***Stage 2 Media: Peat Granules, Ammonia Chips
***Stage 3 Media: Biomax, Water Polishing Pad, Softener Pillow
Secondary Filtration: Modified bucket in waterfall below with 1 bag of ZeoCarb, 1 bag of Zeolite, 1 bag of Activated carbon, ~2 gallons of filter floss, ~2 gallons of bioballs.

 

[abortedsoul]

About how big is that guy in inches?

Abner is about 10" long, according to the awesome woman standing next to the tank measuring the Aro with a tape measure through the glass.

 

[xiahaolong168]

wow thats some really good filtration. Is the teacup stringray easy to keep?

 

[famous323]

sweet

 

[abortedsoul]

wow thats some really good filtration.

Raykeeping is not the same, in my experience, as keeping most other fish. Due to the evolutionary history of rays adapting to fresh water they have lost the ability to retain urea in their blood. The result is that the amount of ammonia that they produce (even for such a little ray) is ASTRONOMICAL. I can't even stress the difference I've had in ammonia during this experience; especially if you feed often, filtration (especially of the biological variety) is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL. You need at least x4/hr turnover with your pump, minimum, for keeping rays. I hear many people even suggest as much as x8/hr, which seems out there but after a week of keeping Tabitha I went straight for about x12/hr. No joking, know your nitrogen cycle and test often with these awesome creatures.

Is the teacup stringray easy to keep?

From what I hear, retics (reticulated river stingrays, or "teacups") are hard to break to new foods. Beyond that, retics are really very hardy rays that don't grow to monstrous (by this site's standards, at least) proportions.

Miles, a very experienced and knowledgeable raykeeper, wrote this thread about the different species of FW rays:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149245

It is really informative. Take a look and thoroughly read the stickies (except for the picture one, which is just for fun) and you should get a good idea about how to care for rays.

If I had any tips, I would say to go with a keep-cold nitrifying bacteria tank cycler (Biospira or Turbostart, not stresszyme or any of that other worthless crap that is kept on LFS shelves at room temperature) or, better yet, add media from an older tank and let your new tank completely cycle (with a LARGE bioload, I'm talking like 20+ parasite-free hardy fish!) before you add your ray. Test often and test... often. Water change about 25% each week, and pay attention to their behavior.

Big tanks are important. I'm sure you can read up on it if you are interested, and feel free to PM us with any questions you have!

-Matt & Ashley