Noobie Stingray question.

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MikebNJ

MikebNJ

Candiru
MFK Member
Aug 1, 2014
289
171
46
The Swamps of Central Jersey
Hello friends. Not new to fish keeping. New to rays. I have researched a lot and appreciate the threads here. My question is in regards to tank mates. I have a 210 gallon (73 inch length by 29 high by 24 wide) that will have 3 silver arowana that are floating pellet trained.

1) 210 is still really small for 1 Motoro ray right? (I see a lot of pro ray keepers here with vids of small tanks though with 3 or 4 rays in them)

2) will the ray eventually hurt and try to kill the arowana even if they will be 1.5 to 2 ft long aros?

3) Is a Tiger shovelnose absolutely out of the question because it will pick at the ray?

I know this will be a big bio load but I will have the proper filtration and perform the weekly water changes for the rays obviously.
 
i started off with a 210 that size. It lasted me about 1-1/2 years with 2- 4-5" motoros. Matter of a fact they bred several times in that tank... BUt you are really pushing bioload with big arowana.. with good maintenance and good filtration you MIGHT be ok for a while.
But my male could probably have lived a long long time in that size tank where the female was outgrowing it quickly. But every ray is different, but dont expect a female to make it past a year or two tops in that size tank.

Rays shouldn't bother the aro, aro shouldn't bother rays, just may make it difficult to get food to rays, then you will have to overfeed to get food to them.

TIger shovelnose is no go..... Why would you want to keep a $10 fish that can eat a $100+ fish? not worth the risk IMO.
I had this exact setup and an experienced ray keeper told me this and i quickly realized why and sold my tsn.
Take a pick... rays or giant cat's
 
I kept a red tail with my rays, I don't see why that would be a problem since red tails are pretty much like shovelnoses. I also kept a arowana with my male rays, that wasn't an issue either. If your ray tried to eat your arowanas, your arowanas would have to be able to fit in their mouths. My gars were 6 inches and my rays were 9 inches across at one point, when the gars would rest on the bottom the rays might hop on them but they'd just swim out like nothing happened.

I might have just gotten lucky with my tank mates though.
 
A ray does not need the whole thing to fit in its mouth. A stingray is not like a fish and wants to swallow everything whole. A ray will tackle it's prey and then chew at the gills and chew it's head off and eat whatever it wants. If it's hungry and can get it anything is game. Especially as they get bigger.


cnel124 said:
I kept a red tail with my rays, I don't see why that would be a problem since red tails are pretty much like shovelnoses. I also kept a arowana with my male rays, that wasn't an issue either. If your ray tried to eat your arowanas, your arowanas would have to be able to fit in their mouths. My gars were 6 inches and my rays were 9 inches across at one point, when the gars would rest on the bottom the rays might hop on them but they'd just swim out like nothing happened.

I might have just gotten lucky with my tank mates though.
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DIDYSIS said:
A ray does not need the whole thing to fit in its mouth. A stingray is not like a fish and wants to swallow everything whole. A ray will tackle it's prey and then chew at the gills and chew it's head off and eat whatever it wants. If it's hungry and can get it anything is game. Especially as they get bigger.

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Click to expand...

i have seen this many times with my ray. when a fish is caught in it's disc, say goodbye to it unless the fish is strong enough to struggle and get lose on the hold. they start chewing the head - brains like zombies. here's a 8inch pleco which i was worried as a treat for my rays, but ended up being chewed.

chewed pleco.jpeg
 
I agree with DIDYSIS, all fish are fair game as the ray gets bigger, I had a 8" BD hybrid that ate the head off my 9" Odoe Pike and I never saw that comin. As far as the TSN, I had a 12" one in with my rays, including several pups, and there was never any problems. As long as the TSN has enough food, if that's possible, everything will be just peachy! Good luck
 
Rays and aros do well together as long as sized correctly.

Your tank is a little small but you could always upgrade in the future


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