Rays + sand or Bare Bottom?

[vamptrev]

i used to do sand but it was always a mess and it eats away at your pumps/filters so i have done bb ever since.

i went and saw a buddys tank last weekend and he has very small smooth gravel and it was great. it looked good, the rays could still sift, and it didnt fly all over into the filters etc...

ive been debating trying this stuff...

 

[T1KARMANN]

bare bottom is for the lazy fish keeper

rays have taken millions of years to evolve to live in the substrate the least you can do is give them that one thing

i look at my rays everyday pumping the sand and turn it over much better for them than skating on a sheet of glass

 

[Florencebigfish]

What does "defunk" mean?

Did you lose the rays due to impacted sand building up gas pockets or bacteria?

I am going to try a thin layer of natural river sand but I like the idea of koralias firing at it to keep clean.

Defunk.... just a slang word for my water quality going really bad. Ammonia went very high.

 

[vamptrev]

bare bottom is for the lazy fish keeper

rays have taken millions of years to evolve to live in the substrate the least you can do is give them that one thing

i look at my rays everyday pumping the sand and turn it over much better for them than skating on a sheet of glass

wht kind of sand do u use?

 

[T1KARMANN]

wht kind of sand do u use?

I'm using a UK brand called BD trading

but i will be changing it soon as its to light and like you said the rays kick it up bad

getting sand in the filters pumps is not a problem as my tank is 3ft deep and weirs sand doesn't go near the pumps

i just hate the way this fine sand sticks to the rays which was the main reason i used the fine gravel

the gravel i used to use is no more lots of other gravels out their but they are to dark and sharp for my liking

 

[AlexG]

i look at my rays everyday pumping the sand and turn it over much better for them than skating on a sheet of glass

Rare, but yes I got to agree with T1

it´s just beautifull to see them moving all the substrate arround when they are houngry. For healthy rays thats just the best

Making just bare bottom is easier then to find the RIGHT SUBSTRATE.
I had changed twice all my substrat to be happy, now I go with (I think it its 1-1,5mm) white firewashed gravel .

 

[spotfin]

i used to do sand but it was always a mess and it eats away at your pumps/filters so i have done bb ever since.

i went and saw a buddys tank last weekend and he has very small smooth gravel and it was great. it looked good, the rays could still sift, and it didnt fly all over into the filters etc...

ive been debating trying this stuff...

What is the brand?

I would like to see some more pictures of ray tanks with Caribsea Peace River gravel.

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

I once changed out my sand color slowly in stages and left half the tank sand and the other half bare. A small percentage of my rays did not mind but the majority of them def. prefered the sand side. I think watching a ray "play" in sand is one of the enjoyments of having a ray....

Once they settle in they no longer will miss the substrate.

Interesting, how does one measure this?

I would design the system to work with the sand just for the rays enjoyment. I am always for keeping the animals as happy as possible and making there environment as close to wild as possible.

Agreed ^

 

[Just Toby]

My new tank has the intakes up high to save the sand hitting the sump but the inlet to the cannister is at 50% height as I dont mind a new impeller every now and then but I plan to put in some circulation to stir up the lower levels

 

[earthstudent]

Ok... so, we have determined rays prefer a dig-able substrate. Now we need to find a substrate that is small and smooth enough for them to dig and "play" but large enough that it will settle out quickly and not end up going through pumps.

Any ideas?

I think quarries separate sand with machines to give different granule sizes. Not sure if that stuff would be smooth enough tho.

You could take what ever sand you would normally use and sift it through a window screen. That should give granule size of about 1mm and larger. That would get rid of all the really small stuff but would be allot of work.