Sand or bare bottom

[speedo]

Im picking 2 motoro ray pups up next week and was debating whether to go bare bottom or leave the sand in my tank? would the rays feel safer and more at home with a substrate or would it not matter so much?
Complete newby to rays so parden the simple question

 

[WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS]

Hi speedo,
Its really up to you. You will see different peoples opinions on the forum. I keep my adults on a tiled background. I did keep them in sand but it just got everywhere. I removed it. The sand on the other hand will allow the rays to hide if they feel threatened etc. Good luck with your new rays...and welcome to the addictive world of rays!

 

[speedo]

Cheers for the reply, I will prob leave it in for now and see how they get a long with it then. Im starting of with 2 motoro rays which are approx 6 inches across and they are male and female which are unrelated No other tank mates for the time being so they should be ok in there new home.

 

[dhjr0915]

I personally don't like sand cuz it's to hard to maintain and I like the look of bare bottom better for my rays...

 

[framcosco]

I personally don't like sand cuz it's to hard to maintain and I like the look of bare bottom better for my rays...

Totally agree.... rays poo A LOT and it is a pain to have to siphon on a regular basis.....also finer sand is best for rays and this can very easily get in your filters...... the minimalistic bare bottom approach is my preference for looks and maintenance reasons..... I can have my fluval g6 (or canister of choice) intake at the bottom of the tank to suck all poo and uneaten food keeping the tank clean at all times.... wouldn't be able to do this with sand/substrate....

...... boils down to personal choice, but sand is MORE work.....

 

[mshuangchao]

Sand makes the whole tank look natural, plus it's a good hide out for new born pups!

 

[KNH]

Rays love to play in the sand searching for food and bury themselves when they need shelter.

 

[T1KARMANN]

Hi speedo,
Its really up to you. You will see different peoples opinions on the forum. I keep my adults on a tiled background. I did keep them in sand but it just got everywhere. I removed it. The sand on the other hand will allow the rays to hide if they feel threatened etc. Good luck with your new rays...and welcome to the addictive world of rays!

thats not totallt true its up to us to provide our fish with conditions they like not just what suits us or is easy to keep clean

for me rays have taken millions of years to evolve to live in substrate meaning they will be much more happy if provided with it

if a fish gets scared in the wild it hides if a ray gets scvared it covers its self in substrate

people can debate this subject as much as they like but as far as i know we dont find any bare open bits of glass in any river i know

you will enjoy your rays much more watching them dig in substrate

 

[andersp90]

Since when did it become hard to keep a sand tank?

Just pick sand that is 0.8-1.2 mm. I wont go anywhere and it looks fantastic.

Also, I have never had to siphon my tank. Just get enough flow.

 

[king_corral]

i like the look of sand ill probably swap out for a finer sand i found on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BLACK-BEAUT...ltDomain_0&hash=item35b462c6de#ht_2003wt_1344
he has this black sand and than there is a even finer white sand i think id probably do a salt peper effect to throw it all off. plus i want to keep plants maybe in the back of the tank since i dont have a background to make it look more realistic and if i get other fish to keep things exciting in the tank the plants and everything will look real nice.