Stingray Aquarium NOW

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A

Arghas

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 20, 2008
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canada
Hi there,

After a loooong break in fishkeeping and just....well stalking these forums, I'm coming back!! With money!!

I started out the aquarium thing when I was a "kid" and was poor. Pretty much saved up 3 months to get my 1st 10 gallon and motoro pup (I used to live in a 3rd world country so money wasn't easy).

I know that 10 gallons and a motoro=bad, but with a limited budget and when your young, everything is possible. I fed my stingray guppies and bloodworms. And did small water changes 2x per day, as well as scooped up after every meal or pooping sessions. I became so trained by my stingray that I knew when he was gonna poop and was ready!

So ofcourse the stingray quickly overgrew his acquarium, and I got a hold of 35 gallon tank, that came with a Jardinin, (or was it vice versa haha) , by this time, I started doing a small scale business already and the stingray was growing out faster and faster, and well so did my business (I think its the aro's luck more than the stingray---but whatever haha)

So fast forward- I kept upgrading acquariums; 10 to 35-75-120-180, I had that stingray with no complications and well, everytime I upgraded my tanks, the stingray and arowana would explode in size. I did this in a span of 4 to 5 years (With a leopoldi in between). So my question is, have you guys had this experience? Would you just grab a small tank-grow them up, then keep increasing the tank? or would you just let them stay in a huge tank even as pups/babies? Any experiences?

My logic though is that with a big tank, I find that it's hard to feed the juve's and they seem to have a hard time getting to the food, unlike when they are proportional to the tank; you can pretty much hand feed them as well as take care of them "more" (by more meaning more water changes/cycles)

I'm coming back to this hobby with a vengeance! I'm gonna grab a MINIMUM of 180 gallon tank or a 300 gallon tank; money is no object-COZ I"VE SUFFERED ENUF--just drooling over these forums everyday. But my question is, what's better for the ray? start with a 180 gallon or 300? the 300 gallon does come out cheaper coz I only need to buy 1 tank :D

Let me know, and I wanted to pick someone's brain over something i.e. 100 gallon tank with 10 percent waterchange per week=10 gallon cycle, vs 50 gallon tank with 3x per week 10 percent waterchange per week=15 gallon water cycle? I'm not sure if im clear on this question; but if somebody gets what i mean, please do answer hehe
 
well it looks as if you have had a hard life so im not going to say anything about the first part of this thread but now that money is no object you can do things the right way. it is true that a large tank like a 300 is hard to feed pups but since you have some money for this dont worry about getting pups start out at something bigger dosent have to be an adult but but something like 8-10" would be perfect and they will find the food with no problem. so go big get the 300 set it up how you want it and there you go. then later on you can get a smaller growout for your pups if you get a pair of rays for easier feedings something like a 125 or 150 for that.

i can kinda understand your question but what im thinking is just that with more water means you have more room for mistakes. yes getting a smaller tank you can change out water like crazy and you end up changing out a bigger percent of water but with larger tanks the water changes are bigger but then again if you miss a big peice of food its not going to foul up the whole tank. bigger is almost always better especially for the fish
 
You can always use plexiglass or a divider to quarantine the smaller rays to a section of the tank while they grow out/feed so they dont have competition.
 
That's a great life story, In fact a new angle in looking to some one life, I am even thinking of turning it to a painted children's book - If you don't mind- I wish you all the luck with your new rays
 
I recently thought it was time for a treat and dropped £3000 on a custom built tank to my spec...Rays are on top too.

It arrives in 4 days so very excited.
 
Haha, I wasn't really focusing on the life story....i was focusing more on the situation wherein the conditions were that I was able to house the rays in a small tank and open up the question that "starting out a small/smaller tank for the ray's benefit".

I mean, I had to do it before not out of choice, but now, given the choice, would it be wiser--maybe not a 10 gallon again haha, but something like 75-180 to start with.
 
Thanks by the way for your input jeffers' it pretty much / kinda answers my question---tank size atleast from what i garner, minimizes risk so to speak.
 
Water volume is key in keeping rays. Jeffers hit that one on the head. It does not matter if you want a 75 or a 180 gallon to start. My opinion is to add a large sump to the system or even 55 gallon drums piped into the system. Your show tank can be a 180 but the system could have say 300 or more gallons. Where people get in to trouble is they get a big tank but put a single canister filter or even HOB filters which work fine in their own right but do not add water volume to the system. The tank I am running is a 200 gallon with a 80 gallon sump. I built the sump to fit in the stand and would of went even bigger if I had the room. Look at how most fish stores are set up. All the fish are on display in 20 gallon tanks but that one tank is piped in a system that is 1,000 gallons or more.
 
FishDog;4170093; said:
Water volume is key in keeping rays. Jeffers hit that one on the head. It does not matter if you want a 75 or a 180 gallon to start. My opinion is to add a large sump to the system or even 55 gallon drums piped into the system. Your show tank can be a 180 but the system could have say 300 or more gallons. Where people get in to trouble is they get a big tank but put a single canister filter or even HOB filters which work fine in their own right but do not add water volume to the system. The tank I am running is a 200 gallon with a 80 gallon sump. I built the sump to fit in the stand and would of went even bigger if I had the room. Look at how most fish stores are set up. All the fish are on display in 20 gallon tanks but that one tank is piped in a system that is 1,000 gallons or more.
Click to expand...

Couldnt agree more.

I would add that on top of sheer water volume you also need a good biolgical volume...i.e. 1000 gallons with the same cannister mentioned above would still struggle.

If I had a basement below my tank it would have the biggest sump that space would allow.
 
Hehe all your answers and comments are all valid. But a little vague---no offense to anyone who have answered, but every answer pretty much posed questions in my mind more.

For instance, with the water volume posed, the question arised, what's better now then, show tank of like lets say 230 with a sump of 70 (totaling 300 gallons) vs a straight our 290 with standard filtration of (10 gallons lets' say?)

I mean, if one specific situation is better, then in theory wouldn't a 100 gallon tank with a 200 gallon sump/filtration become better? or something to that regard---you are having a 200 percent cycle on your water?

Sorry for these questions---just trying to see what people thought/experience.

i.e lets take it to the extreme, would a 10 gallon with a 990 sump be best?
 
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