VERY WORRIED!!!
- Thread starter cnel124
- Start date
If you got anywhere to put thm i would take them out. It will make the job of removing the coral quicker. I guess your water will go very cloudy as well when you start taking the coral out so you will not be able to see the rays very well once you start removing it. How big is the tank? You need to do some research on what rays need mate. Tana sand is very good or go bare bottom until the rays are settled and comfortable.
Go with bare bottom until any soreness and irritation as subsided, even changing to a "normally" suitable substrate can an will aggravate any problem you may have with a rays delicate underside. An healthy ray has to adjust to what we decide to put them on, slight reddening can often be observed on a rays underside when we change substrate albeit for only a short time.
If you remove the rays\ray, use a plastic container to remove them or it with, again, a course net or any net for that matter can add to the problem.
Good luck!
If you remove the rays\ray, use a plastic container to remove them or it with, again, a course net or any net for that matter can add to the problem.
Good luck!
My tank is currently only hundred and eighty gallons and will most likely not be upgraded for the rays. In bangkok, Stingrays aren't a problem for me so when they become large, I return them for a smaller one, as I love to watch them grow. I have always worried about my crushed coral being a problem however I did see one video on youtube of fully grown rays (leopoldi rays?) on crushed coral and every ray I've owned on this substrate has never showed any signs of illness, cuts, etc. so I assumed it wasn't a problem. Thank you for the quick feedback.
Do you feel a bare bottom is good for life? Or is sand a must have? The stingrays I see at my local fish market and online have bare bottoms so I didn't think its a must have, however what is your view? Also, thank you for your quick response.
There are for and against, its an ongoing debate.
My view is this, I contributed to an earlier thread on this very subject not too long ago.
Rays will live on both substrate or plain glass, they will reproduce using both methods also.....does this mean both methods provide a happy existence? I believe not!! Rays are extremely intelligent fish which require some sort of stimulation to be as happy as they can be kept under captive conditions for our pleasure, burying when they feel the need and blowing through the substrate as they so often do are mannerisms we should not as aquarist deprive them of, these are not trophies that should be kept in a plain glass box, yes the rays look great this way and photograph beautifully but for me its a boring life for both the ray and aquarist alike. I tried it for a little while not long ago after using substrate for more years than I care to remember...I soon changed back to substrate.
An interesting observation during this 6 months or so was my female P12 Henlei's bizarre behaviour. I noticed her spinning on the spot at regular intervals, these intervals became more frequent to the point she was doing it as much as she wasn't, this had never happened to any of the other rays I might add but it was becoming disturbing for me to enter the ray room as this was the first thing I went to look for rather than enjoying the fish. I always had my doubts about bare bottom but this finally answered the question you are asking now...for me anyway! I eventually added the substrate back to the tank\tanks and I got the result I was looking for, not straight away, it took several weeks for her to resume normal behaviour, this was many months ago and I am pleased to say she is back to normal working the substrate and generally looking great, in fact she is due to give birth anytime.
I use glass bottom on both new imports and new born pups for a short period, just while they are feeding satisfactory.
Please note this is my personal view. Many aquarists on here use glass bottom to good effect and are very happy to do so and their rays\fish look fantastic.
Ok thank you for the detailed report! I feel pretty much the same, I will most likely stick with glass for a while, and I may switch back to a finer, safe substrate if I feel it's necessary.
I have kept my rays in gravel (very round, non sharp stones) and i feel like they love it. They burrow around, make craters looking for food, make piles of it in certain places. I only use gravel because my tank is quite large, I had the gravel in there before I had rays, and I always hated sand because how messy it was and how much bacteria it held (my sump has tons of bio media). The only thing I can see them not doing is burying themselves, I don't see them really needing to if they are not in fear of anything as they are quite dominant creatures alone in the tank, but I have always worried about this, and may make the jump when I have to move the tank to my new house this year.
Don't forget to acclimate your rays again before just throwing them back into tank with new substrate
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