mickey94
Aug 1 2007, 08:19 AM
Does anyone on here keep freshwater stingrays?
erikmasher
Aug 1 2007, 09:37 AM
No : (
I wish though. They look awesome!!!
I think there illegal where I live anyway .
Shamu23
Aug 1 2007, 01:31 PM
they need a really big tank, 300 gallons minimum if I remember correctly, I dont have any, but I always look at the ones in petstores
Man Yu
Aug 2 2007, 03:55 AM
it all depends on what species you have (or wish to have). A couple of species are manageable by remaining under 18 inches in diameter, while most reach a diameter of 24 inches. One of the most spectacular, the tiger ray or Potamotrygon castexi reaches up to 36 inches, which of course translates to a tank with spacious floor area (rays need depth as well as swimming room BTW, not just because of space requirements but because stingrays can actually JUMP OUT OF THE TANK!

)
Anyway, stingrays need a meaty diet... clams and squid are fine as well as white fish flesh (taking care not to overfeed). Clean earthworms are also relished. You also have to watch out for the sting, as it is a formidable defense mechanism. Also, stingrays are sensitive to medication (lacking scales and being cartilaginous fish) and are prone to fungal infections so make sure you observe any new specimens before purchasing it...
mickey94
Aug 20 2007, 06:21 PM
Oh I already have stingrays, several of them actually that I am conditioning for breeding. Stingrays do need large tanks. You don't really need to be as carefully about the sting as everyone makes it out to be though, everytime I feed my stingrays I wear bright red gloves so that the stingrays associate the red with food not my hands and when I work in the tank I work with my bare hands. If stingrays associate your hands with food they will always swim up to your hands when they are in the tank, and if you make a wrong move they will sting you, but if they don't associate your hands with food they associate them as something larger than them, a predator and will bury themselves the whole time you are working in the tank. I have hystrix stingrays and reticulated stingrays. Also tiger rays and castexi stingrays are 2 totally different stingrays that are only from the same family of freshwater stingrays, potamotrygon. Potamotrygon castexi is the scientific name for the vermiculate river stingray, they get up to a 32" disk size. Tigers are the common name for potamotrygon menchacai which get up to 30" disk size. Hmm. never heard of stingrays jumping out of the tank, but one thing that my rays do is somthing called "climbing" when they climb the walls of the tank, but I;ve never heard of a ray attempting to jump out of the tank. Clams and squid are not the absolute best food for stingrays, I find that the best food for rays are bloodworms, beef heart, krill, silversides, earthworms and black worms.
Peaches
Aug 20 2007, 07:38 PM
I always see smaller stingrays at my lfs. they are very cool looking. Do you have any pictures of your setup?
mickey94
Aug 21 2007, 06:13 AM
The smaller stingrays that you see are sold as T-cup rays but most of the time are reticulated stingrays. Within the next couple of weeks all of the rays will be moved to larger tanks, once they are in the larger tank I will take pictures.
Man Yu
Aug 23 2007, 12:51 AM
QUOTE
Potamotrygon castexi is the scientific name for the vermiculate river stingray, they get up to a 32" disk size.
oh. yeah. I checked my source again and I did mix them up.