# My LFS has freshwater stingrays



## fishface76 (Mar 8, 2008)

The things are absolutely beautiful. I only wish I had a tank large enough. They are about 8 inches in diameter right now and he said they will only get a couple inched larger. Makes me wanna go buy the 75 gal I've been wanting right now. He sells them for $120 which he says is a good deal and that they usually go for around $`160.

Anyone have these or have experience with them? Problems? Water conditions? What can you put with them?


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2008)

Well, no freshwater stingray will stay small enough to live in a 75 gallon for life, and no freshwater stingray stays as small as the LFS owner is telling you. The smallest FW ray, P. Reticulata, grows to a disk diameter of 12 inches, with a decently long tail. Retics are commonly sold, and sometimes refered to as "tea cup stingrays," but I see them for sale usually from $50-$100. I'm not sure what kind of rays he's selling, but if they're retics, they're kind of overpriced IMO. Although, they are a decent size.
P. Motoro are also commonly for sale and usually demand a higher price tag. They get much larger that P. Reticulata.
It'd help if you knew exactly what species he was selling. Do you have a pic, or can you find one that looks like what you saw?

Anyway, for P. Reticulata, a full grown adult should have a tank at least 6 feet long and two feet wide...standard 180 gallon footprint. Obviosuly larger rays like P. Motoro need much larger tanks. Height of the tank isn't very important with rays, but they need a large footprint (width and length).

Rays are docile fish, but they are predators and will eat what fits in their mouth. Being so docile though, they are very susceptible to being picked on by more aggressive or nippy fish. They should be with calm, easy-going tankmates that are large enough not to be seen as prey items.

They require either a barebottom tank or a soft sandy substrate. No gravel or sharp substrates of any kind. Their bellies are easily irritated and this can lead to infection. 

FW rays come from the Amazon, and so softer water is reccomended. 

Rays are very active, and therefore need lots of feedings. They spend most of their time foraging along the bottom for food, so they need to be fed a lot. Live blackworms are great for juveniles, but once weened off live food they'll accept a variety of fresh and frozen foods (bloodworms, beef heart, fresh fish, shrimp, squid, whole silversides, etc) and some will eventually take some pellet foods. Variety and two or three feedings a day is key with feeding rays.

Since they eat a lot, they poop a lot. Water quality should be pristine with rays, so good filtration is a necessity. You SHOULD overfilter a stingray tank.

Heaters should have a cover, as rays are also very susceptible to burns.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

my local wholesaler has them all of the time..they are beautiful fish but i have no desire to own any as i am not inclined to waste the tankspace as i am more into breeding...like scuba said..bare bottom tank or sand..they do cool things in a nice sandy bottom..they are never cheap..that little teacup will outgrow a 75 within 6-8 months i would think.


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## MaelStrom (Jun 24, 2007)

Thats way over priced( assuming they are Reticulated/Teacup rays)! We sell 5" teacups for like $50, and my boss is super cheap( 50% markup is standard ;p)
ANyway, great info from everyone above( Scuba do you ever get tired of writing such long responses?) Ive found this to be a good site...
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/5590/ray.html


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2008)

haha, I just try to give what I know. :razz:

And that site has some pretty good info, despite the the welcome banner.


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## fishface76 (Mar 8, 2008)

Good info guys. I will think twice before going any further. I will try to find out what kind they are as well.


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## MaelStrom (Jun 24, 2007)

Scuba Kid said:


> haha, I just try to give what I know. :razz:
> 
> And that site has some pretty good info, despite the the welcome banner.


Haha, I always second guess myself when I go on that site and I see the banner


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