jonas Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Saltwater fantaseas has 2 stingrays in.I have never seen one in a store before. I almost had a impulse buy.(nono)But my (wife) stoped that real quick.Does anyone know anything about them?Reef safe? easy to care for?The real name?They were pretty sweet though.Would have been great sand stirrer.(laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisriverfisherman Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 They are reef safe and need a large sand bed. I would not put one in a tank any smaller than a 120 only if it had a good sand bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I personally wouldn't put them in anything smaller than a 240, a tank with a 6x2 foot print at the bare minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 You made the right choice in not getting it. They need lots of room. It's not the gallons it is the footprint since they live on the bottom. Some people suggest even 200+ gallon tank. Many of the species including the very cool bluespot are not hardy and may not feed and are best left to very experienced owners. It is not ethical for a store to sell them to an unsuspecting hobbyist IMO. Even in experienced hands they may not fare well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peddy10181 Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I have had my blue spotted stingray for over a year now. I think 180 gallon should be the min, and haven that be. 80% sand bed. Mine seems happy. My tank is 400 gallon I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I have had my blue spotted stingray for over a year now. I think 180 gallon should be the min' date=' and haven that be. 80% sand bed. Mine seems happy. My tank is 400 gallon I think.[/quote'] They are very beautiful amazing animals. I can see the temptation in buying one. I have heard the blue spotted ones can do well and suddenly die for no reason. A LFS had one and it was an amazing animal but sadly didn't live. And yes, what I read is the sandbed needs to be pretty open. Do you have anything else i the tank with the stingray? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Depends on the ray. A Urobatis maculatus only needs a 100 gallon tank, but other rays available in the hobby will need anywhere from 150-1000 gallons. The rays that fantaseas gets in are Urobatis halleri, they grow to about two feet long including tail and about 15 inches in diameter, they come from California and are actually a temperate species, so they need water temperature in the 60s. I wish stores would stop getting Urobatis halleri in, very few people have a tank suitable for them. Rays are reef safe in the fact that they will not eat or pick at coral, but they will eat inverts and small fish depending on the species. A proper ray tank should consist of very little to no live rock. Elasmobranchii are very prone to infection and if they scrape themselves on live rock it could very well become infected. A proper ray diet should include: clams, squid, silversides, non oily white fish, shrimp and krill. The most important thing about their diet is to keep it varied. You should avoid large angelfish, trigger fish and lion fish as tank mates as they will pick at the rays eyes. I am sorry I used all scientific names, but many rays share common names and it can get very confusing using common names. If you have anymore questions about keeping sharks and rays feel free to pm me. I have talked to some of the most respected Elasmobranchii experts in the country about keeping sharks and rays in home aquariums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 they also do not like strong lighting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Wow Mitchell that's some great information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 There are two different kinds of blue spotted stingray, there is the diamond one (Dasyatis kuhlii) and the round one (Taeniura lymma). The round blue spotted stingray is one of the least hardy animals there is in the hobby. They are in the list with, Orange spot filefish and Ribbon eels. The reason behind this is in the wild they swim over a 150 miles a day and no one can have a tank like that. That's why you will never even see them in public aquariums. Even though they seem healthy, they are slowly dieing of stress, that's why they never live very long in the hobby and are known for mysteriously dieing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonas Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 I am very happy i did not buy one.Thank you for all the info. I would have felt very bad if i killed something that beautiful. They are very cool but should probably be left in the ocean by the sound of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 They tryed to sell one to a customer who came to my shop Sat. and he has a 55 gallon tank, he almost bought it, but called Garret before they started bagging it cuz he thought hey were wrong, and to eageer, and garret set him straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 i really protest to that sort of irresponsibility on the part of a fish shop, that is bad for the poor creature, and bad for the customer who loses his money, and critter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 We have a cortez ray at the shop. Its eating mixed gumbo made up of nearly the same ingredients that was staited above. Also got a flounder.. Cool color changer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 We have a cortez ray at the shop. Its eating mixed gumbo made up of nearly the same ingredients that was staited above. Also got a flounder.. Cool color changer. That's the best ray to keep in the home aquarium. If you still have it when I set my shark and ray tank up I'll definitely buy it from you. I would love to see a picture. I have only seen them in the ocean and never in captivity. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peddy10181 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I got into keeping saltwater fish after seeing the blue spotted ray I have, it's a round one, still thinking about getting a 2nd one. My tank is 475 gallon 8ft long, 3ft wide, 36? Inch high. With liverock off to one side. Gotta go back to work so laters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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