Flowerhorn With Stingray - 02/06/07
Hey! Guys! Keep Rocking! I have a 30 x 15 x 15 tank with a Flowerhorn in it! The guy is around 5".I was thinking of adding a stingray to it! All I need to know is:
1) Do they stay along together?
<The Flowerhorn is very territorial and eventually would fight and pick on the stingray.>
2) Does the ray stay in a bare bottom tank or fine golden sand is MUST?
< Stingrays come from sandy to muddy bottoms. They like to cover themselves with sand to hide. He would feel stressed in a bare tank.>
3) Is it as hardy as the Flowerhorn or it requires fine water conditions?
< The stingray usually do better in soft acidic water. The Flowerhorn doesn't care about water chemistry.>
Thanks in advance. Regards
< Overall I would not recommend putting these two together.-Chuck>
<<Aside from that, this is vastly too small of an aquarium for any species of stingray.  -SCF>>

Cichlids, stingrays and puffers...? comp.  – 10/28/07
Hello, i have emailed you guys before and you have sent me great advise in return. I am considering buying a tank about 75 gallons in size and i have a particular interest in parrot cichlids. My question is would it be possible to place a teacup stingray in the tank with the parrot who are cichlids but more calm and less aggressive than other cichlids. I would also like to place some type of fresh/brackish water puffers in this community because i plan to place some aquarium salt in the tank for balance. If this is not possible could you please send me something in return in regard to fish that would be compatible with the parrots and the stingray.
Also i have an interest in aggressive cichlids such as green/red terrors, jack Dempseys, (maybe parrots and Oscars), red devils. Could you please let me know if a tank of this sort would work out and if so could you give me a comp that could be placed in a 75 to 90 gallon tank. Thanks again.
<In short: No. Mixing cichlids of any sort with Stingrays is unwise, and mixing Puffers with Stingrays even more unwise. Adding salt "for balance" doesn't have any scientific grounding at all, and is likely to cause problems. Put enough salt for brackish water Puffers to be happy, and the Stingray will suffer. Produce the soft, acidic water the Stingray needs and the brackish water puffer will die. Anyway, Puffers are 100% incompatible with Stingrays. Any species of Puffer large enough not to be eaten as food will be sufficiently big that it could nip the Stingray. So, discard this idea at once. As for cichlids: please do some more research. Oscars are NOT aggressive cichlids. An Oscar stuck in a small tank with an aggressive cichlid such as Amphilophus citrinellum (one of the "Red Devil" cichlids) is a very unhappy Oscar. Although territorial, Oscars are no more overtly aggressive than, say, Angelfish. Indeed, I've seen Angelfish that were far more problematic in community tanks than any Oscar! Parrot cichlids (by which I assume you mean those hybrid cichlids, not the "real" Parrot Cichlid, Hoplarchus psittacus) are essentially crippled fish, and forcing them to express their naturally territorial behaviour in a tankful of normal fish is unfair. Finally, there's no such thing as a "teacup Stingray". All that means is it is a baby. Given the various traded Stingrays easily reach disc diameters of 60 cm, and sometimes more, you need a huge tank to give them space. The common generic species is Potamotrygon motoro, and that's a fish with a 60 cm disc diameter and a tail that adds at least another 30 cm to that. As a rule of thumb, Stingrays need a tank that has width (front to back) NOT LESS than 150% the disc diameter of the fish. In the case of the commonly traded species Potamotrygon motoro, that means you need a tank NOT LESS than 90 cm front to back. Realistically, successful Stingray maintenance requires tanks measured in the HUNDREDS of gallons, not tens. A 250 US gallon tank of appropriate width and length is probably (certainly!) the minimum if you want the Stingray to have anything like a good chance of success in captivity. Does this sound excessive? It isn't. Of the Stingrays sold as pets, only a tiny fraction last more than a year, because so many people underestimate their requirements. There are many good books on Stingray care: I recommend you sit down with one of these and digest it cover to cover before moving forward. Are they worthwhile pets? Yes. Are they easy to keep? No. In absolute terms, they are significantly far difficult than most freshwater fish, and require a similar level of care to a marine reef tank with delicate invertebrates such as corals. Good luck, Neale>

P. orbignyi compatibility with Redtail Catfish?... A large S. Am. Ray and VERY large Catfish... in a 29?!  Need to read...  02/17/07
Hi,
<Kev... we'll skip the epaulettes>
I currently have a 29 gallon tank with a  6 inch Redtail Catfish and a few small fish that are there just to take up a little space.
<?...>
I can assure you that I have no plan on putting any size ray in a tank that small.  I will be buying a all-glass 210 gallon tank(72Lx24Wx29H) within 2 months.
<Oh. This will still be too small in time>
I will be running 2 Fluval FX5's and sand for substrate.  
<I'd use other... posted...>
I read that the P. orbignyi and the Redtail Cats are both native to the Orinoce river Basin.
<With spelling improvement, yes>
  That leads me to believe that they are compatible.
<In terms of water quality at least>
Here's my question. Would it be advisable to house these animals together?
<Mmm, not really>
From what I read, my tank will be large enough and I don't think that the filtration will be a problem.
<Will be inadequate>
I already feed my Redtail Cat bloodworms, feeders and ghost shrimp (at least 10 in the tank at all times).  
<The feeders are an exceedingly poor idea... see WWM re>
Lastly, where can I find the stingray.  Price doesn't really matter.  I'm just looking for a baby.  I've tried to find them online and I haven't seen them in any local pet stores.
Thanx, Kevin from Az
<Go to the Internet, Go to the Internet... Bob Fenner>

Compatible fish for freshwater stingrays - 02/11/2007
Hi Bob.
<Michael>
Looking for your recommendation for suitable companions for my 2 freshwater stingrays.
<Mmm, something large enough to not get eaten, that won't bother the Potamotrygonids... that "like" warm, soft, acidic water...>
First, here's some info so you can provide the best recommendation:
Tank setup: 125 gallon tank,
<Mmm, likely too small in time>
RO Water, 50 lbs soft/round gravel, Pro Clear 175 gal wet/dry filter, 1200 gph Mag Drive Water Pump, two Visi-therm Stealth 250W heaters (hidden), Dual T5 Light Fixtures, UV (8W) Sterilizer with pump, Black Magic Carbon Pad, 2 Chemipures, no decor. Livestock: 2 Potamotrygon Motoro Rays from Peru. Small female (4.5”) is a Blue Motoro. Larger male (6”) is a Marbled Motoro.
<Definitely too small a volume... see here: http://fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?ID=6382&genusname=Potamotrygon&speciesname=motoro
This species gets more than three feet wide...>
Water: Low PH = 6.8; Ammonia = 0; Nitrite = 0; Nitrate = 0
Based on the above specifications, which fish would you recommend to share the tank with the stingrays?
<None... there's not enough room for just them...>
I've heard conflicting views from other sites so hopefully you can help point me in the right direction. Looking for peaceful/less aggressive fish so they don't pick on the rays, large enough to not be eaten by the rays, and preferably top feeders so they do not take all the rays' food on the bottom.
<Bingo>
The Silver Arowana is what I am leaning towards but one site said that their Arowana bit their ray.
<Possibly... but unlikely>
Other sites recommended gars and clown loaches.
<No...>
Let me know what you think is best.  THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!
<Maybe some "silver dollars"... Metynnis, Myleus, Mylossomas... perhaps some Juraparoids for contrast... for color, movement... start saving up for that much larger system. Bob Fenner>

Re: compatible fish for freshwater stingrays  2/12/07
Thank you for all your advice!
<Certainly welcome>
I will look into getting a small Arowana and some Silver Dollars (I heard it's better to get silver dollars in schools so should I get 6?).
<Small, odd-numbers are better... 3 or 5...>
I will upgrade the size of the tank once they outgrow the 125 gal.
<Very good>
What minimum size would you recommend down the road when the rays become adults? My research earlier recommended 90 gal min so I went with 125
(almost went with a 150 gal but the only difference in size was the height which is not important for rays).
<Mmm... well... as you can appreciate, the wider the better... perhaps a custom or DIY system... at least two feet wide... BobF>

Re: compatible fish for freshwater stingrays, Discus?   2/20/07
Hi again.
<Michael>
I went to a local fish store to check out the silver dollars you recommended earlier and the store highly recommended discus as possible tank mates for my 2 stingrays.
I like the discus because of their colors.
Would you agree that discuss would be suitable mates for my stingrays?
<Mmm, no... unless the system is absolutely HUGE... several hundred gallons plus... the Rays moving about will greatly disturb the Symphysodon... do "like" the same sorts of water quality, but are behaviorally incompatible>
I read that Discus require the same water conditions as rays (higher temp, low PH, softer water) and are also peaceful (see link).
http://aquariumlore.blogspot.com/2006/03/discus-fish.html
<When the rays are active... no. Bob Fenner>

Re: compatible fish for freshwater stingrays   2/20/07
Thanks for saving me tons of money since discus are expensive. Would rather get accurate advice from an expert like you instead of relying on the store who probably is just looking to make a profit :)
<Happy to render my input. BobF>