Any sting ray gurus with us?

[strickrick]

I'll start off with a little background in my ray experience before getting onto the topic. Years ago I had been given a California stingray (Urobatis halleri) as a gift for helping a LFS to start up. He knew I was a big fan of rays so when he made his first order to stock the store he put one on the list. I opened a box and hauled out a massive bag with a little 4-5" disc at the bottom and asked where he wanted to place him and he said "in your tank". Surprise!!!

My 125g was not only overstocked but had no real swimming room for the ray so I put him in a 75g by himself with just a little mound of rock. I noticed him acting weird the first couple of days - restlessly swimming around and not eating. After doing a little research I found that they prefer a water temperature slightly lower then that of your average reef tank. So I dropped the temperature down and he quickly became my favorite fish. I had the little guy for a little over two years before he suddenly just died.

Years later - currently setting up a 120"x30"x30" tank and I'm strongly considering getting another ray. My concern is that I don't think a cali can go in the setup strictly because of the temperature and I'd REALLY like a blue spot. Has anyone got any good (or bad) advice on keeping any rays? Any advice on good tankmates or ones to definitely avoid? My main concern is a pair of Sergassum Trigger's, I know triggers are a no - no but I'd like to hear some others stories.

All feedback will be considered.

[Bob]

Look up steve at Red coral...edmonton....he is on canreef

[TimT]

I had a Blue Spot for several years. Was one of my favourites especially for hand feeding. It would poke it's nose out of the water and then wrap its disk around your hand and nibble the superba krill from your fingers.

Rays will bury themselves in sand which can make quite the dust storm. They can also succumb to bacterial infections if they get scratched on the bottom side of the disk.

Never treat rays or sharks with copper either.

Sargassum Triggers are mainly planktivores so should not be a problem with a ray. That being said, there are always fish that break the rules.