This CANNOT be right can it? Blue spot stingray help.

tyler1503 · Jun 12, 2016

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/sharks_rays/bluespot.php

This page suggests a 75gal tank can house a blue spot stingray.
That's ridiculous right?
I'd love to keep one, but only have a 120.
I've also read a 150 is recommended but 120 is still suitable.
I would have personally speculated that a 240 or bigger would be most appropriate.
Does anyone have any reliable information on keeping these guys?

LadAShark · Jun 12, 2016

tyler1503 said:
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/sharks_rays/bluespot.php

This page suggests a 75gal tank can house a blue spot stingray.
That's ridiculous right?
I'd love to keep one, but only have a 120.
I've also read a 150 is recommended but 120 is still suitable.
I would have personally speculated that a 240 or bigger would be most appropriate.
Does anyone have any reliable information on keeping these guys?

http://z8.invisionfree.com/Sharks_and_Rays/index.php?showtopic=222

Real minimum is 525 gallons, 10' long by 3.5' wide by 2' tall. At least for the blue spotted stingray.

Unless you're talking about the ribbon tail blue spotted stingray, which you might as well not bother trying to keep because it has horrible survival rates in captivity, though it will be fine with a tank of 180 gallons that has the maximum footprint possible. http://z8.invisionfree.com/Sharks_and_Rays/index.php?showtopic=193
Even here, I find keeping it in a standard 180 gallon a little suspect. It would probably want something like 4' wide, 4' long, 2' tall.

I'd be surprised if anybody would give any guarantees on a ribbontail blue spotted stingray.

Diesel · Jun 12, 2016

Great discussion, as to many fish ending up in to small tanks.
Thanks @LadAShark for the great info.

LadAShark · Jun 12, 2016

Diesel said:
Great discussion, as to many fish ending up in to small tanks.
Thanks @LadAShark for the great info.

Yeah, no problem. Good luck getting what you want!

rayn · Jun 12, 2016

I have debated if my 240 at 8*2*2 is big enough for one. I would do the display open with maybe a pillar or two in the back corners.

Bigger the better. Maybe 75 is for QT purposes?

LadAShark · Jun 12, 2016

rayn said:
I have debated if my 240 at 8*2*2 is big enough for one. I would do the display open with maybe a pillar or two in the back corners.

Bigger the better. Maybe 75 is for QT purposes?

You should have no problem fitting one into a tank that size, and it will sort of fit, that is, if you're talking about the ribbontail stingray. But they grow up to 28" inches long, which is definitely longer than the width of your tank, and as such I wouldn't suggest keeping one unless you want a fish to die of stress.

Remember, they want footprint, not gallonage. The footprint of your tank is 16 square feet, which might even theoretically ok if it was 4 foot long by 4 foot wide, or perhaps 5 foot long by 3 foot wide (though that's pushing it). Even the most experienced ray keepers haven't been able to keep it alive in captivity. The only reason it can fit in a relatively small tank is because (1) it's a smaller ray than most and (2) it naturally hunts on shores and hides between rocks when resting. However, overall, if you're willing to drop large amounts of money on one on the off chance that you can miraculously keep it alive, then go ahead, if you can keep it alive initially and for the first several months, I don't see why it can't live in that tank. .

Oh, so you didn't want the ribbontail? You want the slightly easier to keep blue spotted stingray? Well, that's completely out of the question for you tank. The ribbontail grows to 1' in diameter for its circular portion. The regular blue spotted, however, grows to 1' 8" in diameter, and as such needs something at least twice as wide as that.

I hope I didn't come off as harsh, but this is definitely a serious matter. Most rays will not fit in standard tanks, and if they do barely fit, they'll be stressed out by the size of their tank and die prematurely. One of these rays is semi impossible to keep, and the other tops the list as one of the most difficult to keep stingrays.

rayn · Jun 12, 2016

And your response, along with my research on the blue spot, is why I don't have one yet. I've got them available to me currently. 200 a pop.

I've debated on going back to my plywood build a days gone by 4*4*8 or my other idea of a ray pond in the basement.

LadAShark · Jun 12, 2016

rayn said:
And your response, along with my research on the blue spot, is why I don't have one yet. I've got them available to me currently. 200 a pop.

I've debated on going back to my plywood build a days gone by 4*4*8 or my other idea of a ray pond in the basement.

Those two ideas will work.
I'm not saying it's impossible to fit the ribbontail into the 2*2*8, it's possible, but t definitely won't be raising the odds of keeping it.

Are the ones available to you ribbon tails or regular blue spots? You should figure that out first. I don't want come actoss one of those guys who freaks out on someone trying to get into sharks/rays, but I believe it's definitely important to figure out what exactly you're getting.

rayn · Jun 12, 2016

They are blue spots. I have seen them in person. Currently they are about 8" or so around, maybe 12" ish long. I'm doing some thinking and talking with the wife about a possible ray/shark deal in the future. I may start something on it yet tonight if I get back to it, just floating some ideas out there.

LadAShark · Jun 12, 2016

rayn said:
They are blue spots. I have seen them in person. Currently they are about 8" or so around, maybe 12" ish long. I'm doing some thinking and talking with the wife about a possible ray/shark deal in the future. I may start something on it yet tonight if I get back to it, just floating some ideas out there.

If you have the space, and you just want a simple pool, and you don't want to spend a ton, I suggest you look into this and model something bigger than it based on this: http://z8.invisionfree.com/Sharks_and_Rays/index.php?showtopic=2697
That's the cheapest and probably easiest way to get a ray pool.
You will need an account for shark and ray central to view this post, however.