Ordered this little guy for myself on our fish shippment, and was planning on leaving him in the store for a few days so people could see. However I couldn't wait and took him home today
Very nice. I had to look this guy up. Â I read they can give a little shock when threatened. Â So my question is how much room do they really need? Â I know rays are fairly common, both fresh and saltwater for hobbyist. Â I ask because.......when you dive(scuba) a lot of the fish we keep in our aquariums have kind of a home around a reef. Â They may swim a few meters away searching for food, but they hang around a general area. Â Rays on the other hand cover a very large area and are natural roamers for lack of better term. Â Granted, I've seen pics and videos online of very large tanks containing several rays that appear very healthy and reported lived for years. Â I've even read where marine biologist doing research report their rays have distinct personalities. Â Would love to hear from anyone who has experience with these creatures!
Currently he is only 3 inches long, and swims around the front of the aquarium, I've read they can get up to 10 inches long in the wild, and can live comfortably in a 55 long. When he gets bigger I will most likely have a 75 waiting for him to make sure I get to keep this little cutie for as long as possiable.
Obviously I don't know much about rays, but no way 55gal is adequate for an adult. Those guys cover way too much ground in the wild.....granted....they're searching for food and thats eleminated. Even a 75gal without any rock just doesn't seem appropriate for an adult ray. I'm thinking a big tank so that little guy can spread his "wings" a little. They're spectacular gliding through the water.
He eats shrimp currently and I have amphopods ordered as well should be here next week. As for the movement, the electiric rays stay very small live close to reefs and prefer to burrow in the sand and wait for prey rather than hunt for food so they dont move around much. If this turns out to be wrong, I will just have an excuse to get a much bigger tank when I get out of college : )
I am curious about it eating too. Â Do you give a shrimp on a stick like you would an eel or does it take it out of the water column like any other fish?
I feed it a single shrimp at a time with tongs so far. I've watched videos of them eating out of peoples hands though.
I am very interested to see if you can get him trained to eat out of your hand. I would love to have one and be able to hand feed. They are awsome animals. Congratulations!
