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Recently i saw a freshwater stingray(i think). I'm pretty sure the shop only has freshwater tanks. It looked really cool. I was wondering if anyone could give me some info on it.

Freshwater stingrays are some of the most awesome freshwater fish you can ever get. They swim around actively a lot, can be fed by hand, and won't mind you petting them.

Unfortunately, freshwater stingrays are THE hardest freshwater fish you can keep.

Because of the stingray's high activity, they need a lot of food, which usually comes in the form of worms (either blackworms or earthworms), though chopped pieces of seafood can also be fed. A stingray at the store may show signs of malnutrition; these signs include pelvic bones protruding upwards next to both sides of the tail, or a dent between the eyes. If a ray is exhibiting these, avoid the ray.

Because they are cartilaginous fish, they are quite different from normal bony fish. One thing is that they are highly sensitive to both nitrogenous wastes (including nitrates) and medication. To successfully keep a freshwater ray you have to have at least a water change every week to keep the nitrates down; some keepers do two. No skipping. Someone here lost a stingray because they forgot to do a water change once. Because of the stingray's high need for food and high amount of wastes, this is even more difficult. Also, you want to avoid using medicine; a UV sterilizer, though expensive, will help prevent your stingray from getting sick.

Last but not least, no species should live their whole life in a tank less than 125 gallon (standard all-glass dimensions, that is).

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-07-03 17:13][/span]

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Yes they are really cool and yes they are really a difficult fish to keep. I was considering them but decided against it. Shin, the ones i have had experince with also took ghost shrimp. They would devore them and seemed to be even crazier for them than the worms.

Oh yeah, I forgot about shrimp. Pretty much any seafood (and related stuff) is fine.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

VERY COOL. Don't think i'll be getting one though, lol.