Long term options for my rays

[CaptainAquatics]

Hey Everyone! I need your guy's thoughts on "long term" options for my rays.
I currently have 2 female rays (a Black diamond and a pearl, both between 5-6" diameter), with a 3rd on the way this week.
Currently they are housed in a 130 Gallon (170 gallon system) aquarium - which I know will need to be upgraded.
Im trying to figure out what to and how to upgrade them. The main issues are humidity, electricity, and the well I'm on. So ideally I'd be looking for the smallest amount of water I can get away with. Im hoping to move within the next 4-5 years so it will need to house them until then.

Do you think a 180 gallon with the dimensions 8'L x 3'W x 1'T would work for that time period? Note I will do as many water changes as necessary to keep it all clean.

Aside from a dehumidifier, what are some ways to reduce humidity?

Finally I'd just like to note that in that case I am unable to upgrade I will not make them suffer, I will rehome/sell them to someone who has a large enough tank.

 

[tlindsey]

Hey Everyone! I need your guy's thoughts on "long term" options for my rays.
I currently have 2 female rays (a Black diamond and a pearl, both between 5-6" diameter), with a 3rd on the way this week.
Currently they are housed in a 130 Gallon (170 gallon system) aquarium - which I know will need to be upgraded.
Im trying to figure out what to and how to upgrade them. The main issues are humidity, electricity, and the well I'm on. So ideally I'd be looking for the smallest amount of water I can get away with. Im hoping to move within the next 4-5 years so it will need to house them until then.

Do you think a 180 gallon with the dimensions 8'L x 3'W x 1'T would work for that time period? Note I will do as many water changes as necessary to keep it all clean.

Aside from a dehumidifier, what are some ways to reduce humidity?

Finally I'd just like to note that in that case I am unable to upgrade I will not make them suffer, I will rehome/sell them to someone who has a large enough tank.

spotfin

 

[CaptainAquatics]

Bump

 

[wednesday13]

Ur thinking right to find the largest footprint u can with the lowest gallon amt. id look for a used frag tank like ur saying 8’x3’ or 8’x4’ foot print. 18” height would b better of course and be plenty height for them. Best/cheapest option for them would most likely be a 300g rubbermaid stock tank. There easy to move and fit through a normal doorway. Either of these options would give you a good 3 yrs before needing to upgrade. IME females of various breeds are usually around 18-20” wide in 3 yrs. 22-24”+ in 5 yrs.
best way to curb humidity is with proper tight fitting lids. I like twin wall poly carb used for greenhouse panels. IMO theres no need for dehumidifiers if you dont let the humidity escape ur tank in the 1st place. Ive had 5k+g in house and ran no dehumidifier. I did in my earlier years of keeping and all it did was create more heat raising the humidity in the room and cost around an extra $50 a month for the electric.
as for keeping a small amt of water clean for rays id go with an autodrip system. The slow trickle of water 24/7 will probably eleviate ur well also from doing 1 or 2 large changes once a week.

 

[Ansorgii]

There are a few videos out there of stingray living in really shallow creeks. But I dont know if they live there permanently or just venture in them. I can imagine both.

I've seen them being kept in very shallow tanks by breeders, so its certainly doable.

To reduce electricity try to use an efficient filter, like one that is powered by a streaming pump.

Isolating your tank with sth. like styrodur also lowers your heatloss, but most importantly, reduce the loss of humidity and convection.

Tight lids do wonders in that regard. You can go further but I think thats honestly overkill. twin wall poly carb like wednesday mentioned before are a pretty good choice.

The only issue I could see is that with the high fish/water ratio the mass of water will dampen a lot less any biochemical processes, but that could also be balanced out by the faster cycle rate of the filter.

 

[spotfin]

Ur thinking right to find the largest footprint u can with the lowest gallon amt. id look for a used frag tank like ur saying 8’x3’ or 8’x4’ foot print. 18” height would b better of course and be plenty height for them. Best/cheapest option for them would most likely be a 300g rubbermaid stock tank. There easy to move and fit through a normal doorway. Either of these options would give you a good 3 yrs before needing to upgrade. IME females of various breeds are usually around 18-20” wide in 3 yrs. 22-24”+ in 5 yrs.
best way to curb humidity is with proper tight fitting lids. I like twin wall poly carb used for greenhouse panels. IMO theres no need for dehumidifiers if you dont let the humidity escape ur tank in the 1st place. Ive had 5k+g in house and ran no dehumidifier. I did in my earlier years of keeping and all it did was create more heat raising the humidity in the room and cost around an extra $50 a month for the electric.
as for keeping a small amt of water clean for rays id go with an autodrip system. The slow trickle of water 24/7 will probably eleviate ur well also from doing 1 or 2 large changes once a week.

There are a few videos out there of stingray living in really shallow creeks. But I dont know if they live there permanently or just venture in them. I can imagine both.

I've seen them being kept in very shallow tanks by breeders, so its certainly doable.

To reduce electricity try to use an efficient filter, like one that is powered by a streaming pump.

Isolating your tank with sth. like styrodur also lowers your heatloss, but most importantly, reduce the loss of humidity and convection.

Tight lids do wonders in that regard. You can go further but I think thats honestly overkill. twin wall poly carb like wednesday mentioned before are a pretty good choice.

The only issue I could see is that with the high fish/water ratio the mass of water will dampen a lot less any biochemical processes, but that could also be balanced out by the faster cycle rate of the filter.

What they said