Hey guys,
I’ve done a lot of reading and research before buying a BD stingray. I carefully picked out the store, checked out the stingrays in person, waited a week, then went back to the store to observe him for a long time, especially how he eats the pellets, before finally buying him.
I have a 6x2x2.5 ft tank with fine sand, just two pieces of driftwood, a freshwater sump with a filter sock, Seachem Purigen, a lot of bio media, carbon, a nitrate pad, a 3000 l/h pump, a refugium, and two air stones in the sump. Also running is an FX4 filter and a wavemaker. Water parameters: pH 7.4–7.6, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <5 ppm nitrate. The water is crystal clear and the sand free of debris.
Tankmates:
11 medium to large Silver Dollars
Since I got the stingray, he’s been almost completely inactive during the day. Sometimes he’s buried for up to 6 or 8 hours, only making small movements, just a few centimeters, before burying himself again. He only eats if I target-feed him with a tube and place pellets directly in front of his disc, and even then, he doesn’t eat much.
I set up a camera, and at night he’s much more active. He swims up and down the glass, explores the tank, though not the extreme “dancing” behavior you sometimes see from really happy rays, but still, he’s fairly active. As soon as the sun rises (I turned off the tank light on the second day), he buries himself again and stays that way until it’s completely dark again.
He breathes calmly, isn’t skinny, and has no unusual spots or visible injuries.
My question:
Is this behavior normal? Is there anything I can improve about the tank, the environment, or anything else?
Attached a photo form the shop where I bought her, in my tank with sand and my tank setup. Her colour hasn’t changed. That’s just the lighting)
I’ve done a lot of reading and research before buying a BD stingray. I carefully picked out the store, checked out the stingrays in person, waited a week, then went back to the store to observe him for a long time, especially how he eats the pellets, before finally buying him.
I have a 6x2x2.5 ft tank with fine sand, just two pieces of driftwood, a freshwater sump with a filter sock, Seachem Purigen, a lot of bio media, carbon, a nitrate pad, a 3000 l/h pump, a refugium, and two air stones in the sump. Also running is an FX4 filter and a wavemaker. Water parameters: pH 7.4–7.6, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <5 ppm nitrate. The water is crystal clear and the sand free of debris.
Tankmates:
11 medium to large Silver Dollars
Since I got the stingray, he’s been almost completely inactive during the day. Sometimes he’s buried for up to 6 or 8 hours, only making small movements, just a few centimeters, before burying himself again. He only eats if I target-feed him with a tube and place pellets directly in front of his disc, and even then, he doesn’t eat much.
I set up a camera, and at night he’s much more active. He swims up and down the glass, explores the tank, though not the extreme “dancing” behavior you sometimes see from really happy rays, but still, he’s fairly active. As soon as the sun rises (I turned off the tank light on the second day), he buries himself again and stays that way until it’s completely dark again.
He breathes calmly, isn’t skinny, and has no unusual spots or visible injuries.
My question:
Is this behavior normal? Is there anything I can improve about the tank, the environment, or anything else?
Attached a photo form the shop where I bought her, in my tank with sand and my tank setup. Her colour hasn’t changed. That’s just the lighting)
