Rubbermaid 300 gallon stock tank?

[Stingrays]

Hello guys as some of you already know or can assume, I am completely new to the idea of keeping stingrays. I have done so much reading and home work on keeping rays now however and I am beginning to plan potentially getting a ray as I love these animals so much.

To get to the point of this thread, would it be possible to house one or maybe two rays in a rubbermaid 300 gallon stock tank? I mean, I have seen it done a few times online but I wasn't sure if it was an ideal permanent way to keep rays. If so, what types of filters, sumps, etc. would I need for this to be a safe home for rays. And if anyone has ever had one of these tanks could you give me any tips or things you learned? I just want to know a setup for this idea. Also what types of rays would/wouldn't be able to live happily in this size tank? Any help or info is greatly appreciated, thank you all so much!

-Dylan

 

[fishwhisperer]

id say its fine, but u need to double or even triple filter it and have it running for min a month with other fish in it b4 adding any rays, ammonia spikes WILL kill them, they are by no means a hardy fish

 

[Stingrays]

All right. Thanks for the advice man, I think I am going to get at least two very good filters if imdecide to do this. Imknow tractor supply has these tanks so it will save me crazy shipping which will allow me to overspend on filtration. What fish would be good for cycling? ( I apologize if this question is beyond noobie) goldfish? Thanks again

-Dylan

 

[PeteLockwood]

Fishless cycling is better, quicker, and doesn't risk killing any fish.

IMO a Rubbermaid 300 isn't big enough for any ray long-term. I have one upside down in my back yard so I know what I'm talking about.

 

[JohnG]

I looked at the rubbermaid stock tanks not long ago when I was trying to find a way to build a cheap holding pond for my males. If your looking at them online the dimensions they list are very misleading, atleast for our purposes. They say they are something like 5'x6', and they are at the top, but they get smaller as you go lower and the floor is only about 48"x42". I personally wouldn't use one for rays much over 12-14".

IMO your better off getting a good pond liner and building yourself a simple 2x4 and plywood frame for it. I built the frame for one in about 6 hours thanks to my new nail gun.

 

[Stingrays]

Thanks for the inputs guys, better to know ahead of time.

JohnG-how much would I expect to spend as far as lumber and linings go for a frame that size? A simple estimate is fine, thank you!

 

[bcfd144]

Also bepends on the style of stock tank you are looking at.
Most rubbermaid tanks are like they said, wide at the top and smaller at the bottom.
I myself am planning on doing the same thing and have two styles of stock tanks Im going to use.
One is metal. This one will have a pond liner in it.
Second is plastic. No need for a pond liner and most come with a drain.
I like the plastic ones better, but since I have the metal ones already, I decided to use them. Im going to try the plastic ones for the retics first, then if they work out, Ill be upgrading the metal ones and using them for the Motoro's.
Pics of these are below.
These come 6' or 8' round.. up to 700 gallons
These come 6' to 8' round. Up to 700 gallons. These do taper some, but when I looked at them, the taper on it was only 5" smaller in the bottom than it was the top. Still made it over 7'6" round on the bottom which to me was enough.

 

[Stingrays]

Yeah i looked at a 500 gal stock tank online and it looked much better than the rubbermaid as far as size.in.the bottom. Let me know how your stock tanks end up with the rays and if you could post or pm me yor filtration setups/ideas that would be awesome! Thanks!

-Dylan

 

[bcfd144]

Well I am planning on making mine a sitting area in my basement. So my stock tanks will be put into place. Im going to put stone around the outside to dress it all up. The filtration Im going to use is the fluval Fx5's I already have as well as POND waterfall filters. This will give it a water fall look and the Fx5's will be the main filtration (4 Fx5'S TOTAL, 2 WATERFALL FILTERS). Im keeping it simple and clean.

I have a major idea on turning two of the stock tanks into one big pond. This is going to be the Motoro's tank. That is what Im working on now. This design will cover the entire back wall of my basement. Its going to look something like this.


Of course there will be powerheads in verious places to keep the water flowing and lighting hanging down.

 

[Stingrays]

Wow thats an amazing layout. I love the pond waterfall a lot. I would love to see pictures of this one day.

-Dylan