I apologize if I have recently crossed the line.
Just to a final ballpark size for ray tanks.
If one intends to house a ray in a 8x3 foot tank or bigger, the ray is going into the top 30% of the bigger size set ups. This means it stands more of a chance of being happy with you rather than a high chance percentage of ending up in something smaller.
After all, this ray is already born and has no choice of its own, it's existing.
Going back to these mental disorders, they are very real for these ancient beasts.
I bought a 50cm diameter female and had her shipped from the east, yes shipped I know.
The breeder of this ray had sold her and her brother as a pair to his best mate when at pup stage.
His mate chucked them in a 6x2 foot and grew them up to 50cm in that tank.
One might say, what the hell, is that possible. Apparently a pool sand filter was used as filtration.
Now when I got the 50cm female to my place and in her new penthouse home (lol), she actually would stay hugged up tight in one corner, she didn't know what space was.
She wouldn't even swim out for food, I had to drop it in front of her nose.
At times when she seemed a little excited, she would turn around in circles and head away from the corner by 30cm then head back.
Very very weird.
This went on for about three months. As time passed, occassionally she would head out further and further.
Her next improved development was she would swim all around but keep heading back to the corner as if it was security.
Now she is completely cured, she glides around all day soaring up the sides, checking things out and interacting with her pen mates. She can actually be a bit of a bully at times.
So, you can see the way they are kept impacts on their brain behavior mechanisms more than we think when we talk of housing and confinement.
This is just the happiness of the ray having room.
Small amount of water volume is much less stable and pollutes a lot quicker, heavy filtration helps for sure with ammonia spikes.
But high nitrate levels remain a problem with small water spaces.
The toxins produced by a semi or adult ray is staggering as a result of high food intake.
Smaller systems require daily to every second day water changes.
Talking tarpons nominated size of 4x1.5 meters with two-three adult rays would roughly require only a weekly water change of give or take 40%.
Tarpon you would be amongst the better top percentage of keeping happy rays with that size set up.
Once set up, 4x1.5 meter will look massive and is massive.
Edited by Buccal, 25 October 2012 - 03:19 PM.