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westward13

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Messages
75
Location
columbus oh
Alright... I'm looking for some fish to start my 75 gallon freshwater tank out with... keeping in mind that once the initial cycle is complete, I plan to add 1 or 2 freshwater stingrays. That being said, I'm considering the following:

Starting with:

Giant Danios
Opaline Gouramis
Dalmation Lyletail Mollies
possibly some Cardinal Tetras

Eventually adding:

Glass Catfish
Black Fin Shark/Catfish OR Irridescent Shark
Brown African Knife
Ornate Bichir
Freshwater Stingray

Does anyone have any recommendations on the above? Are the ones I'm considering starting with decent (and mostly hardy) choices? How many fish should I begin with so that the aquarium cycles in a decent amount of time while also not ending up overcrowded once I've added everything else? Does anyone see any potential conflicts in terms of compatibility with those choices? I'm trying to do as much research as possible so as to not put any fish in danger of becomming food(although I realize the Tetras might have some problems with some of the bigger fish and/or stingrays) so any help is definitely appreciated! Thanks!

Chris
westward13
 
Chris, just to let you know, sting rays are NOT hardy. They demand a lot of care and young captives seldom reach maturity.
 
Thanks, Brian. I've actually done a ton of research on them so I'm prepared to put in the maintenance to take very good care of them... I'm also not planning on getting any for at least a couple of months if not further down the road than that.
 
Very cool westward. Doing your homework now can save you so much grief later!! :D
 
Stingrays need a LOT of room. There is a fish store on the north side of columbus that has them in a 400 gal floor tank. One thing that I noticed while watching them is that they don't really swim around; they stay on the 'ground'.

A 75 gal tank only gives them 6 square feet to move around in. When those rays hit the 12 inch mark, they will be really crowded.

I once thought about doing a ray tank but realized that I wouldn't be able to unless I built a custom tank with a large width and depth (front to back) to accomodate them...
 
I've been there... Aquarium Adventure. When I've seen them, the rays seem pretty active. Every once in a while, they just sit there but most of the time they seem to be swimming up the sides of the tank.

Does anyone see any potential compatibility problems with the fish I'm hoping to have in my aquarium? The only one I see as a problem are the Cardinal Tetras when some of the other fish become larger.
 
I don't own any of those fish, but I would not put any more bottom dwellers in the tank, since floor space will be limited. As for the tetras, they very well may become a snack. Do all of these fish have the same water quality needs?
 
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