Buying acrylic to build a ray tank. What size?

[C5Chad]

Hey everyone. I'll start off by saying I'm new to rays. Always wanted to have a ray but have only had 29g and 75g reef tanks. Still have my 75g reef tank set up, my 29g is empty. I found a place near me that sells sheets of acrylic in almost any size. Was considering trying to just build my own tank to accommodate one ray and maybe 2-3 fish that would be compatible. Maybe one or two really nice pieces of smoother live rock in the tank just to break up all the open space some, staying away from any with sharp edges.

My question is what size tank should I be planning on building to hold maybe 1 Cortez ray and 2-3 fish that will be compatible with the Cortez? And what thickness should the acrylic be?? I'm not rushing this project, it's going to all be a part of my basement renovations so I'm just trying to do my research now so I have the knowledge and everything ready when it's time to start building and setting it up. I'm assuming the Cortez is the easiest and hardiest of the rays to keep for a beginner with rays. Correct me if I'm wrong. I know building something as cheap as possible is not a good idea, but I would like to keep it as cheap as possible but by also doing everything correctly, the right way to give the ray a good home it can thrive in. But no I'm not interested in doing a stock tank. I know that's the cheapest route.
So for starters I'm just curious as to the minimum dimensions I need for an acrylic tank to keep a Cortez ray and 2-3 other fish with it?? Any help and advice is greatly appreciated!!! Thank you

 

[C5Chad]

Anybody have suggestions on recommended minimum size dimensions for a proper ray tank to hold 1 Cortez ray and a couple fish? And the proper thickness the acrylic should be??

 

[alton]

Sorry no one has posted here to help you out, probably because sting rays just like sharks are specialty items requiring very large tanks and very little rock structure plus closed tops to keep the splash down. The stingrays I have seen get very friendly but love to splash when hungry.

 

[Louis Z]

If you search on YouTube and look for "œ the king of diy" . He built a 2000 gallon aq for freshwater stingrays . He usually shows his steps . He has built several large systems and documented it . Although I can't say if he has done all acrylic
You would have to check . If wanting to do acrylic aq , there is a lengthy acrylic thread on Rc that instructs how to work with acrylic . You might also pos5 under DIY section on rc

 

[born2lovefish]

I know the original post is a few years old, but I’m throwing out my experience keeping/breeding freshwater stingrays. I have a 8x4x2’ and a 6x4x2’ tanks that house only rays. Currently 6 rays between the 2 tanks ranging from about 9-14” in diameter. I move the rays between the two tanks, but usually 3-4 in one tank at a time. I also have 2 pups that are 1.5 years old I bred that are about 7-8” and are in a 6x2’x14” tank. The tanks that are 2’ tall are 1/2” acrylic and the tank that is 14” tall is 3/8” acrylic. I’ve built a 70ish gallon tank/sump out of acrylic and used 1/2”. If building your own aquarium out of acrylic, I strongly recommend doing research on the tip and pour method using Weldon #40 a 2 part epoxy that can be pour inside on all the seams (one seam at a time) where the tank seam is at a 45 degree angle to make a filet inside that tank seam. My 6x4x2’ tank was purchased used and was built by the previous owner and was nearly coming apart before I tip and poured a 1/2-3/4” filet on all inside seams. My 8x4x2’ was purchased new and the tank builder used a 2 part epoxy (I assume #40 or a similar product). I thought about building the tank, but the tooling needed to do it right exceeded the cost to have it built right the first time. The most important part of building with acrylic is smooth cut pieces and a completely flat work area to assemble the tank. Ideally, a steel welding type table as it’s quite difficult to make a large flat table from wood. Without these 2 things, seams will likely have bubbles in them. My other tip is if you build anything from acrylic, go up a size to compensate for building error. Also, the thicker acrylic is easier to work with as it supports it’s weight better having a thicker thickness compared to a thinner thickness. Note - I’ve only worked with 1/8” - 1/2” acrylic for various projects.