New Shark & Ray tank

[Goodwin9]

I recently setup a new tank to house a shark and some rays. I thought that I would share some pictrues of the setup I came up with.

This picture is of the tank, 1/2" acrylic, 48X36X28. Lighting is provided by 260 watt, Coralife aualights compact fluorescents.

This photo shows the Prime 1/3HP shiller and Blueline 70 pump running the filtration.

Shown here are the 19" Lifeguard, mechanical, chemical, 25 Watt UV, FB600 sandfilter, skimmer and in the back, a phosban reactor.

This is a picture of the sump/refugium, (50 gal), with a 12" 18 watts compact fluorescent light, 2 quietone 6000 pumps for returns & refugium.

Finally a picture of the 12" marbled banded cat shark.

Here is a picture of the 2 4" California rays in the tank.

All are eating well and seem to be getting along in their new tank. Favorite food seems to be frozen krill.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Unfortunately, that shark will easily outgrow that tank. ALso, make sure the rays have VERY VERY fine sand to hide it. In the photo, it looks a little coarse. they wont often burrow in coarse medium, and it can really stress them out.

awesome dimension on the tank, though.

 

[jman77]

...love the dimensions..... nice setup !

 

[a4twenty]

looks great, have to agree with jmaneyapanda though, the substrate looks far to coarse for the soft underbelly of those rays. and i think both the rays and the shark will outgrow the current tank. maybe put them in the 450

 

[Goodwin9]

I have installed a live web cam on this tank and can be viewed by going to the following link;

http://dev.dakotareef.com/site5/index.php/home/aquarium/shark_ray/live_cam

 

[cpagego]

Looks Great. Nicely done.

 

[archndevil]

Those rays look like they want to escape, and don't seem to be doing any b urrowing...i think that you need a lot more sand!

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9609835#post9609835 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by archndevil
Those rays look like they want to escape, and don't seem to be doing any b urrowing...i think that you need a lot more sand!

They know it is getting close to feeding time in an hour when all of the lights come on. The sand is much deeper towards the back of the tank and that is where they bury themselves once the lights go out. The two larger rays will take food from my hand so that is why they keep swimming up to the top. When the food hits the bottom, they have to contend with getting it before the shark finds it. It can get to be quite a feeding frenzy if you watch at 8.

 

[uztaryn]

live cam doesnt seem to be working....

 

[andycook]

Nice dimensions. Where did you get the tank?

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9612186#post9612186 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by andycook
Nice dimensions. Where did you get the tank?

The tank and stand were built by The Aquarium Company in Winthrop, MN.

 

[glassbox-design]

Having installed a 2,000 gallon shark and ray pond...i'd suggest a much larger skimmer. DD or becket skimmers seems to work well for shark and keep o2 levels up as that is important for them.

That shark will outgrow that tank in under a year. start planning for something bigger now

eric

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9615283#post9615283 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Flint&Eric
Having installed a 2,000 gallon shark and ray pond...i'd suggest a much larger skimmer. DD or becket skimmers seems to work well for shark and keep o2 levels up as that is important for them.

That shark will outgrow that tank in under a year. start planning for something bigger now

eric

Wish I had room for another big tank, but am all out. I have a friend that has offered to take him to the public aquarium in Omaha when he out grows this tank.

 

[andycook]

What makes you think the public aquarium wants it?

 

[blue angel2]

Is that a California ray on the leftside? He has different markings.

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9617913#post9617913 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by blue angel2
Is that a California ray on the leftside? He has different markings.

I should have corrected the picture of the two small rays. After I posted it, I was told that the small ray with the dark spots on the left side, was a Cortez ray. He is no longer in the tank. The smaller ray with the lighter markings is the California ray and have added a second since that picture was posted.

 

[Goodwin9]

I didn't realize that I hadn't posted a picture of the 4th ray in the tank, a Blue Spotted Ray. He is about the same size as the Atlantic Yellow Spot except his tail is about 3" longer than the Atlantic.

 

[Goodwin9]

Here is a picture of the Atlantic Yellow Spot ray over one of the California rays.

 

[saltyfishy123]

Where did you buy the ray's from?

 

[JCTewks]

This just seems cruel.....4 rays and a shark in a tank that size.

A note to any newbies out there. If you buy something that you know will outgrow your curent system, plan on upgrading to something bigger when the time comes. Don't just assume that a public aquarium will take them. Our oceans are not quite as renewable as we may think, and what happens to that giant fish you got when you just can't hold it anymore??