just ordered two wild hystrix pups (need advice)

**hystrix777** · 12-03-2011, 11:41 PM

Originally Posted by frefal13

Did you mean 0 nitrate instead of 0 ammonia? Because all fish require 0 ammonia and if your tank is truly cycled there will be no ammonia in the first place. There is a pretty good post on drip acclimation in the DIY forum, you can take a look there for more info.

the tank has been running for over a year now, yes its cycled btw

**gm72** · 12-03-2011, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by hystrix777

Actually i think you may be mistaken, as i stated in a previous post didnt intend to state 0 ammonia, ammonia is toxic to fish. Correct i couldnt name the substrate off the top of my head when i was posting the topic but if your that concerned its called moonlight sand for freshwater aquariums made by caribsand with no ph altering substances. Hospital tank? Its an aquarium you keep new fish in while monitoring their health before adding them to your main aquarium. I added the sand for them to feel more at home but simply dont want to spread disease to my other fish. Not to mention ive done plenty of research and realize my aquarium what chemistry and setup would do them quite well, i was simply asking for experienced keepers advice... Difficult to keep? ive had saltwater rays for years, not to mention discus, arowanas, gar and a few other "demanding" fish.. I think i know what im getting into but sometimes its nice to speak with other keepers on forums just to chat ;)

Very good. And yes, as a senior member here I am quite familiar with what a hospital tank is.

You must understand that we deal with quite a few...I'll say...challenged individuals who come through here as either trolls or simpletons. As a Moderator my guard came up (as did at least one other Moderator). I am glad to hear that I (we) have nothing to worry about.

**hystrix777** · 12-04-2011, 12:00 AM

Originally Posted by gm72

Very good. And yes, as a senior member here I am quite familiar with what a hospital tank is.

You must understand that we deal with quite a few...I'll say...challenged individuals who come through here as either trolls or simpletons. As a Moderator my guard came up (as did at least one other Moderator). I am glad to hear that I (we) have nothing to worry about.

thanks, i hope i didnt come off as rude just though you might be one of those "power tripping" forum people lol.. I have quite a bit of experience just as i stated not with the freshwater rays.. im always nervous when it comes to a new, especially wild species.. I am a bit concerned considering the wild capture, ive been thinking of going with another choice... changing up my order maybe, but hell i thought arowanas and discus would be hard and saltwater would be near difficult but here i am today... quite unsure at the moment still however..

**Red** · 12-04-2011, 12:51 AM

What are you going to feed them? You have any pictures of the tank setup? If your doubting yourself, I would not go ahead and put the risk of loosing all of that money, and also killing the ray. It does not hurt to let a fish go..

I would also like to add that you hospital tank is way to small, even if its only a hospital tank. You need something they can rome, and which you can few the fish.

**hystrix777** · 12-04-2011, 01:00 AM

Originally Posted by Red

What are you going to feed them? You have any pictures of the tank setup? If your doubting yourself, I would not go ahead and put the risk of loosing all of that money, and also killing the ray. It does not hurt to let a fish go..

I would also like to add that you hospital tank is way to small, even if its only a hospital tank. You need something they can rome, and which you can few the fish.

even if the fish are 3-4 inches? its got four square feet for swimming room. maybe your right..

**Lady Hobbs** · 12-04-2011, 01:04 AM

Guess I'm another one on the stumped list. How high is a 15 gallon tank that is 18" wide? A regular 15 gallon is only 12" high and 12" wide so if your tank is 6" wider that must make it about 6-7" high?

**Cliff** · 12-04-2011, 01:05 AM

+1 to Red's advice

There is nothing wrong with waiting until you are ready. I took over 6 months of reseach and talking to people before setting up my first SW tank. And that is after 13 years of keeping freshwater fish. I wanted to be sure

Now that I have successfully set up my second reef tank, I know know waiting until I was ready was one of the best choices that I made

Just something to think about

**smaug** · 12-04-2011, 02:13 AM

Plus 1 to all the above advice. If you are ready to keep rays you dont need advice from a forum just before you get them.

**hystrix777** · 12-04-2011, 02:40 AM

Originally Posted by smaug

Plus 1 to all the above advice. If you are ready to keep rays you dont need advice from a forum just before you get them.

your right, maybe i was just looking for some re assurance hell what are these forums for anyways... thanks for the help guys, i was nervous before my first saltwater, aro, discus and other hard to keep tanks but if i didnt try whats the point? its got me to where i am today. The rays are going to do just fine.. I swear forums do more harm than good lol..