ray and arrowana question

[milo]

Firstly can u get rays that live in tropical water and if so how big do they get. secondly do some arrowanas live in tropical waters and how big do they get and are they compatible with rays and if so how big would the tank have to be

[Shane Tesser]

Milo...it all depends on species really..yes there is tropical rays..by this i think you mean freshwater? But i do believe they all like a little salt in the mix..im not an expert on rays so i can't really give advice on them...i do know that i have seen them mixed with arrowanas in the same tank. Both being larger fish need large tanks. We talked about this on a thread here not too long ago about how large arrowanas can get...simply far too large for the average person to keep in some cases. There is however others that are easily manageable in tanks 100 gallons and over...at least until they reach adult sizes. My best advice would be to research both indepth, decide which ones of the two you like..and see if they have the same housing and condition requirements. If you can find something that works for both..best of luck to you...also please keep in mind eating and competition food in such tanks..those arrowanas can be greedy buggers. Good luck

[ETET]

Milo, as Shane mentioned if you know what kind of species, it will be easier to work it out. I know people keep rays with arowanas (e.g. motoro ray with asian arowana). As the requirement are similar like soft water in the above case, there seems to be no problem. A large tank like 200 gal for adults is important to keep them healthy. For feeding issue, arowana like to cruise near water surface for food like insects and rays stays mainly in the bottom. I saw people feed arowana with crickets which floats VS feed rays with shrimps which sinks.... this practice seems OK to both of them. Can this help?

ETET

[clintab]

AN ARROWANA CAN GROM VERY LARGE HOWEVER LIKE ANY FICH IT WILL MINITURIZE ITSELF TO ITS ENVIRONMENT, FOR A HELTHY ONE i WOULD CONSIDER AT LEAST A 150 GALLONS OR MORE IF YOU CAN. WHEN NEWBORNS ARE ACCLUMATED TO A NEW AQUARIUM ITS IMPORTANT NOT TO STRESS IT OUT, THEY CAN EASILY DIE.

[homebrewed]

Originally posted by clintab
AN ARROWANA CAN GROM VERY LARGE HOWEVER LIKE ANY FICH IT WILL MINITURIZE ITSELF TO ITS ENVIRONMENT,

and in turn, will not be as healthy and stressed

for rays you're looking at 12"-24" for most
reticulated and hystrix are among the smaller species (12")
motoro, leopoldi (24", will take along time)
tiger (36"+)

Good luck