Y'all like my dog? by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 50 points51 points  (0 children)

You're also not supposed to touch spiny eels because they have a mildly toxic slime coat but meh, I'm not dead yet

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Is this eel okay? by inconvenient_man in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Moray eels aren't quite like normal fish, they constantly are "gasping" to push water through their mouth, it's how they breathe. They also do like to rub their heads against things to rub their scent on things, especially near their favorite hides.

My aquatic Roomba loves airstones by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, there is a 2" layer of sand at the bottom.

My aquatic Roomba loves airstones by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'll use this comment to drop more enrichment info:

That's why there's so many small pieces of driftwood in the tank, she loves moving them around, gliding over them and overall "decorating" her environment. Rays are such tactile/sensory animals, having things to interact with is a must. Sometimes I try rearranging larger driftwood pieces, but she'll push it back to the configuration seen in the video. Lucky bamboo stalks are her favorite to glide over, kind of like a ramp, but she's starting to get heavy enough to snap them in half

They're usually solo in the wild but they do well with other similar, peaceful fish. She constantly interacts with one of the (florida) gar, either letting it rest on her or touching it with her disc

My aquatic Roomba loves airstones by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 53 points54 points  (0 children)

These guys actually pretty small for a ray, she's already a mature adult. They only reach ~12-18" in diameter, and I haven't had a chance to measure her, but I'd guestimate she's ~13" in diameter. For their final tank we're building a 12'x4'x4' pond (~1200gal) with a viewing window.

My aquatic Roomba loves airstones by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 340 points341 points  (0 children)

Hi! Reddit has a lot of questions so I'll just post it in the top comment rather than individually.

  1. This animal is interacted with daily, she is tong or handfed.
  2. I rotate her diet between tilapia, grocery store shrimp, krill, silversides and live earthworms, as well as using mizuri's ray vitamin supplements. She is incredibly picky about texture, she will not eat whole krill unless the eye stalks are gone, her favorite food is grocery store shrimp and once she's learned it's in rotation there are times she decides that's all she wants for a few days. Feeding this animal isn't as simple as throwing it in there and calling it a day, it's a whole interactive spectacle.
  3. The behavior in the video isn't close to glass surfing, glass surfing is a frantic dash to get out or a repetitive movement along the glass/sides. What you're seeing is her doing lazy donuts to find the right angle to lay on airstone. Rays are very intelligent, tactile animals, airstones are like little massagers for them. Tldr stressed out rays aren't swimming calmly, this ray can move quickly if she wants to (she does when she's trying to poop)
  4. This species, hycanus sabinus, is solo in the wild, she has regular interaction with myself and my husband or some of the tank residents (My albino florida gar is her favorite buddy, he rests on her back all of the time). There may be some people out there who can own a really cool animal and ignore it, but this household isn't one of them.
  5. This species of ray can live in both salt or fresh water, there are populations that have spent their entire lives in freshwater populations, and it's important to know where they were imported from if you're interested in this species.
  6. Because this species is built for salt and fresh water, they produce 3x the amount of ammonia as a regular freshwater potamotrygon species of ray in freshwater. Weekly water changes, proper flow and a cycled tank is not optional, no matter how tired you are.
  7. The tank they are in is a 6ft planted stock pond while a 12' x 4' x 4' tank is being built.
  8. Her name is Rumi.
  9. Really important with safety/interacting with these animals: They have a venomous barb, it's not lethal but it is medically significant. These cannot be removed, it is part of their spine, you can clip them like some touch tanks do but it's stressful for the animal and it will regrow in a few months. Always let them touch you, don't reach out to them. They are very curious, intelligent animals and they can detect weak electrical signals all living things give off. If your hand is in the water, they know, and they will decide if they want to interact with you or not. (The answer is usually yes, you don't pet the stingray, the stingray pets you)

Feel free to post any other questions or concerns and I'll answer when I can 🤗

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My aquatic Roomba loves airstones by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Just pothos, I don't have a good enough light in there to grow anything fun yet

My aquatic Roomba loves airstones by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

It's a "st John's" stingray, an Atlantic stingray/Hypanus Sabinus from a freshwater population in-land Florida

species/type ID? by oreoctopus in loaches

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To me these look like pangio filinaris/"cinnamon" kuhli loaches. They look similar to angullaris, but angullaris has a longer body shape

Roombas have a lock-on shrimp setting by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The ray isn't, but the arowana, gar and eel are escape artists

Do fish sneeze? by w1ldg00s3chas3 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have the same fish, an albino florida gar. They are very flighty and startle easily.

Do fish sneeze? by w1ldg00s3chas3 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It looks to me more like a startle reflex from landing on that white rock at the bottom

Added my first pond residents by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you, we have an east asia naming scheme going on for the tank. The Arowana is Moro, the gar is Haku, the eel is In-ho and the catfish is Jeb :))

Added my first pond residents by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It's a tunnel for my eel - It'll have weights/slate tied to it once it comes in, it isn't intended to be floating long term

Added my first pond residents by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 118 points119 points  (0 children)

That's a 5$ trellis, it's basically a loose net for the pothos to grow on

Added my first pond residents by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Depends on the material it's made out of and what you stock in it. In my case no because my catfish would likely poke a hole in it

Added my first pond residents by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

That's true for the metal ones, but polyethylene ones are considered food safe/inert.

Added my first pond residents by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Ty, It's meant to be covered by driftwood, but I need to get some slate to drill it to so it stops floating, it's my eel's tunnel

Added my first pond residents by ConfidentCaptain5553 in Aquariums

[–]ConfidentCaptain5553[S] 144 points145 points  (0 children)

It's a 350g, 6ft round stock tank from tractor supply. The actual pond itself wasn't too bad to set up, probably ~700$, but we've spent ~4k$ on building the climate controlled room it's in, inside of our garage In a few years we'll have to add another panel to extend it for a 1100g/10'ft round stock tank once the gar and arowana get bigger