a few days ago
We added the Asian Arowana and Frank the flower horn into the 2000 gallon aquarium out here in the aquarium gallery
And I must say it's definitely been, they've been getting along a lot better than I had anticipated
however today
we're going to go ahead and add the freshwater stingrays before we do so
Why does Frank the flower horn have a name?
but my blue bass cross back, Asian, Arowana
does not
let me know what you guys think his name should be in the comment section below and I'll go ahead and pick one if you
Guys recall I have four freshwater stingrays that are going out in that 2000 gallon
We have three black diamond stingrays
And then we have a pearl stingray one of the black diamonds is a male
the other two are females and then the pearl is also a male. I also brought my friend gary over to do a lot of
The filming with me so we don't miss any of it. So here's what I plan to do
I'm going to go ahead and drain almost all of the water out of the tank to ensure
I can easily scoop the stingrays out. then each stingray gets its own bag
This is a thick plastic bag, and then that bag will go into a bucket just in case they pierce through the bag they're still
Going to have water within the bucket and again moving them all individually
Now I know many of you guys are going to ask am I scared of being stung by these Stingrays,
and the simple answer is not really see the raised stingers are not used for attack
Mostly defense so as long as I move slowly and don't make them feel threatened will be just fine
So the goal here is to kind of Coax
one of the Rays
Into the bag with a net I don't know how well this is going to do
But if I only had one in here, I can assure you that it'd be certainly a lot easier
We'll see how it goes
I Do have some rubber gloves on this is not going to protect me from getting stabbed, but if they do brush up against me
They won't be able to penetrate it
If i have any luck, they might even swim right into it
So coaxing him in there
There's one
Now these guys
When they panic ,they really panic, so you want to be careful
We're going to make sure the top of the bag is secured before we lift it
Into a bucket he goes. first one went easy
See how the rest go
We're just moving slowly. We're not startling them
Again their barbs are only there for defense, so if they don't feel threatened, they're not going to stab you
These aren't like regular fish where you can chase them around I'm going to take your time. Maybe it'll even go in it by themselves
Okay, so that one's getting a little frustrated, reason being is he can feel the bag on top of them
And another one
Into the bucket you go
Nice and easy
We're not rushing this. when it comes to stingrays and handling them you show them the utmost respect, you respect what they're capable of
Just because they're cute little puppies right now doesn't mean that sting isn't going to hurt, rays stress out really easily
We're not chasing them around the tank
two left to go
So this guy's a little stressed. He doesn't want to move so I'm moving on and I positioned this guy into a better area
Use the net to slightly scoop him, Coax him into the net
That's three. So this guy gave me trouble the whole time, I think he knows what's up
hopefully, we'll be okay this time around
Same thing we're going to use the net to Coax him in, unfortunately the bag is laying flat so that could prove to be some issues
But they're almost like scorpions. They could swipe at you with their tails
This bag got a big hole in it. that's lovely
So you'll notice here as I move slowly and cautiously the whole time
respecting the animal, putting his safety first, moving nice and smoothly. not a lot of water in these
I'm going to be able to move them all at once
at this point
We're going to float them for about 5-10 minutes
Let them acclimate slowly. unfortunately, one of these bags, the bag with the pearl, actually has a hole in it
So hopefully the acclimation period With him goes pretty quick
All right moment of truth my babies
What I'm trying to do here is make them all land on each other or close to each other, rays have security in numbers
We are seconds into the tank, good signs
A couple things I'm looking for is their coloration one. They haven't lightened or darkened. They kind of look the same. That's a good thing
second thing I'm looking for is their breathing patterns are they breathing too quickly, or not to mention, is their discs starting to curl
A freshwater ray with its disk curling is a sign of stress and death to follow
So so far so good right now. I suspect within the next 10 to 15 minutes
They'll become more active at which time we'll come right back
So we're actually about 36 hours after I've added the stingrays into the aquarium
And I decided to wait until we started filming again because a couple of things happened one the flower horn, Frank
He didn't know what to do with himself
When the rays were added he was all like he was acting shocked
He didn't want to go near them, but he was curious. He's almost like a, like a little puppy
You know discovering something dangerous for the first time
the Arowana, However,
Did exactly what I thought he would do
He would be curious for a split second
But with the rays liking to swim up the sides of the aquariums they got comfortable right away
It was almost as if he was going in to take a swipe at them,
And then took a sharp turn last minute
So I was getting a little nervous and decided before I start filming again
Let me put all my attention on the fish and monitor them closely make sure nothing happens
And you know I got to also admit that too though last night
I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. All I wanted to do is keep checking on the rays. Make sure everything was okay.
I'm happy to say now though that
everybody is settling in. I fed the rays a couple of times everybody's eating and
cohabitating as good as I could hope for. the downside here, though, is even though the rays put on a
Considerable amount of size in their growout tank
They are absolutely dwarfed in this tank looking like little pups once again
With that said of course within a year, maybe two they're going to put on a massive amount of size doubling tripling in size
I mean these guys are going to get you know two to three feet across on their disc alone
So they're not going to look this small forever
They are however you know kind of exploring the tank
burying themselves in the substrate
And you know just acting as rays should now I'm going to leave the stocking as is for the next few months and see how
Everything goes and see how my filtration handles the bio load of the tank
I have no doubts that it's going to be okay
However of course I'd love to add in a few other fish that I have in mind if you guys have any suggestions as always
Leave them in the comment section below. I know what you're wondering though
Is that it for the tank in terms of lighting and decorations, and the answer is no.
within the next two weeks
This tank will be planted and a proper light put over it. We're no longer going to use my room lighting to light the aquarium
However based on timing and the way these things played out this means I'm going to have to drain the tank to about here
get in the aquarium and
plant it
With the fish still in it which will prove to be pretty
Interesting so if that's something you guys want to see and you're not subscribed to this channel yet
I highly suggest you to so you don't miss out on that video
I think it's going to be quite interesting and I'm totally excited to see what all of this wood is going to look like
You know fully planted with a bunch of really interesting plants i'm going to introduce you guys to
As well as what the fish are going to look like with some proper lighting
I should also end this video with the fact that you have 7 days left to get one of your own diy
Fish keeper shirts. They are the signature series, so I'll leave a link in the description below so you can get your own